Godly Play Nourishing Children's Spirituality: A
Case Study
Author: Brendan Hydea
Affiliation: a Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
Published in:
Religious Education, Volume 105, Issue 5 October 2010 , pages 504 - 518
Publication Frequency: 5 issues per year
To cite this Article: Hyde, Brendan 'Godly Play Nourishing Children's Spirituality: A Case Study',
Religious Education, 105:5, 504 - 518
Abstract
Godly Play, an approach to Religious Education in early childhood devised by Jerome W. Berryman,
has been utilized by many Christian denominations in Sunday school contexts and it is currently
influencing the design of early years' Religious Education curricula in many Catholic dioceses. One of
the appealing qualities of the Godly Play process is that it is understood to nurture the spiritual
dimension of children's lives. But how exactly does it do this? In drawing on the author's own research,
this exploratory article examines, through a case study, the way in which four particular characteristics
of children's spirituality—the felt sense, integrating awareness, weaving the threads of meaning, and
spiritual questing—are brought to the fore and are nurtured during the Godly Play process. In this way,
the article attempts to demonstrate how, in a practical sense, the Godly Play process may nurture the
spirituality of children who engage in this process.
With the growing interest in the field of children's spirituality in recent times, religious educators in a
number of Christian denominations have utilized Jerome W Berryman's Godly Play method (2009),
praising it for its ability to nurture the spiritual dimension of children's lives (see for example, Beckwith
2004; Carter 2007; Lamont 2004, 2007). Indeed Berryman (2002) himself maintains that Godly Play
provides opportunities for children to find spiritual direction in their lives, particularly through enabling
them to confront and address the existential limits to their being. However, questions remain in terms of
how in practice this particular method of Religious Education actually nurtures children's spirituality. In
this author's earlier research (Hyde 2004), some preliminary work was undertaken to explore
connections between both Godly Play and The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (Cavalletti 1983) and
children's spirituality. In drawing on more recent research into the spirituality of children in an
Australian context by the author (Hyde 2008), this article takes a case study involving one child to
examine the way in which four particular characteristics of children's spirituality—the felt sense,
integrating awareness, weaving the threads of meaning, and spiritual questing—were brought to the fore
and nurtured through the Godly Play process.1 The case study involved one three-and-a-half year old
child, Daniel, and his work in revisiting the Parable of the Good Shepherd during the response time of a
Godly Play session.
In order to explore the way in which this child's spirituality was nurtured, hermeneutic phenomenology
was utilized as a theoretical tool for reflecting on the life expression (Dilthey 1994) of the child in the
case study. Whereas the natural sciences seek truth through adherence to a set of rules pertaining to a
particular method, hermeneutic phenomenology seeks understanding through the interpretation of
“texts.” Although originally referring to written composition, the concept of “texts” has come to be
understood more broadly. Texts could refer not only to biblical and literary works, but also to a wide
range of phenomena, including human discourse, as well as the expressions of human life (Dilthey
1994; Sharkey 2001). Hermeneutic phenomenology then seeks to describe the essence of that which is
being studied in order that the interpreter might come to new understanding in relation to the
phenomena.
While the author has elsewhere described in greater detail the use of hermeneutic phenomenology as a
theoretical framework for gaining insight into children's spirituality (Hyde 2005), the influence of
Gadamer's (1989) notion of understanding as a “fusion of horizons” (306) was pivotal to the reflection
upon this case study. Gadamer maintained that genuine understanding occurred when the horizon
projected by the text combined with the interpreter's own comprehension and insight. In this way
hermeneutic phenomenology results in the production of something new. Meaning and understanding
are co-determined by the particularity of the interpreter and the text itself.
