Llewellyn, Marilyn J. Spirituality and Pedagogy. (Pittsburgh: Learning Moments Press, 2017).
Those who have been drawn to teaching by a desire to make a difference in children’s lives will find Spirituality and Pedagogy a welcome relief from the unremitting focus on narrow (and often punitive) measures of standardized achievement, accountability and compliance. Exploring themes of compassion, faith and social justice, Dr. Marilyn Llewellyn offers—with humility and thoughtfulness—an inspiring vision of what teaching can be at its best. In this refreshing and insightful text Marilyn Llewellyn invites teachers to respect and seek to safeguard the informal spiritual culture in every school. For her, conscious of children’s individual spiritual capacity and vulnerability, the school is sacred ground. She uses the meanings of words usually found in religious contexts like spirituality, contemplation, revelation and faith to evoke parallel meanings in the everyday work of teaching and learning. In contrast to current technical discourses of instruction and performance measurement, her unabashed plea for respectful care for the individual pupil and her or his learning path is welcome indeed.