Metacognitive Strategies in Higher Education: Development of Spiritual Intelligence Strategies Within Training of the Academic Staff

Introduction

The spiritual aspects of the human psyche were addressed with the advent of psychology as a science, both in the psychoanalytic currents, and in the humanities trends. It was observed that cognitive intelligence, measured by IQ scores, explains only a small portion of career success or wellbeing. Over the last few decades, various theories of intelligences include, among others, a spiritual intelligence component. For example, Emmons (2000) notes that spiritual intelligence emphasizes the abilities that draws on such themes to predict functioning and adaptation. Spiritual intelligence involves a set of abilities that draw on spiritual resources that are similar to emotional intelligence. However, the concept of spiritual intelligence is not similar with the concept of emotional intelligence. Interest in spiritual intelligence has become increasingly prevalent over the past twenty years.

Althouth the growth of interest in spiritual intelligence is due to a number of factors, the most influential ones include the spirituality, health, wellbeing and problem solving for valuable outcomes in real life. Emmons (2000) described five components for spiritual intelligence:

• •

  The ability to utilize spiritual resources to solve problems;

• •

  The ability to enter heightened states of consciousness;

• •

  The ability to capitalize everyday activities and relationships with a sense of the sacred;

• •

  The capacity for transcendence of the physical and material; and,

• •

  The capacity to be virtuous.

Althouth a variety of models of spiritual intelligence, either applicative or non-applicative, has been described in the scientific literature, there appears to be little research on how to develop spiritual intelligence strategies within training of academic staff. Since using spiritual intelligence in teacher training is a new area of investigation in the field of metacognitive strategies in Higher Education, the analysis of innovative models should be thoroughly explored. One of these models is SQ21 model that provide a validated instrument for self-assessment. Metcalf (2015) described a selection of twenty-one spiritual intelligence skills for development. Table 1 lists twenty-one spiritual intelligence skills, which could be used as a model for teacher training of the academic staff.

(Metcalf, 2015)