There are spiritual qualities or goods that are fundamental to the child. These fundamental goods need to be nurtured throughout life so that they can further develop and improve children's well-being.
Human development is made possible and further enriched by connections between people, who in turn need ethical values. These values are the pillars of our communities and societies.
This spiritual dimension of the human being presupposes that people are bearers of values whose dignity and intrinsic value must be respected and appreciated equally, regardless of ethnic, social, cultural, religious, gender, sexual or other differences.
The 10 spiritual goods identified in this toolkit are: wisdom, self-awareness, wonder and wonder, mindfulness, love, empathy, compassion, wonder, curiosity and imagination.
It is not a complete list. They were identified based on the wisdom of religious and spiritual traditions, comparative literature reviews, and research findings. They were selected to encompass a vision of spirituality that spans different understandings of what spirituality is. These abilities are organized into four categories and are found to strengthen children's relationship with self, with others, with God and with nature. While some capabilities are categories in specific areas, it is notable that many overlap and can fit into other areas as well.
The following four categories present a different way of knowing, seeing, perceiving the relationship that is found in the spontaneous, caring and genuine ways that children experience life from an early age. It is important to note that, although these capacities appear to be innate, they need to be developed to contribute to the construction of ethical values. These will contribute to very important pro-social behaviors for the lives of these children.
The identification of these spiritual capacities considered reflections from consultations carried out with 30 religious and spiritual leaders from seven different religious and spiritual traditions, as well as some written documents produced as part of the process. It also considered research carried out by UNICEF, the Learning for Wellbeing Foundation and the Fetzer Institute, as presented in the report entitled What Makes Me? Core capacities for living and learning. The process also considered authors who, through scientific research and comparison with religious teachings and understandings, identified spiritual capacities in children. Most notably, the five-year research conducted by Dr. Tobin Hart which included interviews with families, a statistical survey of childhood experiences evoked, the examination of case studies and the various researches of others, presented in The Mystical Child – Glimpsing the Spiritual World of Children; as well as the 15-year research and work of Dr. Lisa Millar, compiled in Spiritual Child and through her numerous scientific publications.
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- The 10 Spiritual Goods