Abstract
In recent years, psychological well-being among college-aged youth has declined sharply. While studies demonstrate a relationship between psychological well-being and spirituality, today's youth have fewer opportunities for spiritual development than prior generations. Increased pressure to achieve combined with increased use of technology leaves less time for spiritual reflection. Decreasing religious participation leaves fewer opportunities for the type of spiritual nourishment that previously existed. In this context, it becomes crucial for higher education to provide opportunities for holistic student development--including spiritual development. Because all undergraduates engage with academic coursework, it is especially important for faculty to consider what role they can play in promoting holistic student development. This chapter explores how spiritual growth occurs among undergraduates and explores pedagogical practices found to facilitate spiritual growth to ponder how higher education can effectively support the psychological well-being of undergraduates.
TopBackground
St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, spoke of the potential harms associated with disordered attachments—attachments that prevent the space for God to be at the center as they take over the energy in one’s life and in one’s soul. These attachments include things such as a desire for control, perfectionism, self-doubt, fear, and a desire for achievement and status (O’Brien, 2011). Today’s undergraduates have been brought up in a time where the pull towards disordered attachments is quite strong while the push away from spirituality and religion is similarly strong.
In his 2014 book Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite, William Deresiewicz offers a societal critique that resonates with Ignatius’ ideas around disordered attachments. Deresiewicz explains how growing up at the present time can lead a young adult to believe that their primary value lies in the successes they have achieved through measurable outcomes such as grades, standardized test scores, and championships. He argues that this “originates in the illusion of control…the idea that life can be rendered predictable, reduced to an orderly succession of achievements that will guarantee security and comfort.” New York Times columnist David Brooks offered a similar critique in a 2014 opinion piece entitled The Ambition Explosion. Brooks argued that American culture today is based on the premise that career and economic success can lead to fulfillment--an assumption that Brooks calls the “central illusion of our time.”
UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute has been conducting surveys of college freshmen for over fifty years. Trends over this time provide quantitative evidence that students do indeed care a lot about achievement. In comparison with incoming students of prior decades, recent undergraduates care more about a school’s academic reputation (a symbol of achievement) when choosing where they will attend college. They also have an increased desire to go to college to make more money, get a good job, be well off financially, and obtain recognition (Eagan et al., 2016).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Community-Based Learning: Used interchangeably with service-learning. See service-learning definition below.
Cognitive Dissonance: The experience of discomfort resulting from thoughts, beliefs, and/or experiences that are irreconcilable with one another.
Spirituality: Spirituality includes the following components: 1) being engaged in a dynamic process of inner reflection to better understand oneself and the meaning and purpose of one’s life; 2) living out one’s personal philosophy of life with authenticity and integrity; 3) seeking a connection/relationship with a higher power; and 4) belief in the interconnectedness of humanity and a related desire to be of service to others.
Service-Learning: A form of experiential learning where students engage in service addressing community-identified priorities in a manner that enables further understanding of course/disciplinary content.
Holistic Student Development: Development focused on the whole person including intellectual, emotional, physical, emotional, psychological, moral, and spiritual.
Spiritual Growth/Spiritual Development: Developing or growing in the components of spirituality outlined above.
Pedagogy: Methods or practices used by a teacher to teach.