The case study reported in this article represents a “double” fusion of horizons. First, the horizon of the
child, Daniel, fused with the horizon of meaning presented by the parable story that was the focus of his
work. Daniel's own understandings were brought into dialogue with this parable, resulting in the
production of meaning for him. Such understandings are explored in this paper. Second, through an
engagement with the life of expression of the child in this case study the researcher himself was able to
fuse his own understandings with those of Daniel's life expression, in which meaning—the way in
which spirituality was nourished through the Godly play process—was productive, and co-determined
by the contexts of the researcher and the life expression of the child.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUALITY
While acknowledging that spirituality is a contested concept (see for example Erricker 2001; Priestley
1997; Wright 2004), a broad understanding of spirituality has been adopted throughout this author's
research. Spirituality is ontological. Groome (1998) maintains that “it is more accurate to call ourselves
spiritual being who have a human life, than human beings who a spiritual life” (332). As an ontological
category, spirituality is a natural human predisposition, something that people are born with and
“something dynamic that forever seeks articulation and expression in human living” (O'Murchu 1997,
37).
In the broadest sense, spirituality is concerned with a person's sense of connectedness and relationship
with self, others, the cosmos, and for many, with a Transcendent dimension (God) (Fisher 2008; Hay
with Nye 2006; Tacey 2003). In expanding on such an understanding, de Souza (2006) argues that
spirituality involves a journey toward Ultimate Unity. Such a movement can be understood to spiral
through different layers of connectedness with self, others, the world, and possibly, with God, which
generally move forward towards deeper and wider levels, but which could recede depending on the
particular contexts of an individuals' experience. de Souza further maintains that such a forward
movement, for some individuals, has the potential to lead to the deepest and widest levels of
connectedness, whereby the individual experiences becoming One with Other, that is, Ultimate Unity.
These conclusions support aspects of neurobiological research, particularly Austin (2000) and Newberg
and colleagues (2001), who describe the neurobiology of transcendence as a movement towards
Absolute Unitary Being, when Self blends into Other and mind and matter become one and the same.
Newberg and his colleagues propose the notion of a “unitary continuum” (145), where at one pole a
person may interact with the world and with others, but may experience this interaction as something
from which she or he is apart. As the person progresses along the unitary continuum the sense of
separateness becomes less distinct and could lead to individual experiences of sacredness and
experiences of unity.
Children's spirituality may also be described in terms of the type of unity described earlier, that is, in
terms of being located somewhere along the unitary continuum. The research of Hart (2003), Hyde
(2008), and Adams, Hyde, and Woolley (2008) in particular indicate that some children are in fact
capable of such a movement, and may experience Ultimate Unity, albeit for short periods of time.
GODLY PLAY
As a way of Religious Education for early, middle, and late childhood, as well as for adults, Berryman
(2009) describes Godly Play as play with the language of God and of God's people—sacred stories,
parables, liturgical action, and silence. It is an approach to Religious Education deeply rooted in the
Montessori method, and carries forward the work of Montessori (1948), Standing (1965 [1929]) and
Cavalletti (1983). It is a method that engages the whole child—hands, heart, mind, senses, and intuition.
Children prepare for Godly Play by crossing the threshold from the world outside into the carefully
prepared environment of the Godly Play classroom, infused with the language of the Christian people.
Children are invited to enter this space. The child her- or himself decides within limits whether or not
she or he is ready to enter. The Doorperson assists in helping children to prepare for entering this space.
If crossing the threshold is not well managed the children may not be ready, and being ready is
important for developing one's spirituality.
After entering the Godly Play classroom, the children sit in a circle where the Storyteller presents the
day's lesson. The lesson may take the form of a sacred story from scripture (stories that are concerned
with the identity of God's people), a parable (stories which Jesus told to challenge a worldview or way
of thinking), or a liturgical action (an element from the liturgy, such as Baptism, or from the flow of the
liturgical year, such as Advent). The telling of the story is accompanied by the use of the two and three
dimensional materials, which are manipulated by the Storyteller so as to model for the children how the
story is told. This is followed by Group Wondering in which the Storyteller invites the children to
wonder together about the lesson. There are no predetermined answers to wondering posed by the
Storyteller. It is not a “question and answer time,” but rather an opportunity for the children and the
Storyteller to engage playfully with the lesson of the day. The children's wondering emerges from their
own lives, their relationship to God and their participation in the lesson. The role of the Storyteller is to
support their wondering.
