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What Is Spirituality? Bringing Its Classical Definition Into Modern Mainstream Education With SMSC

Let’s get physical, metaphysical, philosophical and moral, by encouraging students to be wholly rounded human beings

Richard Brock
by Richard Brock
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Following the tradition of Plato, Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino wrote: ‘The human soul sits on a horizon between eternity and time, and is nourished by both these natures’.

Essentially, Ficino was saying that humans have two centres of value (things in our lives that are important to us) and power (things that give us self-worth and confidence). The first centre is to do with the material or physical world, the other the spiritual or non-physical.

The material centre is that which sustains us physically, and which we experience through our sense of perception.

The spiritual centre, likewise, sustains us through the non-physical, operating in the realm of abstract ideas and feelings.

The two are connected and are woven together to form a (potentially) complete human experience.

To put it in less abstract terms, I’m often reminded of Ficino’s ideas when I walk my dog along the seafront where I live. Poised midway on a Rothko-like canvas is a lighthouse, its lantern tower making a study of the skies, whilst its legs stand fixed into the earth – the meeting point of two worlds.

Whenever we look at a place of natural beauty like this, we do so with both our material and spiritual natures. On one level we have a physical encounter with the natural landscape, while on the other we become aware of this encounter as ‘beautiful’ due to an idea or feeling which arises within us (to which we give the name ‘beauty’).

Our material nature is sourced from the everyday world around us; from basic needs such as food, shelter and warmth to those of employment, status, appearance and financial security. These things are ‘valuable’ to us because we rely on them in part for our wellbeing and happiness.

A warm home with a fridge full of food and a car on the drive – which are the results of our hard labour and its monetary rewards, afford us a certain level of contentment. Material values are finite; they are temporal and impermanent. In Ficino’s language they belong to the sphere of ‘time’.

In contrast, to use the word spiritual to define a quality of experience is to call upon such concepts as joy and wonder, beauty and goodness, compassion and humility. We exercise these qualities or ‘spiritual values’ in our attitudes and actions, for instance, by demonstrating compassion toward someone whose behaviour challenges us, or by being lost in wonder at the workings of an ant colony.

These spiritual or non-physical values arise from a source which transcends our everyday concrete physical experience. Humanistic psychology suggests that the source of these values rests in the innate human potential for goodness. Whereas religions know this source as the absolute, the sacred, the divine or God. In Ficino’s language, this dimension of experience is referred to as ‘eternity’.

Spirituality then, is a process of personal transformation or a reconciliation (binding, weaving, unification – whatever your lexicon) of the material and the spiritual.

Much like a pair of binoculars. When the two eye lenses are aligned and become one we get a much clearer perception; when they’re not, things appear distorted or blurred and we struggle to see things as they really are.

To bring this back to education, and why spirituality is important, I’ve been teaching for 16 years, and like most teachers, I’ve found it to be both hugely rewarding and equally demanding. But I have to say, despite the many challenges and frustrations along the way, recent emphasis on the importance of spiritual development has been a welcomed draw of fresh air. A classical world-view, at the beating heart of 21st-century mainstream pedagogy.

What educationalists used to refer to as a ‘hidden curriculum’ is now very much a transparent part of everyday classroom practice. SMSC, growth mindset, mindfulness, philosophy for children, character development, to name a few, each are fostering and encouraging spiritual development as part of a student’s education and learning.

And as the profession lifts its sails under this new wind, and heads toward the horizon where both the physical and non-physical are recognised, valued and integrated, Ficino would, I think, be smiling.

Richard Brock is a former head of religion and ethics who has been successfully creating and delivering spirituality-focused activities for young people throughout his career. He is the author of TS Eliot: Four Quartets and Spirituality and the creator of SMSC4Schools. He now teaches part-time.

Richard’s ‘Thought for the Week’ ppt is used during tutorial sessions up and down the country. His workshops on spirituality and British Values have been praised for their quality and affordability. You can contact him directly through admin@smsc4schools.co.uk.

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