Routledge Spiritual Experiences in Early Childhood Education: Four Kindergarteners, One Classroom

Spirituality is frequently avoided in the public school classroom in an attempt to prevent controversy. However, by ignoring, preventing, or discounting spirituality, educators can also inhibit children’s spiritual development. Based on qualitative research and interactions with both children and adults, Jennifer Mata argues that educators should be responsible for addressing children’s spirituality in the classroom and for re-introducing these topics into early childhood education. By surveying the existing literature on spirituality, Mata offers a working definition of spirituality as an essential characteristic of humanness, which helps connect individuals to themselves, others, and to the transcendent. The book portrays stories and descriptions of four kindergarten children in their classroom setting, exploring their different modes of expressing and experiencing spirituality. Finally, Spiritual Experiences in Early Childhood Education offers a review of pedagogical strategies to nurture spirituality, for both teachers to implement in the classroom and teacher educators to facilitate in teacher preparation programs. Review "Mata (DePaul Univ.) ... is precise in describing the methodology of her study, which is one of the strengths of the book. ... The work raises many questions, which is in itself valuable. Since much of what she presents is unfamiliar to most practitioners, it may require several readings. The issues, however, are worth consideration. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections." -- S. Sugarman, Vermont State Colleges, in CHOICE, January 2015 "Jennifer Mata’s book is an important addition to the literature on spirituality in early childhood education. It strongly blends research literature with her own observations of four young children. These observations help the reader see how children’s spirituality expresses itself in the daily life of the classroom and also how it can be nourished by the teacher." -- Jack Miller, Professor of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto "With her rich descriptions of young children's spiritual experiences, Jennifer Mata takes us into the ordinary of their lives. Her carefully crafted research methodology provides a lens for others wanting to explore a dimension of development often overlooked or feared by those seeking insight into the whole child. The author invites us to open eyes, ears, hearts and minds to the lived experiences of young children wherever we meet them." --Barbara Kimes Myers, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois "Mata’s book seems to be a solid contribution to our understanding of how young children grow in, and express, their spirituality." --John Surr, NAEYC Young Children’s Spirituality Interest Forum, International Journal of Children's Spirituality   About the Author Jennifer Mata, Ed.D., is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at the College of Education, DePaul University, USA. She received a doctorate in early childhood education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and has worked in the field of early childhood education since 1995. Dr. Mata has been an infant and toddler, preschool, and kindergarten teacher in both monolingual and bilingual settings in the U.S. and abroad, and was formerly Associate Professor at Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela. Her research interests stem from children’s spirituality and teacher preparation to moral development and bilingual and bicultural education.