About this ebook
Featuring contributions by leading international scholars from U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Hong Kong, China, and Australia, this volume offers a multidisciplinary snapshot of children’s spirituality and its relation to life and values education. It highlights the importance of socio-cultural and religious traditions, as well as perspectives on religious education and the spirituality of children shaped by religious, cultural and educational systems in specific societies and contexts. Chapters cover topics including the links between mirror neurons and human empathy and education; the relationship between spirituality and citizenship; the notion of inclusive spiritual education and the perspectives of spiritual education through the conceptual lens of transcendence, raised awareness and spiritualism; how outdoor play spaces can contribute to a child’s spiritual development through enriching activities; and approaches to help nurture students’ spiritual growth in their aspects of themselves (self), others, the environment, and with a Transcendent Other (transcendence).
This volume will be a key resource for researchers and postgraduate students interested in understanding children’s spirituality and its implications for spiritual, life and values education.
About the author
John Chi-Kin Lee is Chair Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Director of the Centre for Religious and Spirituality Education and Director of the Academy of Educational Development and Innovation at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), Hong Kong. He has served as the Changjiang Scholar Chair Professor conferred by the Ministry of Education, the People’s Republic of China. Professor Lee is also UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning at the EdUHK and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Research Fellow. He has served as the editor of the International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, executive editor of Teaching and Teacher Education, and editorial board member or advisory editor of many local, regional and international journals. He is also a prolific writer who has edited and written more than 25 books, and published over 100 journal articles and book chapters.
