Spiritual Education of Children in a Post-Secular Context in the 21st Century: A Discussion Paper

Abstract

There are many different perspectives on what the spiritual aspect of education entails, as well as how it should be addressed in a professional context. Spirituality has been defined as a central aspect of children’s overall development in Denmark since the Primary School Act of 1993, but at the same time public schools in Denmark are secular institutions not affiliated with any particular faith and a non-confessional spiritual education. This article addresses the concept of spiritual education of children in a Danish post-secular context by presenting and discussing different studies, knowledge, and definitions on children’s spirituality, as well as spiritual education of children and spiritual care for children. We point to the importance of the concept of “dannelse” or “bildung”, Hans-Georg Gadamer’s concept of “the basic movement of spirit”, and Hannah Arendt’s concepts related to “the life of the mind”, and thus what is meant by spiritual education. We conclude how educators, parents, and healthcare professionals should facilitate spiritual education through the perspective of “dannelse”, and we present a model for doing so through spiritual dialogue and relationships.

1. Introduction

In a Danish secular context, spiritual education for children focuses on nurturing their personal growth, ethical development, and sense of interconnectedness without relying on religious frameworks. Denmark is known for its high level of secularism, yet there is a growing recognition of the importance of addressing spiritual needs in a holistic manner, especially within healthcare. However, there still seem to be many different perspectives on what the spiritual aspect of education entails, as well as how it should be addressed in a professional context. In this discussion paper we understand childhood more broadly as including adolescents, and up to the age of 18.

Denmark, like the other Nordic countries, is characterized as a society that has undergone a secularization process and is now termed a post-secular society (Berg-Sørensen 2006). This means that the inhabitants of the Nordic countries now live with both secular and religious discourses, moving between them depending on purpose and context (Christoffersen and Andersen 2023). The theory of complexity may better describe spirituality and religion in Danish society than theories of secularization. According to this theory, the religious development of society is complex, and both religious change and stability (both growth and decline) can be present at the same time in different parts of the population. The theory takes into account the often-contradictory religious tendencies in people’s private religiosity and spirituality as well as in common and public domains. It also acknowledges all movements, because the spirituality and religiosity of the population cannot be reduced to a single unified movement (Böwadt 2020; Furseth et al. 2019; Andersen et al. 2019). It has been argued that the same complexity exists in the different approaches to spiritual education in the Danish school system (Böwadt 2020). The Scandinavian countries are often said to be among the frontrunners in non-confessional spiritual education, and public schools in Denmark are secular institutions not affiliated with any particular faith. However, spirituality has been defined as a central aspect of children’s overall development in Denmark since the Primary School Act of 1993 (Retsinformation 1993).

The purpose of this article is to discuss the concept of spiritual education in a Danish post-secular context and how to address this professionally. The discussion includes international knowledge about children’s spirituality, healthcare research about spiritual care, and draws on the disciplines of theology, sociology, and philosophy in relation to the Danish concept of “dannelse”. We believe this discussion will be relevant for most Western societies where complexity describes the spiritual and religious context.

2. Children’s Spirituality

Knowledge about children’s spirituality is rich and diverse, encompassing various dimensions of a child’s experience and development. Children’s spirituality has been explored by various scholars, each contributing with unique perspectives and insights.

According to Hart (2006), children have a secret spiritual life. He believes that they have an innate spiritual capacity, just as they have spiritual experiences that shape their lives in lasting ways. These experiences range from wondrous moments to finding inner wisdom, from asking the big questions about meaning and life to expressing compassion and looking beneath the surface of the material world. He emphasizes that this inherent spiritual awareness is often trivialized, or worse, experienced as pathological by adults who lack concepts and understanding of children’s spiritual development. Hart points out that adults can hinder or become a barrier in a child’s spiritual development.

