“All I Am”
By Aurora H.
Ball State University
The idea that education should be left an individual structure, separate from religion is one I agree with. In order to fully support the exchange of ideas and the diverse range of religions and beliefs, it is imperative that religious doctrines and principles not be taught in conjunction with existing curriculums within educational institutions. That is not to say that spirituality and religion have no place in classrooms. Religion and spirituality is an incredibly personal thing and if we are to support a diverse community of students then, as teachers, we must be welcoming of that in all its aspects.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I rarely had a fellow member of my faith in my classrooms growing up, and this is still true. That being such a defining part of my life is what influences my beliefs when I say my educational philosophy includes an element of spirituality. As curators of classrooms, we should be able to reflect ourselves and our educational philosophies in our classrooms, regardless of what inspires us. As influential participants in our students’ lives, we should be free to utilize our whole knowledge base when asked for advice. I will explain further.
While the systems of education are beyond our ability to change as individuals, it is our own affect and presence in our classrooms that we absolutely can and must be open to teaching in a manner that is spiritually inviting or, at the very least, spiritually cognizant. In a classroom, students should be able to feel safe and comfortable of course, but I believe those who believe in him- and those who don’t- should also be able to feel the Spirit. This can be an interesting topic of discussion, but the general idea is that students who have a desire to be close to God should not be made to feel as though that is not possible in any classroom they are a part of. This can be achieved through styles of teaching, classroom management, even décor. While a picture of Christ in a classroom can be triggering for students with religious based trauma, a nondenominational quote or scripture that is broadly applicable is easy to come by and less triggering. This could be something such as “Worthiness is not flawlessness,” a recent quote by Brad Wilcox: a member of leadership in my faith. This is an important concept for students to understand regardless of its religious implications and could be a simple addition to a classroom striving to include a spiritual element.
Environments are important but much more so are the personal relationships teachers have with their students. Teachers should be allowed to have conversations that are spiritual. We are there as a resource to our students and though our status as authority figures prevents us from teaching our religion in our classrooms, if a student comes to us asking for our advice or guidance, it is our job to provide that to the absolute best of our ability and we cannot do that if we are filtering out our beliefs. I do not have my own classroom yet, so I cannot provide an example from putting this into practice in the field. However, I’ve recently had an experience that I believe demonstrates my point just as well.
I have a friend- we’ll call him Laurie- who has been very convinced of both nihilism and atheism his entire adult life. Due to a recent breakup, he and I had been able to spend more time together and therefore had many more in depth conversations. Overtime, I came to realize that many of these discussions hinged on him struggling with the idea of whether life has meaning. Of course, I know life has meaning. I know- because of my faith- that each person was sent to this earth for an individual purpose and everything that happens is tied to that purpose. I could not, in good conscience, give advice to my friend while filtering out that knowledge. It is no different in a classroom. I do not believe it is my job to incorporate my religious principles into my classroom objectives or lessons- that is overstepping. But if a student approaches me in need, my job is to guide them to the best of my ability and utilize all the knowledge I have in this life. I do not believe that students- like any other person- will ask advice from a specific person without wanting their wholehearted and unique response. Therefore, I believe that the spiritual elements of my response are not only allowed but required.
The bottom line is simply that students are not requiring these kind gloves we handle them with. Some regulations are absolutely essential however, my adjusting of myself in order to not sway a student one way or another is not one of those. I am made up entirely of what I believe. When I step into my classroom, I am not asked to not be feminist with my students. I am not asked to not be an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. I am not asked to hide my passion for music or books or Dungeons and Dragons. All of these, with my devout faith, contribute to my life experience and make me all I am- for better or worse- and when my students need me, I fully plan to give them all that I am. They deserve no less.