Welcome to the Website of
the International Association for Children's Spirituality

The International Association for Children's Spirituality seeks to promote and support research and practice in relation to children's spirituality within education and wider contexts of children's care and wellbeing.

The Association understands spirituality broadly and inclusively as having relation to the religious and beyond the religious. We encourage holistic approaches to children's spirituality and personal development across a variety of disciplines, professions, organisations and communities.

Our methods of working are based on a set of values and aims which can be read here.

The International Journal of Children's Spirituality is the official journal of the Association and the IACS supports the annual International Conferences on Children's Spirituality.

Read more about the Association...

IACS Conference 2013

The 13th International Conference on Children's Spirituality

Date added: 25th July 2012

For the sake of Children: hidden forms of power in caring for children's spirituality.

This conference will be held in Leuven, Belgium between 10th and 13th July 2013. It is hosted by Professor Annemie Dillen and will explore the complex relation between care and issues of power, particularly in situations where children’s spirituality is at stake.

Bookings for the conference can now be made online and payments made by credit card by following the link below:
http://www.kuleuven.be/sapredir/kredietbetaling.html?ges_mededeling=400/0007/49262

There is a call for papers on this theme and current conference information can be accessed through the following link:
http://www.pastoralezorg.be/851/conference/

Previous conferences

The 12th International Conference on Children's Spirituality

Date added: 13th October 2011

This conference was held at East Anglia University in Norwich, U.K. between 1st and 5th July 2012. The theme was 'Spirituality and Physicality: Crossing Thresholds' and was inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Photographs, videos and slideshow presentations from the conference are now available from the member's area.

Click on images to enlarge:

The 11th International Conference on Children's Spirituality

Date added: 6th September 2011

The Politics of Children's Spirituality

The 11th International conference on Children's Spirituality was held between 1st and 5th August in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Photos and videos from the conference are now available from the member's area.

Click on images to enlarge:

At the AGM, the constitution was ratified and a copy can be found in the members area.

It was also proposed and agreed that the association should now be known as the 'International Association for Children's Spirituality' and any correspondence from now on will bear this name.

The 10th International Conference on Children's Spirituality

Date added: 5th August 2010

This conference took place at the The Hong Kong Institute of Education (Tai Po Campus) between 19th -23rd July 2010. The theme was “Spirituality and Resilience.”

Conference information as well as photo albums and and a short media clip of events are available in the member's area.

Click on images to enlarge:

Engaging with us

Survey on Background, Beliefs and Spiritual Well-Being

Dr. John Fisher has asked that members and others interested in spiritual well-being take part in an online survey. The survey is designed to investigate the construct of his Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure among people of varying backgrounds and beliefs. Participants must be aged 18 or over. The usefulness of this method for research in spiritual well-being will also be investigated. The project is part of John’s third doctorate in this area, within which he has been working for nearly 20 years.

To take part, follow the link below:
http://medusa.ballarat.edu.au/limesurvey/index.php?sid=59487&newteswt=Y&lang=en

Poems and quotes

Date added: 11th May 2010

A new feature of the website is to invite poems or short quotes, written either by children about experience related to spirituality or about children's spirituality. To start this, we have posted two sets of poems which can be seen on the new Poems and Quotes page. If you have others that you think are suitable to share, written either by children about experience related to spirituality or about children's spirituality, please send them to tony.eaude@education.ox.ac.uk.

Members' area updated

Date added: 30th July 2012

The members' area has just been updated, so please do visit it regularly and make suggestions to tony.eaude@education.ox.ac.uk on how it could be improved and what you are prepared to do to help members keep in touch with each other.

In particular, this now includes a position paper called 'Spirituality- what are we talking about?' by Dr Tony Eaude. This is available for download by members from the members' area and is intended to prompt discussion and debate. So, members, please log in, read it and respond - and non-members, please join the IACS and then add your contribution to this important debate.

The International Journal of Children's Spirituality

The IJCS The IJCS is the journal of the IACS. Aiming to provide an international and multi-cultural forum for those involved in research and the development of children's and young people's spirituality the journal considers what is meant by 'spirituality' and its relevance for schooling and society.

Please see our journal page for more information

Join the International Association for Children's Spirituality

Membership of the International Association for Children's Spirituality costs only £50 per year and runs from 1st January. Benefits include:

  • Hard copies of the International Journal of Children's Spirituality (4 per year) - this alone normally costs more than membership of the Association
  • On-line access to all previous editions of the Journal
  • The opportunity to post information about your work, research, publications and consultancies.

If you wish to join please visit our membership page.

Non-IACS forthcoming events

3rd Global Conference for Spirituality in the 21st Century

The call for abstract proposals for the 3rd Global Conference for Spirituality in the 21st Century is now open, with a deadline of 12th October 2012.

The theme of the conference is Theory, Praxis and Pedagogy.

Submissions are welcome from those engaged in the fields of for example, Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation, Business, Counselling, Ecology, Education, Healing, History, Management, Mass/Organisational/Speech Communication, Medicine, Nursing, Performance Studies, Philosophy, Psychiatry, Reconciliation/Refugee/Resettlement Projects, Social Work, and Theatre.

Changing Boundaries: Mindfulness, Spirituality and Education

This conference is to be held at Dublin City University, Republic of Ireland, on 4-5th July 2013. The key note speakers will be:

  • Prof. Rupert Sheldrake on the Science Delusion
  • Dr. Shanida Nataraja on the Blissful Brain
  • Dr. Marian de Souza on the Empathetic Mind

Each of the speakers will draw out the implications of their research for education.

If you wish to present a paper at this conference or just attend you can find more details on:
http://www4.dcu.ie/conferences/changingboundaries/index.shtml

An Identity to build, an intimacy to live: a challenge for families.

This conference is to be held in Montreal, Canada from from 3-5th October 2013. The deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to 30th June. A form for proposals can be accessed here. Further details can be obtained at chairefamille@ustpaul.ca.