When the wondering concludes, the Storyteller helps the children to choose their work in response to
the lesson. This is “deeply playful 'work' ” (Berryman 2002, 56) and allows the children to respond to
both the lesson and to other events in their own lives. The children may choose to respond to the story
of the day through art or drawing, using any of the materials available in the room. Alternatively, they
may choose to work with a story they have already heard, using the two- and three-dimensional
materials to engage with that story. The responding is followed by the opportunity to share in the feast,
usually consisting of cordial, biscuits, or fruit. The feast is important in concluding the session, as it,
together with the other elements of the process, mirrors the pattern of Christian worship.
At the conclusion of the feast, the children are again assisted by the Doorperson to get ready to leave the
Godly Play classroom. Saying goodbye and leaving is an important and necessary part of the Godly
Play process, and indeed of Christian worship. It should not be minimized.
Godly Play takes place is a space that has been specifically prepared for that purpose. The space is
managed so that children who enter it find themselves surrounded by the language of the Christian
people. It is a safe and stimulating environment that provides sensorial materials with which children
can touch, manipulate, and with which they can work. It combines and integrates two primary gateways
to knowing for young children—language (the verbal system) and play (the nonverbal system)
(Berryman 2002). Although both are involved, it is the latter of these two gateways—the nonverbal
system—which, according to Berryman, may particularly nurture the spirituality of children.
The case study that follows, and the reflection on it that follows after, illustrates the way in which four
characteristics of children's spirituality—the felt sense, integrating awareness, weaving the threads of
meaning, and spiritual questing—were brought to the fore during the Godly Play process. The case
study has, in the first instance, been written as hermeneutic phenomenological text—the findings (see
Gadamer 1989; van Manen 1990) consistent with the author's original program of research (Hyde
2008). The discussion that follows the text attempts to reflect on it so as to discern how the four
characteristics of children's spirituality emerge, are brought to the fore, and are nurtured during the
Godly Play process.
THE FINDINGS
On the day of the researcher's visit there were four children in the Godly Play classroom. Their
fictionalized names were Daniel, Susan, Emily, and Natasha. The Storyteller had presented to the
children the Parable of the Great Peal. The following text centers on one of the students—Daniel—
during the response element of the process, when the children were invited to take out their work.
Although the Parable of the Great Pearl was the presentation of that day, Daniel chose to work with the
Parable of the Good Shepherd materials. Daniel was three-and-a-half years of age and of Anglo-Saxon
descent. His grandparents were well known within the parish community. In fact, it was his grandfather
who had brought him to the Godly Play classroom on this occasion.
Daniel was attracted to the Parable of the Good Shepherd materials, which had been presented some
weeks beforehand. With care, he unpacked the contents of the parable box. Slowly and deliberately, he
manipulated the pieces of the presentation. In particular, he took great care in placing each of the sheep,
one by one, onto the shoulders of the Good Shepherd, just as the Good Shepherd put the lost sheep onto
his shoulders in the parable. He then manipulated the materials so that the Good Shepherd individually
took each one of the sheep on his shoulders into the sheepfold. Daniel seemed to be absorbed in this
activity. The care with which he displayed in moving of the pieces suggests that, for him at that moment
in time, nothing else existed outside of this activity.
Daniel appeared to have “unfinished business” (Lamont 2007) with this parable. The Storyteller later
indicated to me that Daniel had also chosen this parable for his work in the session the previous week.
He was in the process of making meaning from this parable. He had taken the Storyteller's words to
heart—that if at first you can't get inside the parable, don't be discouraged, but keep coming back to it.
For Daniel it seemed that this particular presentation held particular significance. He was searching for
that significance by revisiting the parable and manipulating the materials. The significance may have
been in his placing, one by one, each of the sheep onto the shoulders of the Good Shepherd so that each
could be individually carried safely back into the sheepfold.
