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Spirituality a Dimension of All-round Development of Human Personality And

Educational Developments

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COMMONWEALTH ASSOCATION FOR
EDUCATION, ADMINISTRATION AND JULY
MANAGEMENT
2013
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1

Spirituality a Dimension of All-round

Development of Human PersonalityAnd
Educational Developments

Excellence International Journal of Education

and Research (Multi- subject Journal)
 Spirituality a Dimension of All-round Development of Human Personality
And Educational Developments
Showkeen Bilal Ahmad Gul1, Atieq Ul Rehman2 Mamun Ali Naji Qasem3

1
Department of Education,
Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh, U.P, India
2
Department of Education,
Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh, U.P, India
3
Department of Education,
Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh, U.P, India

Abstract-- Education in itself means all round Development of personality whether it is social,
moral, emotional, physical, mental and spiritual also. But since time immemorial spiritual
development was ignored in comparison to other dimensions of development in contemporary
education. This is not the case of religious education where main emphasis is laid on
spiritualism. In today’s modern world of globalization, spiritual development is the need of the
hour because of competition, educated unemployed etc that leads youths towards anxiety,
frustration, depression etc which leads them towards committing suicide sometime. At that time
it may be realized that there is something failure in the system mechanism etc of contemporary
education which leads youths towards committing such types of heinous acts. As Glenn Cupit
notes, “spirituality is generally ignored in human development texts and never treated as an
essential component of development,” while Kimball, Mannes, and Hackel point out there is a
vacuum in this “important and understudied domain of human development.” Aostre Johnson
Roehlkepartain, King, Wagener, and Benson (2006). The objectives of the study are: to explore
the idea of spiritualism as the main dimension of all Round Development of Personality; to
highlight the constraints and barriers of present educational system that restricts spiritualism in
education and to study the educational implications of spiritualism so that system of education
lay emphasis on all round development of personality. As quoted by Mohan Das Karam Chand
Gandhi, ‘Education means all round of personality’.
Keywords: Spirtuality, Educational Developments, Constraints and Barriers.

1. Introduction
In Today’s Competitive world of Globalization, Privatization, Liberalization and
Modernization, people are suffering from different types of Personality Disorders, whether they

Excellence International Journal of Education and Research (Multi- subject journal) Page 2
are Behavioral, Mental, Social, Emotional etc but how to eradicate all these disorders, so that we
can bring all round development of personality in human behavior is a question to be answered
by Educational Planners. The main function of education is the development of an all round and
well balanced personality of students. But now a day more emphasis is unduly laid on knowledge
based and information oriented education which takes care of only the intellectual development
of the child. Consequently, the other aspects of their personality like physical, emotional, social
and spiritual are not properly developed for the growth of attitudes, habits, values, skills and
interest among pupils.
Our Country is undergoing radical Social changes. So Students who are the future
citizens have to be trained to respond to and adjust with these social changes satisfactorily by
equipping them with desirable skills and values. In Modern Educational System there are some
hindrances which do not lead students to become fully intelligent in all spheres of developments
(Emotionally, Socially, Morally, and Intellectually) which leads the students sometime towards
Anxiety, Frustration, Depression etc. If students are spiritually intelligent enough they can
overcome all these difficulties in a successful way. As pointed out by different researchers that
Spirituality is gaining prominence as an integral part of adult education practice and adult
development theory. MacKeracher (1996) addresses spirituality explicitly in her text about adult
learning, and even provides instruction for facilitators in things that are spiritual. The spiritual
well-being can be defined as a feeling of communicating with the others, having meaning and
goal in life and having belief and relation with an exalted power (Hawks, et al. 1995). Ellison
(1983) states that spiritual well-being includes a psycho-social and also religious element.
Spirituality and religiousity have been used interchangeably to describe concepts related to God
or a higher power, things sacred or divine or a heightened level of human consciousness. Several
scholars have suggested that the concepts are interrelated and religion provides forum for
expressing spirituality. (Hill and Parganent 2003). It is distinguishable from religiousity,
however in that the latter typically involves an affiliation with an organized institutions the
practice of group specific rituals, a system of worships and doctrines that drives an individual’s
belief about God or a higher power. (McNunty, et al. 2004). Spirituality, on the other hand
involves a search for meaning and purpose in life, unfolding mysteries of the universe, harmony,
peace, wholeness and transcendence. (Tanyi, 2002). Spirituality can be expressed both
religiously and non religiously. (Pargament 1999). Religious spirituality connects doing
something for God or a higher power or whatever is seen as a derivative of God’s teaching or
values. Non religious spirituality whatever or not a person justifies it an ultimate philosophical
sense, is the striving for the fulfillment of any value, goal or higher calling that the individual
believes to be meaningful. (Paloutzian et. al, 2003). Numerous empirical studies have shown that
current religiousness is significantly associated with lower levels of depression. (Strawbridge et.
al 1998) and anxiety (Koenig et al.1988) and higher levels of satisfaction. (Blaine and Crocker
1995) and happiness (Clark, et al 1999). There are various researchers supporting this theory that
spiritual well-being can reinforce psychological function and adaptation. The significant
correlations have been reported between spiritual well-being and variables such as religious
deeds (Bassett, et, al. 1991), depression, self-esteem and internal religious orientation (Genia,
2001) emotional well-being and life satisfaction (Kim, 2000) emotional instability and mood
disorders (Leach, & Lark, 2004) and stress (Woodbury, 1992). Since the psychological
discomfort usually occurs in the whole life it can be said that creating and keeping sense of
spiritual well-being has a vital role in adaptation to the stress. Researches indicate that the
spiritual well-being has a positive influence in promoting individual mental health and decrease

