An exploration of children’s experiences of a process which provides opportunities for spiritual expression and development

International research studies of children’s spirituality attest to the vibrant spiritual potential of children and the importance of nurturing such potential. Spirituality has a vital personal, social and political function and recent policy documents relating to children’s development in Ireland, place an emphasis on supporting children’s innate spiritual capacities for their wellbeing. The implementation of such rhetoric however is not always visible in practice. The purpose of this study is (i) to explore the spiritual characteristics exhibited by Irish primary school children and (ii) to elicit their views with regard to a process which provides an opportunity for the nurturing of their spirituality. The landscape of children’s spirituality is explored through engagement with literature on foundational studies of children’s spirituality, the debate surrounding attending to the spiritual with children in a school context, approaches to nurturing children’s spirituality, and the role of religious education in spiritual development. Rooted within a critical realist ontology and a constructivist epistemology, the study implements a case study research design. Godly Play is used as a tool for providing a setting in which children’s agency; enquiry and creativity in the spiritual domain can be observed, interpreted and reported upon. Data collection took place in two primary schools and involved individual and focus group interviews following a series of Godly Play sessions. Template analysis was used to inductively identify themes in the data. The rationale for situating this study within the context of a Judeo-Christian understanding of the transcendent is outlined and ethical requirements are adhered to throughout the research process. Grounded in the research participants’ own experience and perceptions, the findings are largely consonant with the literature in terms of the spiritual characteristics exhibited by these Irish children, the sense of secrecy regarding their relationship with the numinous and how they grapple with issues of an existential nature. In addition, the findings indicate that children value engagement in activities of a spiritual nature. This study adds to the bank of knowledge on children’s spirituality and offers a unique perspective from an Irish context. It complements other research projects that engage with the voices of children and so contributes to a fuller picture of children’s development