Defining and Assessing Spiritual Health: A Comparative Study Among 13- to 15-Year-Old Pupils Attending Secular Schools, Anglican Schools, and Private Christian Schools in England and Wales

Abstract

This paper argues that the nation's commitment to young people involves proper concern for their physical health, their psychological health, and their spiritual health. In this context the notion of spiritual health is clarified by a critique of John Fisher's model of spiritual health. Fisher developed a relational model of spiritual health, according to which he conceives defines good spiritual health in terms of good an individual's relationship within to four domains: the personal, the communal, the environmental, and the transcendental. In the present analysis, we will make comparisons are made between pupils educated in three types of schools: publicly-funded schools without religious foundation, publicly-funded schools with an Anglican foundation, and new independent Christian schools (not publicly funded). The Our findings draw attention to significant differences in in the levels of spiritual health experienced by pupils within these three types of schools.

Religious education can contribute to adolescent mental health in school settings

“…Through religious education, the learning atmosphere can be improved by connecting students regardless of their faith [50]. It has been found that receiving religious education provided students with a higher purpose in life and more social support from peers [55]. It can also be a means for teaching religious beliefs and practices which promote support and care for one another.…”

Monitoring attitude toward Christianity among year 5 and year 6 students attending Church in Wales primary schools

“…Although the Durham Report (Commission on Religious Education in Schools, 1970) made it clear that Anglican church schools are not in business primarily to promote religion in general or Christianity in particular, some subsequent commentators have tended to suggest that part of the distinctiveness of church schools may include an emphasis on the religious or spiritual aspects of life (see Carey et al., 1998; Lankshear and Hall, 2003). Alongside such theoretical perspectives about the distinctive concern of church schools with religious and spiritual aspects of life, a clear research tradition has developed in England and Wales concerned with monitoring the religion and spirituality of students attending church schools (see Boyle and Francis, 1986; Francis, 1979, 1986, 1987; Francis and Carter, 1980; Francis and Jewell, 1992; Francis and Penny, 2012; Francis et al., 2012; Lankshear, 2005; Swindells et al., 2010).…”

“…A series of recent articles has argued that the students themselves are central to shaping and to determining the prevailing ethos of schools, and that, as a consequence, the assessment of student attitudes may provide an important indicator of school ethos (Francis and Penny, 2012; Francis et al., 2012). Working within this research tradition, the aim of the present article is to report on a new empirical study concerned with monitoring attitudes toward Christianity among students attending Church in Wales primary schools in order to assess the Christian ethos of these schools.…”

The Importance of Relating with God for Spiritual Well-Being

“…3. 4 Francis et al used the theoretical basis of the 4D model of SH/SWB to develop a 28-item questionnaire that they employed in studies of youth spirituality in the UK [51,52].…”