Excellence International Journal of Education and Research (Multi- subject journal) Page 3
mental disorders and threatening factors of individual mental health field. According to the
review of related literature in the field of Spiritualism and its relation with mental health of the
students, it has been pointed out that there's a negative and significant correlation between
spiritual well-being and mental disorder. Also the religious and existential well-being had a
negative and significant correlation with body signs, anxiety, dysfunction in social performance
and depression. Jafari, e-tal, (1995).
As far as gender differences are concerned, there exists a significant difference between
male and female students in regard to spiritual well being. The scores of spiritual and religious
well-being of females are more than the mean of males. Jafari, e-tal, (1995). Higher scores of
females in spiritual well-being may be because of being socialized, the roles which are expected
from them, different life experiences and coping strategies to men (Hammermeister, et al. 2005).
Also in Levin and et al. (1994) opinion, there is possibility that roles, characteristics and
behaviors which are attributed to the women socially is more compatible with some religious
principles and norms.

2. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are as under;
1. To explore the idea of spiritualism as the main dimension of all Round
Development of Personality.
2. To highlight the constraints and barriers of present educational system that restricts
spiritualism in education.
3. To study the educational implications of spiritualism.

3. Shortcomings In Our Education System

Modern schooling has abandoned spirituality. Relegating matters of the spirit to other
social spheres, modern schooling promotes allegiance to the State, basic analytical skills,
individualized achievement, and exclusively rational approaches to knowledge. Driven to
prepare students for state examinations, schools have become ensnared in the ‘measurement
trap’, i.e., the belief that real learning is only learning that can be measured (Levinger, 1996).

Difficulties in Educational Institutions While Promoting Students Spiritual Development:

• The elusiveness of the nature of spiritual development.

• The difficulty in arriving at an acceptable workable definition which can be used as the
basis for policy and practice.
• The diversity of views about spiritual development and the lack of a clear and widespread
consensus as to what it means to promote the spiritual development of pupils in the non
religious and pluralist context of most maintained schools.
• The lack of sufficiently clear and detailed guidance from official bodies concerned with
the education.
• The suspicion, of some, that the term ‘spiritual’ is a cloak for the term ‘religious’ and that
its aim is to make pupils religious.
• The unfamiliarity of the term spiritual development in the field of education, for example
the term very rarely appears in standard textbooks on child development or human
development.

Excellence International Journal of Education and Research (Multi- subject journal) Page 4
 • The lack of sufficient research on the spiritual development of children outside the
context of a specific faith.
• The difficulty of distinguishing spiritual development from moral and social
development.
These are the genuine difficulties in our Educational Institutions for promoting Spiritualism
among Students. But it is Possible to promote Spiritualism among students by charting out some
plans in an effective way.

