Contemporary adolescents are tempted by effortless, consumerist lifestyles devoid of reflection. They display pretentious attitudes and exhibit problems with proper functioning within the society. Therefore, it is necessary to change educational processes at school in order to promote intensive emotional and spiritual development in pupils, so that young generations comprehensively develop to handle future problems, as well as to be able to construct their own knowledge about themselves and the outside world. Competent teachers can play certain roles in this process, introducing their pupils into the rich world of values.

Autorka stawia tezę, że wspieranie rozwoju duchowości jest jednym z najważniejszych, fundamentalnych celów edukacji. Uzasadnienie tezy przeprowadza w dwóch etapach. Najpierw wyjaśnia współczesne sposoby rozumienia duchowości, jej związki z religijnością oraz miejscem przyznawanym sacrum i profanum we współczesnych społeczeństwach. Wykorzystuje w tym celu typologię relacji religii i życia społecznego Charlesa Taylora. Ostatecznie proponuje rozumienie duchowości jako podmiotowości zorientowanej w myśleniu, przeżywaniu i działaniu na przekraczanie natury, w celu świadomej, wolnej i odpowiedzialnej realizacji wartości absolutnych, uniwersalnych, ogólnoludzkich. W drugim etapie analizuje możliwości i sens edukacyjnego wspierania rozwoju duchowości. Rozważania kończy propozycja postulowanego programowego zakresu wspierania rozwoju duchowości.

Artykuł poświęcony jest zabytkom historycznym kultury prawosławnej rejonu Kobryńskiego w obwodzie brzeskim na Białorusi – państwie wielowiekowej i bogatej kultury, w którym istnieją specyficzne tradycje budownictwa sakralnego. W tekście ukazane zostały osobliwości drewnianej architektury sakralnej w mieście Kobryń i na terenach rejonu Kobryńskiego. Szczegółowo została opisana drewniana cerkiew Świętych Piotra i Pawła. Tekst zawiera również wskazanie roli i miejsca murowanych cerkwi w przestrzeni kulturowej miasta Kobryń i rejonu Kobryńskiego. Autor artykułu wnioskuje, że na początku XXI wieku drewniane i murowane cerkwie miasta Kobryń i rejonu Kobryńskiego stały się symbolem i dumą kultury białoruskiej. Współcześnie – w warunkach współistnienia państwa białoruskiego i Cerkwi Prawosławnej, a także rozwoju agro- i ekoturystyki – drewniane i murowane cerkwie stają się nieodłączną częścią przestrzeni kulturowej i wyznacznikiem samoidentyfikacji ludności białoruskiej.

The primary goal of the study was to examine the relationships between spirituality, belief in free will and perceived self-efficacy among young adults. In order to develop the preliminary adaptation of the FAD-Plus questionnaire, used for measuring the lay beliefs in free will and three related constructs, Study 1 was carried out among 485 young adults. The tool had satisfactory psychometric properties. Study 2, in which 340 students participated, verified the role of believing in free will as a potential mediator between spirituality and perceived self-efficacy. In the case of male students, total mediation was found, and in the case of female students, partial mediation was noted. The studies indicate the need to put greater emphasis on the spiritual sphere and the sense of free will in the education provided for young adults.

This article provides an analysis of the category of spirituality found in the texts of classical pedagogues such as: J.J. Rousseau, J.H. Pestalozzi and J.F. Herbart. Spirituality appears in these texts in the sense of morality and its varieties such as the heart, the inner life, but also the mental horizon. This way of understanding spirituality traditionally has belonged to religious context and is particularly visible in herbartian pedagogy. In the texts of Rousseau and Pestalozzi there is a belief that institutionalized religion called to be representative of morality is not fulfilling its role properly. Therefore, they establish the higher instance of religion - noninstitutional, personal, internal, involving an independent search for meaning in life. What attracts particular attention is the fact that despite the high rank given to the thread of morality/spirituality by presented here authors, this issue remains the “fuzzy” concept and lacks of detailed indications as to the ways of its implementation. This ambiguity, which operates poetic language and the lack of specific references of a practical nature, seems to be one of the causes acting on behalf of the exclusion of spirituality from the educational impact. This analysis is the first stage of the theoretical description of spirituality, which in the field of pedagogy is very fragmented, ambiguous, and thus difficult to undergo pedagogical reflection. It is also a step towards “disenchantment” of the analyzed category, by which I mean the process of rational and critical overview of spirituality; this in turn paves the way for realizing the sense that I find in making the category of spirituality useful for pedagogy: undergoing reflection and being translated into educational practice.

