Theory Review- Spirit and Soul in learning by Logan Marlatt

 

Logan Marlatt

Dr. Chang

EDAC 635

February 20, 2022

 

Theory Review: Spirit and soul in learning

Name	Commented On
Logan Marlatt	Evaristus Ngetsop
Logan Marlatt	Lyston Louks

 

            Education as a practice has a multitude of theories that can applied to it. Theories range from the analytical to the personal, and all things in-between. For this theory discussion I am interested in discussing and reviewing the theory of spirit and soul. As evidenced in chapter nine of Dorothy Mackeracher’s textbook Making Sense of Adult Learning (2010), the theory of utilizing spirit and soul in learning has been a rather recent development. Mackeracher touches upon this concept as having two main components: the spirit facing outwards while the soul is a more inner reflection. Below I shall continue on to this analysis in more detail and will provide insight into how it can be utilized in a class setting for adult learners.

Main Theoretical Points

            As mentioned previously from Mackeracher’s text (2010), spirit and soul is a process that incorporates the internal and external aspects of education, and allows learners to better explore themselves and their place in the world. According to Mackeracher, the are seven different conditions that must be met to instruct learners on spiritual learning. The first discusses that learners must achieve an altered state of consciousness. According to the text, this process involves that learners must be aware of their surroundings and the content that they are experiencing. This goes alongside well with the second condition, which involves the student being willing to be exposed to new experiences or ideas. As author Peter Mudge (2021) states, learners must be “open to a transformation” (p. 53). The texts state that the process of opening up to new experiences may often involve activities that may seem strange at first, but are essential for allowing learners to further open themselves up (Mackeracher, 2010).

            The next aspect is that spiritual learning is best adopted by learners who are alert to things that are in their own environment. Another author, Mark Plater (2017), indicates that learners may feel more engaged in their environment once they achieve a form of balance in both the soul and spirit. This ties in well with the fourth area, which allows learners to avoid judgement for embracing spirituality in their learning behavior. By achieving understanding of their environment without the distractions of judgement, a possible balance can be achieved. The fifth aspect of reflection further compounds upon this idea, where learners must reflect upon their experiences. It is recommended that for this section that students should engage in journal writing (Mackeracher, 2010) in order to get the most out of this experience.

            The sixth condition argues that spiritual learning occurs more strongly when learners are more willing to share their own personal experiences (Makeracher, 2010). This need for students to express themselves and share their ideas and memories has been shown to be an effective way to facilitate class discussions on content (Bhatia & Kapur, 2018). With this in mind, the final condition is that learners will have a better time learning through spirit and soul learning by embracing opportunities that come from areas that they ordinarily would not engage in. By allowing students to engage in these seven conditions, learners will discover a much more enlightened and excited class that will be willing to participate in learning.

Application

            I find that adhering to each of these conditions is paramount to creating an engaging and exciting learning environment. From reading in these texts about how these conditions can be met, it seems that a lot of it depends upon whether or not students are willing to engage in the process. As Mackeracher indicates, some of the activities that could be utilized for students may come off to them as a bit strange. This is due to adults being more constrained from doing things that seem unusual in society. I feel that the first step, which is allowing students to alter their state of consciousness, is the most difficult step to achieve. Mackeracher notes that activities such as dream sharing, and more creative activities may be what is needed to invite students into this process. As Karen Lawson indicates in their book The Trainer’s Handbook (2011), there are a multitude of different styles and activities that instructors can employ to encourage learners to become more creative.

            From my own experience, I have found that writing down my own thoughts and reading them aloud to others has been a fantastic way to become more vulnerable and to also open myself to others. The best way to avoid judgement is to confront it directly and be honest. For instance, when I taught a class discussion once on information literacy, I instructed my students to allow one another the opportunity to speak with judgement or interruption. As a whole I felt that this experience was effective, and it made the members of my class feel much closer to one another as a result.

            Finally, the act of embracing new opportunities is something that could be applied very well. This can be done by presenting activities to the class that they ordinarily would not have thought of doing. For instance, I am currently in a class where the instructor has offered us an opportunity to choose what forms we could complete our assignments as. I have chosen to complete one upcoming assignment as a podcast. Creating a podcast is something that I am not used to, but I had decided to embrace the opportunity to try something new. I feel that this is a good highlight of how spiritual learning can be applied to students.

Reflection

            Spirit and soul as a learning concept is something that I had not considered before taking this class, but in retrospect I now realize that it is has been something that I have been practicing in education for a while now. As someone that wants to bring an energetic and welcoming environment wherever I go, it feels good to know that there is a theory out there that fits more in line with how I like to view the world. Conducting this research has been a bit difficult given that this is still a more recent theory, but I am confident that as time goes on we will see more and more examples of the applications of this theory utilized in academia for adult learners.

Highlights

            I feel that my favorite highlight from this theory would be that of letting learners become vulnerable, and to allow them to become open to new ideas. I am a proponent of letting people try something new and I always welcome the opportunity to expand my own horizons. Growing up I was always nervous about opening myself up to others, but it feels nice to realize that a major tenant of this encourages openness and honesty with oneself. This new to be vulnerable and open opens up so many great opportunities and allows things like inclusivity to become more widely accepted, which I am always happy to see!

Process

            I primarily utilized our primary texts in this class to cement myself an idea as to how this theory works. I then looked for articles that could help reinforce some of the conditions and concepts of spiritual learning. For the application portion I thought about my own experiences with spiritual learning and the ways that I could apply them to a class environment.

Theoretical Points	Applications
Spiritual learning should allow for a higher state of consciousness.	Instructors and learners must allow themselves to heighten their states of consciousness by engaging in activities such as the sharing of dreams, images, or word association activities.
Spiritual learning as a concept will be more effective for those who are open to new experiences.	Participants should engage in activities that encourage more imaginative or creative techniques that will allow them to become more open to new ideas.
Spiritual learning is more effective for students that are aware of their own consciousness.	Learners are encouraged to keep track of new ideas that my occur during their day to day lives, and should keep record of new thoughts that may crop up in their minds.
Spiritual learning is more effective for those who refrain from judgement of their experiences.	The application of this aspect involves students refraining from judging the thoughts that come to mind, and instead ask themselves what their thoughts mean.
Spiritual learning is favorable towards those who are willing to reflect.	The aforementioned applications make note that students should jot down ideas and dreams into a journal. For this section students should revisit these musings.
Spiritual learning is effective when learners are willing to share their experiences.	This application involves learners selecting confidants who they feel will be accepting of the observations they have made as a learner through the course of spiritual learning.
Spiritual learning is most effective when learners look for experiences that are outside the norm for themselves.	Learners are encouraged to look for ideas in places that may seem unrelated to their past experiences. This allows new avenues for exploration to unfold.

           

References

Bhatia, A., & Kapur, P. (2018). From personal experiences to classroom teaching: A socio-                            psychological study of social inclusion and exclusion. Journal of Psychosocial Research, 13(1),             141–151. https://doi.org/10.32381/jpr.2018.13.01.15

Lawson, K. (2011). The trainer's handbook of leadership development tools, techniques, and                            activities. Pfeiffer.

MacKeracher, D. (2010). Making sense of adult learning (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press.

Mudge, P. (2021). This changes everything. The COVID-19 pandemic: An opportunity for                            cultivating a fresh approach to spirituality? Australasian Catholic Record, 98(1), 42–  53.

Plater, M. (2017). Re-souling spirituality: redefining the spiritual dimension in schools. International             Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 22(1), 14–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2016.1268097