ABSTRACT
An effective spiritual education will combine a hermeneutic of nurture with a hermeneutic of criticism. A good school will unashamedly induct children into the spiritual values and world-view which it considers to be of greatest worth, as well as insisting that children explore alternative possibilities. The 1994 Education Act required schools to contribute to pupil's spiritual development. Parliamentary discussions showed an assumption that the teaching of Christianity in religious education would provide for pupil's spiritual development. However the word spiritual is understood, an essential aspect is the development of personal awareness or attentiveness. The spiritual life is one in which God and his eternal order have, more and more, their undivided sway. Different religions would express this in different ways. Spirituality concerns a quality of life which transcends the natural plane and resists what may be called the unnatural, evil or demonic.