About encounter. In searching of spiritual dimension in educational-didactical relation

The purpose of this essay is to point out how important for righteous educational – didactical course the problem of encounter is. The method applied by author relies on analyzing the concept of encounter from the perspective of humanities and social studies. Thanks to that, there can be pointed out the essential (spiritual-metaphysical) aspect of encounter as an interpersonal event by reference to ontological category, of which example could be the space of interrelationship. The author assumed that an encounter is unquestionably a positive occurrence. The reference in this reflection is an issue of spiritual potential of homo sapiens and what comes with it – the culture condition of human population. Recently it is characterized rather weak, whereas the undisputed preeminence – domination of mass culture, which annihilates the spiritual element. For every humanist this situation is a justified reason for concern. Going back to the fundamental matter – strengthening the position of high culture, remembering that human being is an animal symbolicum and can not focus only on meeting the needs of a lower rank. Notwithstanding spirituality is demanding. It makes high demands, for the highest price, which the human has to pay that is the question of abjuration and that only a few can afford. All hope maintains in teachers – idealists who adoring the ideals of high culture will strengthen their spiritual existence and furthermore in educative process inspire and pass on values and ideals to their students, pupils. Conclusion which comes to mind after the analysis is following: a true educational – didactical relation can occur only then and exclusively when it will be in consequence of an encounter set on the spiritual foundation, of which the main beneficiaries will be students and pupils.

Researchers investigating human beings claim that everybody uses defence mechanisms. However, different people use different mechanisms. The most mature persons employ mature mechanisms, and those less mature and those in crisis situations use primitive mechanisms. The article presents a study on the relationship between the intensity of defence mechanisms and the level of spiritual involvement. Two groups of people are compared: one group consists of the members of the Christian Faculty Forum, and the other of people whose professional lives are not connected with teaching. The results obtained indicate a correlation between the involvement in one’s spiritual life and personal maturity measured with the use of mature defence mechanisms. The analysis of the results indicates that the development of spiritual life is connected with the development of personality. Involvement in spirituality and in spiritual health helps people reach maturity and deeper involvement in their pedagogical work.

New Spirituality as a Sociocultural Megatrend

The term “new spirituality” has been becoming trendy for some time now. It is appearing more and more in the social sciences, as well as in everyday life. It appears increasingly in the social sciences, as well as in everyday life. It becomes one of the most interesting and widely discussed problems in the modern humanities. Many modern people, in the highly developed countries of the world, do not use the noun „religion” or the adjective „religious”, but refer to the terms „spiritual” or „spirituality”, considering them more appropriate to describe their worldview. There is no single form of spirituality, but there are many, ever new ones. In the article, the author presents definitions of the new spirituality, discusses its various characteristics and finally quotes the following definition of the new spirituality: “New spirituality is one of the megatrends of the beginning of the 21st century. It is an experience of the sacred, sometimes nameless, understood as something personal, intimate, and relating to the inner power of the human being. New spirituality emphasizes the role of experience and spiritual exercises, sees the human body as a container filled with inner, spiritual sense and as a manifestation of the creative power of the Spirit, respects nature, promotes healthy eating, attaches great importance to human bonding based on fidelity and love, refers to moral values it considers applicable, is sensitive to art, and emphasizes gender equality. It is holistic, democratic, easily accessible, and non–hierarchical. It stands in opposition to institutionalized religion, which means that it is beyond the Church”.