Hay and Nye (1996, 2006) emphasize the importance of recognizing and nurturing children’s spiritual awareness. They argue that spirituality is an essential part of child development and should be included in educational curricula to promote moral and social cohesion. In their research, they found that children are capable of profound and meaningful spiritual experiences from an early age, and these experiences are often suppressed by cultural and societal pressures.

Eaude (2009, 2019) focuses on the holistic development of children, including their spiritual, moral, social, and cultural growth. He discusses the importance of integrating these aspects into the educational context to foster a well-rounded development. He emphasizes that spiritual development is not confined to religious education but is a broader concept that includes a sense of wonder, curiosity, and connection to the world.

Mata-McMahon et al. (2024) also offer a holistic perspective on children’s spirituality and its importance in early childhood education: the spirit of the child is centred as the life force influencing all other developmental domains. They define children’s spirituality with this centrality of the spirit to human growth:

“…an innate human potential or ability to be fully present in order to connect with ourselves, with others, and with the greater Other intangible beyond us, which some call the transcendent or the divine, and others refer to as energy or Spirit. This connection affords us the possibility to relate or be in relation with the spiritual realm and move toward finding meaning and direction in life, rediscovering our purpose as human beings [...] spirituality [relates] to [...] knowing thyself and understanding the reason for living life, as well as connecting and relating to everything around us (material and spiritual) in a profound and meaningful way.”

Therefore, they encourage educators to reflect on their own beliefs and practices to create a supportive environment for children’s spiritual growth. Buchanan and Hyde (2008) address how secular societies tend to separate mind, body, and spirit. They emphasize cognitive learning and address the complementarity of the cognitive, affective, and spiritual dimensions of learning. Hyde (2008) identifies four characteristics of children’s spirituality: the felt sense, integrating awareness, weaving the threads of meaning, and spiritual questing. He also provides practical ways for educators and parents to nurture these characteristics in children.

Healthcare research also emphasizes the importance of caring for children’s spirituality when they are faced with serious illness or death (Ferrell et al. 2016). Nash, Nash, and Darby provide research-based principles and practical activities to support the spiritual needs of children in healthcare settings (Nash et al. 2013; Darby et al. 2014). Their work emphasizes the importance of addressing the spiritual dimension of care to promote holistic well-being. Spiritual care can be decisive for the well-being of children and young people when facing illness and hospitalization (Alvarenga et al. 2017), and children’s personal spirituality is important to their experience of hope and ability to cope with severe illness (Lima et al. 2013). Other studies have found that children use their inner spirituality to find and experience meaning during the process of grieving (Andrews and Marotta 2005), and children’s perception of an ongoing and personal relationship with a god may be a primary component for effective coping with difficult life circumstances (Hassan and Mehta 2010). Children’s relationship with spiritual dimensions of life is associated with lower levels of anxiety, depression, and overall improved mental health (Cotton et al. 2005). Spiritually engaged children exhibit increased prosocial behaviour and healthier coping mechanisms in dealing with life’s challenges (Koenig 2009; Koenig 2012), and caring for children’s spirituality can lead to a sense of meaning and purpose in life, contributing to their motivation and overall life satisfaction (Wong 2011). Spirituality in these healthcare studies is broadly defined as a dimension of life that relates to how people connect to the present, to themselves, to others, to nature, to the significant, and/or to the sacred (IKNL 2018; Hvidt et al. 2023).

The presented knowledge and definitions of children’s spirituality are highly relevant for spiritual education of children in post-secular and spiritually complex societies. However, the concept of “dannelse” is also key to spiritual education in Denmark, especially when working professionally with children’s spirituality.

