Prayer in schools: In search of a new paradigm

Stern, J. and Kohn, E. (2023) Prayer in schools: In search of a new paradigm. In: Reimagining the Landscape of Religious Education. Springer, New York, pp. 237-252. ISBN 9783031201332

Text Stern_prayer in schools_2023.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 14 March 2025. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Prayer and schools have an uncomfortable history together. Prayer is therefore a useful ‘test’ of various aspects of schooling. Empirical research on prayer in schools is used here to develop a new paradigm—a new way of understanding prayer in school, in terms of particular theories of spirituality, and a new way of understanding schooling, in terms of prayer and spirituality. The paradigm that we present reflects the views of young people studied in various recent research projects, and it also reflects well-established religious and philosophical positions. It proposes a model of ‘mundane’ spirituality inspired by the work of various Jewish and Christian scholars, notably Kook, Buber, Macmurray and Hay. This is exemplified by research on young people in Israel and the UK. Implications of this work for schools are described, noting the value of uncertainty and the as yet unknown, the plural, the open. The chapter does not reject education—or religion—as a search for ‘truth’: it recognises that truth is still emergent, and that there is room for the mysterious, the ineffable.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	© 2023 Springer. This is an author accepted manuscript of a paper subsequently published in Reimagining the Landscape of Religious Education. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.
Divisions:	Research and Innovation Centre
Depositing User:	Julian Stern
Date Deposited:	16 Mar 2023 09:57
Last Modified:	16 Mar 2023 09:57
URI:	https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/1005

Actions (login required)

Edit Item