Throughout his engagement in this activity, Daniel did not speak. He looked intently at the materials as
he maneuvered them, slowly and deliberately. He was engaged in seriously playful play, which carried
with it a sense of sacredness, which he honored through silence and reverence.
DISCUSSION
The text above is now reflected on and discussed in terms of each of the four characteristics of
children's spirituality that have emanated from the author's own research.
The Felt Sense
The first characteristic that Daniel exhibited was the felt sense. The felt sense refers to the way in which
a child draws on the wisdom of her or his own body as a natural and primal way of knowing. It involves
an awareness of the immediacy of experience and tactile, sensory activity. In Hyde's (2008) study, the
following example of a ten-year-old child planting seeds is indicative of the felt sense:
He seemed to acknowledge the texture and consistency of the soil by rubbing it between his finger tips
and thumb before patting it into each of the sockets. Then, delicately, he placed one or two of the seeds
into each of the sockets, and gently compressed them into the potting mixture. In a way that could
almost be described as lovingly, he added a little water to each. (87)
In the case study that is the focus of this article, Daniel was engaged in a sensory and tactile activity.
Using his hands and fingers, he manipulated each of the individual pieces of the Parable of the Good
Shepherd slowly and deliberately in his quest to find meaning in the parable. He was drawing on the
wisdom of his body as a natural way of knowing. This parallels with Berryman's (1991) notion of a
“sensorial logic” (140-141) as an alternative way of knowing, whereby a child might be convinced
about something that has been experienced, and express this using the words “I know what I know.”
It is pertinent to note here that bodily wisdom refers to a holistic understanding that includes both
mental and physical capacities, rather than a separation of them (cf. Gendlin 1981). Therefore, the
whole of Daniel's body was engaged in this activity. His perception of, as well as his bodily interactions
with these materials led to his conscious thinking and acting on the parable materials. Christian mystic
Thomas Merton referred to this holistic apperception as an ontological awareness (Del Prete 2002).
Effectively, Daniel's whole being was involved in the experience. His bodily and tactile encounter with
the materials of the parable engaged his whole Self in a direct, experiential, and concrete way. The
divide between Self and object was, for a short time, bridged. In some instances, such an ontological
awareness may lead to a sense of unity with Other (God), since the separation between Self and Other
becomes less distinct. In this act of being, Merton might have said that Daniel had experience
something of the presence of God, for God had been present to Daniel in the very act of his own being
(Del Prete 2002). This idea is explored further using the lens of spiritual questing later in this article.
In being absorbed in this activity, Daniel was also attending to the here-and-now of his experience. His
temporal horizon was situated in the immediate present. In the phenomenological literature, time plays a
significant role (see for example Merleau-Ponty 1996, 2004; van Manen 1990). Time exists for an
individual because she or he is situated in it (Merleau-Ponty 1996). The concept of time also has
relevance in this discussion of the felt sense. Daniel was situated in the immediate temporal horizon. He
experienced it as significant time. Berryman (2002) refers to such an understanding of time as kairos
time. Kairos time is significant time. It is time which is both orderly and leisurely.2 It is time that allows
children to remain in the present moment of their experiences. In this instance, kairos time operated so
as to enable Daniel to have all the time that was required for him to draw upon his felt sense to engage
meaningfully with the parable materials. Through the provision of kairos time Daniel was able to draw
on the wisdom of his body to experience an alternative way of knowing to experience the presence of
God. Through this type of sensorial logical, emanating from his own felt sense, Daniel “knew what he
knew” (cf. Berryman 1991, 140-141).
Integrating Awareness
Integrating awareness refers to an emerging level of consciousness enveloping, or integrating, a
previous level of awareness. This might typically occur, for example, when a person meditates—the
awareness of the individual's own breathing and position on the floor is enveloped by the emerging
level of consciousness, in which Self and Other become less distinct (and in some instances, become
one and the same). The author's research indicates that children are able to achieve this, albeit for short
periods of time.