3. Dannelse as Spiritual Education

“Dannelse” is a Danish and Norwegian term that roughly translates in English to “formation”, “cultivation”, or “education”. It encompasses the idea of personal and cultural development, education, and the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and values. In a broader sense, the concept of dannelse goes beyond mere academic knowledge and includes the development of a well-rounded and morally conscious individual. It often involves the cultivation of critical thinking, ethical awareness, and a sense of responsibility towards one’s community. In an educational context, dannelse emphasizes not only the acquisition of factual knowledge but also the development of character, empathy, and a broader understanding of the world. The concept of dannelse is not unique to Denmark or Norway; similar ideas exist in other cultures and educational systems. In Germany, the term “bildung” has historically been used to convey a similar concept of comprehensive education and personal and spiritual development. Dannelse is about the child’s authority and responsibility towards the common society coming into existence. Dannelse takes place through concrete everyday practices that shape the child in light of a larger life horizon (Gadamer 2004).

During the early 2000s in Denmark, dannelse was written out of all central texts in the Danish schools and educational reforms (Brinkmann et al. 2021a). A shift occurred from the teacher’s pedagogical practice to a goal-directed technological technocracy (Kaare 2010; Jensen 2021). School teacher and debater Mette Frederiksen describes the consequence as follows: “The learning and measurability paradigm shoved the broader and more complex concept of dannelse aside” (Frederiksen 2021, s. 244, our translation). Buchanan and Hyde (Buchanan and Hyde 2008) offer a similar critique of Australian secular society, highlighting that an outcomes-based approach to education, with an emphasis on cognitive learning, predominates. They note that the affective and spiritual dimensions of students’ lives are often understated. Frederiksen explains that dannelse is not just a loosely tied pair of concepts, but a fundamental understanding of what the school’s task and practice are all about (Frederiksen 2021).

The editors of the Danish Anthology Sidste chance: Nye perspektiver på dannelse (Brinkmann et al. 2021b) (Eng. title: Last chance: New perspectives about dannelse) emphasize the setting in which dannelse takes place in children. Four aspects characterize the setting:

(1)

The setting existed before the child existed. It is a place where the child feels at home, but at the same time can explore, and where they also may get lost.

(2)

The child interacts with the concrete things in the setting and contributes to the setting together with others.

(3)

The setting has both a practical and a spiritual dimension, and these two dimensions interact.

(4)

Dannelse has an inherent friction. The things and people of the setting constantly oppose and answer the child back. Therefore, the child will always continue to ask questions, explore, and experiment (pp. 12–13).

Dannelse takes place in the interaction between a larger life horizon, the child’s inner being, as well as the child’s experience of friction (Tanggaard 2021; Brinkmann et al. 2021a). The German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (2004) describes the concept of Bildung as an interplay between alienation and return. He says the following: “To recognize one’s own in the foreign, to feel at home in it, is the basic movement of the spirit; its essence consists in returning to oneself from the other.” (Gadamer 2004, p. 13). This quote encapsulates Gadamer’s philosophy of understanding and interpretation, emphasizing the importance of encountering the unfamiliar and integrating it into one’s own experience to gain a deeper understanding of oneself. According to Gadamer, this happens in a continuous, circular process. Bildung is about coming into being as a particular kind of person. It is the process of becoming oneself in the encounter with the multifarious unfamiliar (Skovmand 2021).

Dannelse or bildung is the process of becoming oneself with authority and responsibility in relation to society and one’s community. It contrasts with the goal-directed, efficiency-oriented, and performance-focused learning and measurability paradigm that tends to dominate schools and education in Denmark (Nielsen 2017). However, the spiritual aspect of dannelse seems to be an implicit dimension in the setting of the child’s developmental process. Therefore, it remains unclear how to effectively address spirituality in a professional manner within children’s spiritual education in Denmark.

4. Meaningful Thinking as Spiritual Education

Brinkmann et al. (2021a) define dannelse as follows: “…a term for the process where a person becomes capable by growing into a community in which he or she is initially subject to its norms and traditions, which he or she can later contribute to, maintain, and renew” (our translation, p. 11). This definition of dannelse has a distinct communal and societal aim. The interaction between the larger life horizon presented to the child and the child’s inner being, as well as the experienced friction between those two, provide the fundamental condition for the process of dannelse. The spiritual aspect of dannelse resides in this fundamental condition where the child, in encountering the larger life horizon, recognizes themselves and feels at home, then returns to themselves once again and, so to speak, becomes themselves. Gadamer (2004) terms this process the basic movement of the spirit.