4. Suggestions For Enhancing Spiritualism among Students

Fisher (1999) suggests, schools can enhance spiritual connectedness leading to the
enhancement of total well-being in learners, and then educators surely play a key role in this
process. For Fisher, educators are ‘the living curriculum’. Sisk and Torrance (2000) suggest that
while many educators may believe that spirituality is an important aspect of all our lives, they
may not agree on how to implement it. Therefore they argue, ‘sensitive’ teacher training is
needed for promoting spirituality among students in our educational institutions.
i. To take seriously the ‘spiritual rights’ of the child, the development of the whole child
and the need to develop spiritual literacy.
ii. To carefully consider what sort of person the school wants each child to become in
future.
iii. To use an inclusive definition of spiritual development which will accommodate a wide
range of different views about what it means to be spiritually developed.
iv. To recognize the diversity of spiritual traditions and give pupils access to alternative
views.
v. To display an understanding of the development of the human spirit as something which
cuts deeper than the cognitive/intellectual and affective/emotional dimension of a person?
vi. To encourage teachers to awaken, enlighten, inspire and challenge as well as tend and
comfort children’s spirits.
vii. To provide opportunities for pupils to ‘look inwards’ and to reflect on beliefs, values and
feelings, hopes, dreams, ideals and aspirations.
viii. To provide opportunities for pupils to ‘look outwards’ and to reflect on the natural world,
the environment and human achievement, often ‘against the odds’.
ix. To provide planned opportunities, throughout the curriculum, for pupils to stand back and
reflect on:
a. The meaning of their everyday experience
b. Deeper/ultimate questions and issues which arises out of their learning
experiences.
x. To offer a broad and balanced curriculum which is able to provide a rich variety of
opportunities to promote spiritual development?
xi. To carefully select and promote, specific human capacities such as courage and resilience
and above all the ‘capacity for response.’

5. Educational Implications of Spiritualism

We are living in a secular country, (India) where every religion is treated equally and in
this type of country we cannot impart religious education in formal educational institutions
because in the same classroom students from multi religions are sitting. A teacher can impart

Excellence International Journal of Education and Research (Multi- subject journal) Page 5
moral education to students which can ultimately lead students towards spiritualism. Moral
education means education based on morality and that is common in all religion. Spirituality has
begun to be recognized as a construct distinct from religion for many people (Ingersoll, 1998).
For others, however there is still a reluctance to use the word spiritual or spirituality (Chittenden,
2000) due to its connotation with religion. Spirituality has traditionally tended to be associated
with religion. If this view is adopted, it would therefore not be appropriate in public schooling,
since public education is the right of all and cannot be seen to support one religion over another.
The association of spirituality with religion has no doubt contributed to the difficulties in
expressing the spiritual dimension in learning. To Walton (in Laurence 2003), religion however
has to do with a framework for beliefs, traditions, doctrine, conduct and rituals, whereas
spirituality is broader and encompasses an individual’s relations to self, others and to the
environment, as well as feelings of inner peace, strength, interconnectedness and meaning to life.
• A spiritual person demonstrates continuous strivings towards perfectionism, preservance
and stability in his/her own character.
• A spiritual person has a whole hearted dedication towards his work.
• A spiritual person lives by his/her conscience.
• A spiritual person is broad minded and tolerant towards many of life challenges.
• A spiritual person lives in the spirit that he/she is an immortal spiritual being charged
with power of unlimited creativity.
• A spiritual person is aware that his/her victory is measured by the joy that he/she has in
his/her heart. The joy springs from his/her heart only when he/she consider himself that
he/she had done something worthwhile for upliftment, Nourishment and development of
Humanity.
• It develops Spiritual Intelligence among Persons.

6. Conclusion
All-round development of personality can be developed in students only when
spiritual development is given equal importance in our educational system as other
developments are considered important like mental development, social development,
moral developments etc. On The basis of above research findings, We can say that in
order to achieve mental, national and world peace at this crucial time of fast paced life,
we have to inculcate the spiritual knowledge as well as its application in the behavior of
our young generation which ultimately will lead them towards transcendence. The secret
of happiness among our ancestors was because of their spiritual development as has been
proved by different researchers. Curriculum framers as well as policy makers should kept
in their mind, that spiritual development is as important among students as other
dimensions of developments are like mental, social, moral etc. for bringing all round
development of personality among students. Infact spiritual developments are core
development of Educational Developments.

7. References
[1] Blaine, B. & Crocker, J. (1995). Religiousness, Race, and Psychological Well-Being:
Exploring Social Psychological Mediators. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21 (10),
1031-1041.

Excellence International Journal of Education and Research (Multi- subject journal) Page 6
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