Although difficult to ascertain with absolute certainty, some evidence in the text outlined above can be
found to suggest that Daniel also exhibited the characteristic of integrating awareness. First, he was
absorbed in a tactile and sensory activity. This has been identified a prerequisite for integrating
awareness (Hyde 2008), and constitutes the initial level, or wave, of consciousness. The second, or
emerging level of awareness for Daniel may have been the action of the Good Shepherd in placing each
one of the sheep onto his shoulders and carrying them safely back to the sheepfold. This seems to have
been a repetitive action which clearly held some significance for Daniel. A focus on repetition, for
example one's breathing in and out while meditating, or repeating the prayers of the Rosary, has been
argued to result in the emergence of higher waves of consciousness that envelope previous levels of
awareness (Wilber 2000). This repetitive action may have led Daniel to become aware of Jesus as the
Good Shepherd and of himself as one of the sheep who was carried to safety. It would be plausible to
suggest that this may have constituted a second wave of consciousness that enveloped the initial level of
awareness of manipulating the materials of the parable. In this second wave of consciousness Daniel
encountered Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as one who protects and comforts, as one who guides and leads
to safety.
Weaving the Threads of Meaning
Weaving the threads of meaning refers to the child drawing on her or his own sense of wonder as a
means by which to make sense of the world and events from the many and diverse frameworks of
meaning that are available. The following example from Hyde's (2008) research involving a group of
eight-year-old children is indicative of this characteristic. The children were shown a photograph of a
large rock formation, and they were attempting to create meaning for themselves from it:
“I wonder: how did it get so big?” (asked Rosie)
“I wonder if it's is a volcano,” said Ali, who seemed to be drawing upon some recent work in the
classroom which had involved an exploration of a volcano that erupted some time ago …
… “Maybe it just dropped from the sky,” offered Tran.
“It could have fallen, like how hail stones come out of the sky,” replied Rosie, “and there could have
been so many of them, and the Aboriginals [sic] could have stacked them up and painted the rock that
red color.” (109)
The fact that Daniel in the case study focused on in this article had chosen to work with this parable on
more than one occasion during recent weeks in the Godly Play classroom is significant. It suggests that
he may have had “unfinished business” (Lamont 2007) in relation to it, and to which he felt that he must
attend. In coming back to the parable again in an attempt to uncover its meaning for him, Daniel was
involved in the process of weaving together the many threads of meaning so that he might discover the
parable's significance for himself. While there are potentially many frameworks of meaning from
among which children may choose elements, in this instance, Daniel was clearly drawing on the
Christian story as one key source. A key to the significance of this parable for Daniel lay in his
manipulating of the Good Shepherd and the sheep. He individually placed each of the sheep, one by
one, onto the Good Shepherd's shoulders, and took each safely back to the sheepfold. In doing so, it is
possible that he was confronting at least one existential issue in his life. Berryman (1991, 2009)
maintains that existential issues mark the boundaries of human experience. They include the experience
of what happens at death, the sense of aloneness, the need to create meaning, and an appreciation of
what it means to be free (see also Yalom 1980). Berryman maintains that these limits are just as
fundamental to the lives of children as they are to adults. While children may experience them, speak of
them and approach them in ways different to adults, they are nonetheless real for them.
Daniel's life expression suggests that there may have been two existential issues he was confronting.
First, he was confronting the need to create meaning from this parable. Earlier work with this parable in
previous weeks had not enabled Daniel to derive sufficient meaning, and so he chose deliberately to
work with the parable again in an attempt to complete his unfinished business. Some early research of
Berryman (1991) indicates that children may return to the same presentation many times over a number
of Godly Play sessions in order to make meaning from it. It is therefore necessary that children be
allowed to do so, and that they are supported by the adults in the Godly Play classroom in their quest.