The basic movement of the spirit may be compared with German Philosopher Hannah Arendt’s (1905–1975) concept of the mind, and especially the process of thinking. When the mind is thinking, the ego has a soundless dialogue with itself about the invisible. These activities not only deal with the invisible; they are also themselves invisible from the perspective of the common world of appearances. Thinking is a withdrawal from the world: “While thinking I am not where I actually am; I am surrounded not by sense-objects but by images that are invisible to everybody else. It is as though I had withdrawn into some never-never-land, the land of invisibles, of which I would know nothing had I not this faculty of remembering and imagining. Thinking annihilates temporal as well as spatial distances. I can anticipate the future, think of it as though it were already present, and I can remember the past as though it had not disappeared.” (Arendt 1971, p. 85). From this perspective of thinking, the child is alone (not lonely) while searching for meaning in its mind. But Arendt emphasizes the medium of language, which allows to communicate with others about meaning, about the invisible. Through metaphorical language and speech, it is possible to express one’s thinking and thereby awaken ideas in others. As mentioned, thinking leads to inner dialogues, but also outer conversations, and Arendt considers thought and speech to be expressions of the activities of the mind (Arendt 1971). According to Arendt, thinking has a critical potential because it calls everything into question. Thinking never arrives at definitive truths, as she puts it: “the business of thinking is like Penelope’s web; it undoes every morning what it has finished the night before” (Arendt 1971, p. 88), and meaning in life is always fluid and unfinished, because truths are fragmented and relative to time and place. What is important here is that “No matter how close we are while thinking to what is far away and how absent we are from what is close at hand, the thinking ego obviously never leaves the world of appearances altogether” (Arendt 1971, p. 110). For Arendt, the two-world theory is a metaphysical delusion, yet the most plausible one for the experience of thought. Despite this, Arendt’s concept of thinking seems—like Gadamer’s basic movement of the spirit—to transcend the concept of dannelse with a mere communal and societal aim.

About the friction, Professor Lene Tanggaard (2021) writes the following: “Dannelse must be understood as something that takes place when we experience something that transcends the existing; when our professional and personal existence is shaped by landmark experiences; and when we need to ask curiously and examine why, when, and how? We do not always know when that happens. Dannelse searches for what may not yet have an answer” (p. 22, our translation). This combination of thinking, acting, and judging, Arendt believes, is what makes a human being a mindful being (Arendt 1971). She argues that metaphors, symbols, and analogies are the best way to bridge thoughts and the physical world. Through language, a community of interpretation is created, where common understanding can emerge. Arendt emphasizes that thinking has meaning (Arendt 1971). Interestingly, Arendt’s book “Life of the mind” was recently translated into the Danish title “Åndens liv” (Arendt 1971), which could, in turn, be translated back into the English words “Life of the Spirit”. This example of a translation from “mind” to “spirit” not only shows the difficulty of comparing philosophical concepts, but also emphasizes the close link between the words “spirit”, “mind”, and “dannelse”.

In these understandings of dannelse, it seems that the mind, spirit, and existence can be compared to the child’s encounter with a greater life horizon, thinking, conversation, and a responsible relationship with society and community. Through these fundamental movements (of the spirit), a human being becomes a mindful, spiritual and/or an existing being. This raises the question of whether there is sufficient space to be such a being within the dominant learning and measurability paradigm of education in Denmark.

