Spiritual Practices in an Early Childhood Classroom

This chapter explores the inclusion of spiritual practices implemented in an early childhood classroom, a concept that is largely under-researched within the field of educational policy and practice. Conducted by the author, a teacher-researcher, the study adapted narrative inquiry methodologies to explore classroom practices. As a teacher-researcher, I kept a journal of my teaching of spiritual practices, which were then analysed according to Hay and Nye’s (2006) three sensitivities of mystery sensing, awareness sensing , and value sensing . The study found that three spiritual practices represented these three sensitivities: circle time, scripture stories, and pause. How spiritual practices affected me as an educator is described here to provide a deep exploration of the shaping of teachers’ spiritual practices. Implications for the broader education profession are considered with the Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework used to structure this discussion, to detail the complex interplay among empirical research, practitioner-based evidence, and informed practice, and components of the quality use of evidence.