Reflections on the search for meaning in confusing but fascinating terrain

This autoethnographic article highlights how my background as a teacher and headteacher of young children led to and underpinned my interest in children’s spirituality. My doctorate identified the search for identity, meaning and purpose within or outside a religious framework as central to the processes involved in spiritual growth. Subsequently, I became increasingly interested in connectedness, belonging, culture, the shaping of identities and difficult, potentially painful, aspects of children’s lives. And in exploring inclusive ways of understanding and nurturing children’s spiritual growth, emphasising children’s agency and time and space in hospitable, holistic environments. Drawing on different disciplines steered me to a socio-cultural view where spiritual is a lens through which to understand young children and the contexts in which they live; and to re-examine under-researched ideas especially how children can be enabled to overcome barriers and flourish in a world where a focus on individualism and performativity makes this difficult.