Furthermore, it also seems that mental well-being of children is affected by this “lack of spirit or mind”. It has been suggested that a mental well-being crisis among children and young people is characterized by experiences of pressure, high expectations, and performance (Katznelson et al. 2021). This mental well-being crisis in Denmark refers to a new form of mental vulnerability that affects more broadly and impacts a larger part of the population. It also includes children and young people that were not otherwise considered mentally vulnerable (Görlich et al. 2019). Something indicates that an increased focus on evaluation, measurement, and management of children and young people’s learning—rather than promoting the more complex, friction-filled, and interactive educational process—has consequences. Not only within pedagogy and didactics, but also for the health and well-being of children and young people.

5. Spiritual Care in the Danish Healthcare System

Spirituality of children in healthcare is explicitly referred to in the Danish Health Authority’s definition of the purpose of spiritual care in “Recommendations for palliative efforts for children, young people, and their families” (2018, our translation): “(...) by giving attention to the existential suffering of the child and the relatives; that is, attention to the extent to which the illness causes considerations about justice/injustice, the meaning of life and death, the existence or absence of a higher power. Additionally, we find a focus on how the family lives with the powerlessness caused by a life-threatening illness, whether the family manages to preserve or restore courage, hope, and meaning, as well as whether there are religious considerations.” (Sundhedsstyrelsen 2018).

This definition is based on the concept of spirituality presented in the guidelines for “Spiritual aspects in palliative care” (2023). Spirituality is defined in terms of a transcendent dimension, which may—but does not necessarily—have something to do with religious faith: “Spirituality is a dimension of life that concerns how people connect to the present, to themselves, to others, to nature, to the significant, and/or to the sacred” (IKNL 2018; Hvidt et al. 2023). In this context, we believe that research in spiritual care for children in healthcare lacks theological insights into the understanding of a person’s dannelse. The rich culture and literature to draw on is overwhelming, like Gadamer and Arendt. Two Danish examples would be thinkers such as Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) and N.F. S. Grundtvig (1783–1872). Recent Danish research on these theologians might enlighten us to better understand the concept of dannelse for Danish children today. Examples are research into Kierkegaard’s views on self-knowledge and alienation (Rosfort et al. 2019). While research on Grundtvig as a catalyst for the development of various areas of the society that children and young people are participating in, primary and lower secondary school (Iversen and Broadbridge 2023) would be relevant to compare with the more community-interested concept of dannelse. Likewise, it makes sense to look beyond the traditions of philosophy and theology and also include recent sociological theories. For instance, a sociology that articulates the vertical dimension between human beings and the world would be the resonance theory of sociologist Hartmut Rosa (2021). In his critical theory, he touches on the challenges that a so-called acceleration society creates, including alienation. He suggests solutions in the form of experiences of resonance. These include a transcendent dimension to a world that understands and responds to the calling of human beings (Rosa 2014, 2020, 2021).

Even though the presented scholars of children’s spirituality predominantly view children’s education from the perspective of developmental psychology, there are parallels to Rosa’s sociological critical analysis of how we can limit the possibilities for experiences of resonance. For instance, Hart (2006) points out how adults can hinder children’s spiritual development, or, in Rosa’s terminology, neglect their experience of the “calling of the world”, because adults only view these through psychological lenses and because they themselves lack spiritual language.

A general lack of language and concepts to describe the spiritual dimensions of life among adults may hinder both children’s spiritual education and their spiritual care.

6. Language for Spiritual Education

Research in spiritual care in Danish healthcare points to a general lack of vocabulary in relation to spiritual dimensions of life in Danish society (Viftrup et al. 2023). This also seems to be the case in other Western societies, where the language of illness, psychopathology, and psychiatry has become a dominant way to understand oneself and the world (Horwitz 2002). Religious faith and spirituality are experienced as private and not commonly shared topics of conversation among Danes (Andersen and Lüchau 2011). Studies indicate that Danes have limited linguistic resources for addressing needs and concerns of a spiritual, existential, or religious nature when they experience a personal crisis (Pedersen et al. 2012, 2013; la Cour 2005). Likewise, it is found that healthcare professionals request professional training that promotes their linguistic abilities to engage in conversations with patients about existential and spiritual topics (Roessler and Lindemann 2014). Spiritual language becomes important in healthcare when children are terminally ill or are relatives to dying family members. In these situations, their existential and spiritual thoughts and needs increase (Larsen and Sørensen 2005; Hart and Schneider 1997; Pandya 2018).