Secondly, Daniel may also have been confronting the existential issue of freedom. Freedom can present
as a paradox for human beings. People crave freedom, yet when it is acquired people often retreat to the
safety of boundaries. In some sense, freedom is perceived as a threat by people. It is eagerly sought
after, yet when attained people often do not know what to do with their new found freedom. Somehow,
it is safer to remain within the confines of boundaries. In the parable, the Good Shepherd guides and
shows the way. He shows the sheep how to be free by leading them to the “good grass,” to the cool,
fresh water, through the places of danger, and back safely to the sheepfold. When freedom leads to one
of the sheep finding of itself lost and in dangerous territory, the Good shepherd leads it to safety. The
Good Shepherd even searches in the places of danger for the sheep, which, because of an excess of
freedom, has become lost. In working with the parable materials again, Daniel was confronting this
existential issue, and possibly coming to see that Jesus—the Good Shepherd—was one who, rather than
curtailing his freedom, could lead and guide him safely to it.
Of importance here is the space which enabled Daniel to weave together the threads of meaning and to
confront these existential issues. The space in the Godly Play classroom is carefully managed so as that
the children who enter it are surrounded by the language of the Christian people “in all it beautiful,
touchable richness” (Berryman 2002, 51; italics in the original). But more than this, it is a safe space in
which children are free to seek meaning and direction in their lives. The adults in the Godly Play
classroom support, but do not interfere with children's confronting of their existential limits, thereby
rendering it a safe space for children. The space that had been created and carefully managed in this
particular instance enabled Daniel to attend to this important work in finding meaning in his life.
Spiritual Questing
Spiritual questing refers to the fact that children are seekers. They are actively searching for a sense of
life's meaning and purpose, and this is often reflected in what they claim to value most. The following
example, from Hyde's (2008) study is indicative of this. A group of ten-year-old children had been
asked what really, really mattered to them:
“Freedom really matters,” [replied John] “because, a long time ago slavery was not illegal, and some
people didn't have freedom, which everybody should be able to have.”
The reflection upon the case study in this article suggests that through his engagement with the parable
materials, Daniel was searching for a sense of meaning and purpose through identifying for himself
what really mattered to him, that is, what he valued most. The notion of freedom was important to him,
but it was not the freedom of being alone. It was a freedom concerning the possibility of being in
relationship with others in community. Daniel's placing of sheep onto the shoulders of the Good
Shepherd was not an isolated act. It was a deliberately repeated action so that eventually all of the sheep
were taken safely back to the sheepfold. Daniel did not want to be alone. His work with the parable
materials suggests that he was seeking to belong in community. Working again with these materials
provided him with the opportunity to see and to perhaps affirm himself, his family, and other significant
people in his life as being together in community—all of the “sheep” who are looked after and who are
led to safety by the Good Shepherd.
In this parable, and as the result of his spiritual questing, Daniel experienced something of the presence
of God who, as discussed, was already present to Daniel in the very act of his own being (Del Prete
2002). More specifically, he encountered and met the person of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. It was an
experience far more profoundly sacred than merely manipulating a set of parable materials. In this
spiritual questing, Daniel not only played quite literally in the presence of God. He actually encountered
and met Jesus, the Good Shepherd who guides, protects and leads his sheep—his community—to
safety, in a personal way. Put another way, it was as if the creator of the parable (Jesus) and the seeker
of meaning (Daniel) met in their common creative acts and at the edges of knowing and being as
Creator and creature, who play and co-create together.3
CONCLUSION
The case study presented in this article does suggest that each of the four characteristics of children's
spirituality as identified in the original research of this author—the felt sense, integrating awareness,
weaving the threads of meaning, and spiritual questing—were brought to the fore and were nourished as
a result of the Godly Play process. The case study, which utilized hermeneutic phenomenology as a tool
for reflection, thereby serves to shed some light on how in a practical sense Godly Play may nurture the
spirituality of children who engage in this process. Daniel's spirituality was nourished through the
Godly Play process because he was able to draw on the wisdom of his body as a natural way of
knowing, because he was able to create meaning and confront existential issues, because he was able to
identify for himself what really mattered to him—belonging in community, and because he was able
meet Jesus through the parable story.
