ABSTRACT
There are a number of distinct features that comprise Australia’s historical, cultural, political and religious landscape which have impacted upon my research in the field of children’s spirituality in education. For many in Australia, spirituality is still perceived as a by-product of, or an appendage to religion, and for this reason, there exists particular wariness amongst policy makers and educators in articulating a spiritual dimension in learning. The Education Act of 1872 made clear that state education was to be free, compulsory and secular. Lovat (2010) argues that documents which followed the Education Act in the 1880s and 1890s in some of the then colonies of Australia made reference to religion (and by implication spirituality because of its then close association with religion) and permitted volunteers from church denominations to provide, with their parents’ permission, religious instruction to students. However, most state school children did not receive much in the way of religious or spiritual education. The free, compulsory and secular tenets of education in Australian state schools have remained virtually intact to the present day, with little provision in legislation for the inclusion of religion or spirituality within the formal curriculum. 1 Education has tended to remain compartmentalised and content driven, with assessment focused on the achievement of demonstrable standards and the attainment of particular benchmarks.
