Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education

This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive resource that addresses the growing movement for incorporating spirituality as an important aspect of the meaning and purpose of higher education. Written by Arthur W. Chickering, Jon C. Dalton, and Leisa Stamm—experts in the field of educational leadership and policy—Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education shows how to encourage increased authenticity and spiritual growth among students and education professionals by offering alternative ways of knowing, being, and doing.

Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education includes a rich array of examples to guide the integration of authenticity and spirituality in curriculum, student affairs, community partnerships, assessment, and policy issues. Many of these illustrative examples represent specific policies and programs that have successfully been put in place at diverse institutions across the country. In addition, the authors cover the theoretical, historical, and social perspectives on religion and higher education and examine the implications for practice. They include the results of recent court cases that deal with church-state issues and offer recommendations that pose no legal barrier to implementation.

Foreword vii
Alexander W. Astin, Helen S. Astin

Preface xiii

The Authors xvii

Part One: Framing Perspectives 1

1 Our Orientation 5
Arthur W. Chickering

2 The Dynamics of Spirituality and the Religious Experience 37
Liesa Stamm

3 The Influence of Religion and Spirituality in Shaping American Higher Education 66
Liesa Stamm

Part Two: Institutional Amplification 93

4 Policy Issues: Legislative and Institutional 97
Arthur W. Chickering

5 Curricular Content and Powerful Pedagogy 113
Arthur W. Chickering

6 The Place of Spirituality in the Mission and Work of College Student Affairs 145
Jon C. Dalton

7 Integrating Spirit and Community in Higher Education 165
Jon C. Dalton

Part Three: Getting There from Here 187

8 Planned Change and Professional Development 189
Arthur W. Chickering

9 Assessing Ineffable Outcomes 220
Arthur W. Chickering, with Marcia Mentkowski

10 Leadership for Recovering Spirit 243
Liesa Stamm

11 Principles and Practices for Strengthening Moral and Spiritual Growth in College 272
Jon C. Dalton

Appendix A: University of Missouri-Columbia Policy Statement 283

Appendix B: Illustrative Course Syllabi 294

Appendix C:Rutgers Evaluation and Dissemination Plans 310

Appendix D: Teacher Formation Evaluation Results 316

Appendix E: Inventory for Assessing the Moral and Spiritual Growth Initiatives of Colleges and Universities 318
Jon C. Dalton

References 331

Name Index 345

Subject Index 351

THE AUTHORS

Arthur W. Chickering is special assistant to the president of Goddard College. He is the author and coauthor of several books, including the Jossey-Bass best-selling classic, Education and Identity, now in its second edition.

Jon C. Dalton is associate professor in educational leadership and policy studies at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Liesa Stamm is a senior associate at Rutgers University Center for Children and Childhood Studies. She serves as a research and planning consultant for projects in Camden, New Jersey and for international service learning.

This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive resource that addresses the growing movement for incorporating spirituality as an important aspect of the meaning and purpose of higher education. Written by Arthur W. Chickering, Jon C. Dalton, and Liesa Stamm—experts in the field of educational leadership and policy—Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education shows how to encourage increased authenticity and spiritual growth among students and education professionals by offering alternative ways of knowing, being, and doing.

Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education includes a rich array of examples to guide the integration of authenticity and spirituality in curriculum, student affairs, community partnerships, assessment, and policy issues. Many of these illustrative examples represent specific policies and programs that have successfully been put in place at diverse institutions across the country. In addition, the authors cover the theoretical, historical, and social perspectives on religion and higher education and examine the implications for practice. They include the results of recent court cases that deal with church-state issues and offer recommendations that pose no legal barrier to implementation.

The authors examine the questions of institutional change and professional development and outline the special characteristics that leaders need to develop if they are to move toward authenticity and spirituality on campus. Designed to demystify the process, Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education offers practical recommendations for adopting the book’s suggested strategies into existing programs and policies. "The spirituality in education movement--which is so ably articulated, tracked, and advanced in this volume--represents a deepening of the educational enterprise, an effort to make education more responsive to the imperatives of the heart and to the needs of the world. For the large numbers of faculty and administrators who now care about such things, this book is both a reliable guide and great gift."
--Parker J. Palmer, author, The Courage to Teach, Let Your Life Speak, and A Hidden Wholeness

"This book provides important pathways into the reconsideration of the purposes and practices of higher education, illuminates the landscape, and will inspire the ongoing renewal of a conversation that lies at the heart of the professoriate."
--Sharon Daloz Parks, author, Big Questions, WorthyDreams: Mentoring Young Adults in Their Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Faith

"What colleges and universities provide in terms of intellectual, cultural, and physical resources has little lasting value unless students integrate what they experience in meaningful, personally relevant ways. This timely, much-needed volume from three consummate educators who’ve traveled this territory is a powerful reminder of why we are here in the first place. They write as they live–with powerful conviction and purpose – and cause us to rethink what we do and why we do it."
--George D. Kuh, coauthor, Student Success in College

"We should all welcome this comprehensive exploration of the meaning and purpose underlying the education of our students."
--Graham Spanier, president, Pennsylvania State University

"Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education is a thorough and insightful book on spirituality and education that provides a rare blend of research, theoretical scope, and application. Careful to make the distinction between religion and spirituality that includes religious and nonreligious paths to meanings, Encouraging Authenticity argues for the urgency of educating the whole student without indoctrination and through the enhancement of existing academic values and programs."
--Larry D. Shinn, president, Berea College