There are, however, two important points that have emerged in light of this case study that need to be
articulated. The first concerns Daniel's choice and use of the Good Shepherd parable materials. If Daniel
had been allowed only to work with the lesson of the day (which was the Parable of the Great Pearl), he
would not have been able to return to the Parable of the Good Shepherd to create meaning, to confront
his existential limits and so complete his unfinished business with the parable. Additionally, the insights
into spirituality offered in this article would not have emerged. Similarly, if Daniel had simply been told
by the Storyteller that, in reality, he was one of the sheep, and that Jesus was the Good Shepherd, then
he would have been robbed of the opportunity of making such a discovery for himself, and the parable
would not have impacted upon him in a way that enabled his spirituality to be nurtured. Therefore,
children must be given agency in their choice of work. This reiterates Berryman's (1991) contention that
children need to be able to choose their own work in the Godly Play classroom so that they can return
again and again to images that bear meaning for them to enable them to confront and cope with their
existential limits and ultimate concerns.
Second, while Daniel was using the Parable of the Good Shepherd to make meaning about his life, he
was internalizing not only the parable itself, but also how to use it in his developing understanding of
the Christian language system. Although in this particular case study, Daniel used meditative silence
rather than spoken language, he has clearly drawn on the Storyteller's original telling of the parable in
his usage of the materials. This became evident in watching him manipulate the lesson materials. In
meditative silence, Daniel used the Storyteller's original language in his own meaning-making process.
Importantly also, Berryman (2002) reiterates that the Christian language system includes not only
parables, sacred stories, and liturgical actions, but also meditative silence. There was considerable
meditative silence in Daniel's work in this particular case study. It enabled him to engage meaningfully
with this parable in nurturing his spiritual life.
Acknowledgments
Brendan Hyde, Ph.D., is Senior Lecturer in the National School of Religious Education at Australian
Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. E-mail: brendan.hyde@acu.edu.au
REFERENCES



















1. Adams, K. , Hyde, B. and Woolley, R. (2008) The spiritual dimension of childhood Jessica
Kingsley , London
2. Austin, J. Andresen, J. and Thorverton, R. Forman (eds) (2000) Consciousness evolves when
self dissolves. Cognitive models and spiritual maps: Interdisciplinary explorations of religious
experience pp. 209-230. Imprint Academic , UK
3. Beckwith, I. (2004) Postmodern children's ministry: Ministry to children in the 21st century
Zondervan , Grand Rapids, MI
4. Berryman, J. W. (1991) Godly play: A way of religious education Harper , San Francisco
5. Berryman, J. W. (2002) The complete guide to Godly play. Volume 1 Living the Good News ,
Denver, CO
6. Berryman, J. W. (2009) Teaching Godly play: How to mentor the spiritual development of
children Morehouse Education Resources , Denver, CO
7. Carter, M. (2007) All God's children: An introduction to pastoral work with children SPCK ,
London
8. Cavalletti, S. (1983) The religious potential of the child: The description of an experience
with children from ages three to six Paulist Press , New York
9. Prete, T. Del Miller, J. and Nakagawa. Rutland, Y. (eds) (2002) Being what we are: Thomas
Merton's spirituality of education. Nurturing our wholeness: Perspectives on spirituality in
education pp. 164-191. Foundation for Educational Renewal , VT
9a. de Souza, M. de Sousa, M. , Engebretson, K. , Durka, G. , Jackson, R. and McGrady, A.
