Journalling and the teaching of spirituality

This paper examines the development of a teaching format suitable for teaching spirituality and spiritual care to a group of mature age nurses, all of whom are older than the age of 25 years. A teacher's journal was kept that assisted in the identification of classroom activities, which aided in relating these experiences to concepts and practices of adult learning. These principles of learning included the use of the students' preparedness to learn, respect for the student as a learner and the use of the group processes to facilitate the exchanges of experiences and learning between the educator and the students. Whilst these precepts were valuable as a means of resolving teaching concerns, it was the journal entries that identified the issues relating to the teaching process. Some of these issues were the use of student and educator experiences as a medium for reflection, the willingness of the educator to follow students' wishes to discuss apparently unrelated material, the facilitator will be apart from the group as well as part of the group, and the necessity for journal entries to be made as soon as possible after the completion of the class.