(eds) (2006) Rediscovering the spiritual dimension in education: Promoting a sense of self and
place, meaning and purpose in learning. International handbook of the religious, moral and
spiritual dimensions in education pp. 1127-1139. Springer , Dordrecht, the Netherlands
10. Dilthey, W. Mueller-Vollmer, K. (ed) (1994) The understanding of other persons and their
life-expressions. The hermeneutics reader: Texts of the German tradition from the
enlightenment to the present pp. 152-164. Continuum , New York
11. Erricker, C. (2001) Shall we dance? Authority, representation, and voice: The place of
spirituality in religious education. Religious Education 96:1 , pp. 53-66. [informaworld]
12. Fisher, J. (2008) Impacting teachers' and students' spiritual wellbeing. Journal of Beliefs and
Values 29:3 , pp. 252-261.
13. Gadamer, H. -G. Weinsheimer, J. and Marshall, D. (eds) (1989) Truth and method 2nd Rev.
English edition, Sheed & Ward , London — (Original work published 1960)
14. Gendlin, E. (1981) Focusing 2nd edition, Bantam , New York
15. Groome, T. (1998) Educating for life: A spiritual vision for every teacher and parent
Crossroads , New York
16. Hart, T. (2003) The secret spiritual world of children Inner Ocean , Makawao, HI
17. Hay, D. and Nye, R. (2006) The spirit of the child Rev. edition, Jessica Kingsley , London
18. Hyde, B. (2004) Children's spirituality and “The Good Shepherd Experience.”. Religious
Education 99:2 , pp. 137-150. [informaworld]

















19. Hyde, B. (2005) Beyond logic—Entering the realm of mystery: Hermeneutic
phenomenology as a tool for reflecting on children's spirituality. International Journal of
Children's Spirituality 10:1 , pp. 31-44. [informaworld]
20. Hyde, B. (2008) Children and spirituality: Searching for meaning and connectedness Jessica
Kingsley , London [informaworld]
21. Lamont, R. (2004) A comparison of the effect of storytelling on the spirituality of children
aged 9 and 10. Unpublished MA (Pastoral Theology) dissertation. — Anglia Polytechnic
University (now Anglia Ruskin University), UK
24. Lamont, R. Davis, O. (ed) (2004) The world of perception Routledge , London — (Original
work published 1948)
22. Lamont, R. (2007) Understanding children understanding God SPCK , London
23. Merleau-Ponty, M. Smith, C. (ed) (1996) Phenomenology of perception Routledge , London
— (Original work published 1945)
25. Montessori, M. (1948) To educate the human potential Kalakshetra Publications , Madras,
India
26. Newberg, A. , d'Aquili, E. and Rause, V. (2001) Why God won't go away: Brain science and
the biology of belief Ballantine , New York
27. O'Murchu, D. (1997) Reclaiming spirituality: A new spiritual framework for today's world
Gateway , Dublin
28. Priestley, J. (1997) Spirituality, curriculum and education. International Journal of
Children's Spirituality 2:1 , pp. 23-34. [informaworld]
29. Sharkey, P. Barnacle, R. (ed) (2001) Hermeneutic phenomenology. Phenomenology:
Qualitative research methods pp. 16-37. RMIT University Press , Melbourne
30. Standing, E. M. (1965) The child in the church Catechetical Guild , St. Paul, MN —
(Original work published 1929)
31. Tacey, D. (2003) The spirituality revolution: The emergence of contemporary spirituality
HarperCollins , Sydney
32. van Manen, M. (1990) Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive
pedagogy Althouse , Ontario, Canada
33. Wilber, K. (2000) Integral psychology: Consciousness, spirit, psychology Shambhala ,
London
34. Wright, A. (2004) Religion, education and postmodernity RoutledgeFalmer , London [
crossref ]
35. Yalom, I. D. (1980) Existential psychotherapy Basic Books , New York
Notes
The author acknowledges the support, encouragement, and suggestions offered by Jerome W. Berryman
in the development of this article.
It is pertinent to note here also that this type of orderly and leisurely time is the gift which the mystics
throughout Christian history have given themselves to experience their prayer with God (Berryman
2002).
This particular insight was developed through personal communication with Jerome W. Berryman, July
9, 2009.