The limited spiritual language also seems to affect children and young people more generally. Other studies indicate that both healthy and life-threateningly ill children and young people exhibit thoughts and feelings of a spiritual, existential, and/or religious nature, for example, about prayer, God(s), and the afterlife (Smith and McSherry 2004; Pehler 1997; Coles 1990). Even though Danish children and young people want to talk about spiritual questions and thoughts, very few of them talk to their parents or other adults about topics such as death, soul, afterlife, meaning, justice/injustice, identity, loneliness, and belonging (Larsen and Sørensen 2005; Thomsen and Mejdal 2020). The lack of spiritual language, along with the increased use of psychological language in post-secular contexts must be expected to influence the spiritual aspects of children’s education.

The increasing psychologization in Danish society affects how Danes talk about, understand, and interpret feelings, bodily sensations, and reactions, as well as which language becomes available to children and young people (Meier 2021; Viftrup et al. 2022). Psychologization involves a tendency to view all aspects of people’s lives and well-being through a psychological lens and attributes the problems to the individual’s psychological condition (Katznelson et al. 2022). The psychological and pathological language to understand and solve the life challenges faced by children and young people has increased significantly over the past 20 years, both in Denmark and internationally (Meier 2023; Andersen et al. 2023). Also, professionals from medical and social sciences highlight the tendency of over-diagnosis and ask are we not all becoming patients? (Jønsson and Brodersen 2022). The increased use of psychological language as well as the limited use of spiritual language affect dannelse of children and young people as they develop and are formed within the life horizon that is available, and with the psychological language that is offered. There is a need for dialogue about spiritual education in societies like Denmark, where there is a lack of language and concepts to understand spiritual concerns.

7. Spiritual Dialogue with Children

Relationships are the foundation for spiritual care and dialogue, and the healthcare professionals are co-creators of good relationships with patients. Similarly, children’s health, development, and well-being also depend on the quality of the relationships and relational interactions they are part of (Schibbye 2010; Viftrup 2015). Some of the relational qualities that create a foundation for spiritual care and children’s development are included in an understanding of recognition, which rests on psychologist Anne-Lise Løvlie Schibbye’s theory of relations and Professor Berit Bae’s theory of recognition (Rønsholdt et al. 2015; Godrim et al. 2017). This understanding of relational recognition consists of three interacting sub-elements, which are presented in Figure 1. It is a concrete suggestion for how adults can participate in children’s spiritual dannelse. There are parallels to both Rosa’s idea of resonance as a mode of relating to others and the world (and to things), as well as the setting in which dannelse takes place in children (Tanggaard 2021; Brinkmann et al. 2021a).

The three sub-elements are as follows:

(1)

Self-delimitation and self-reflection.

(2)

Safeguarding children’s right to be themselves.

(3)

Sharing of perspectives.

Self-delimitation and self-reflection involve adults (healthcare professionals, parents, teachers, etc.) taking ownership of their own feelings, thoughts, understandings, and assumptions about connecting to the present, to themselves, to others, to nature, to the significant, and/or to the sacred (i.e., their own spirituality) when interacting with the child (IKNL 2018; Hvidt et al. 2023). Adults must limit themselves so as not to impose their own spiritual feelings, thoughts, understandings, and assumptions on the child. The ability to do this is achieved through an increased awareness of one’s body language, thoughts, feelings, values, and assumptions, both in relation to the child’s spirituality and one’s own. Through self-reflection, adults must become aware of their inner state and spiritual being, and then take responsibility for what they contribute to the interaction with the child. However, it is essential that adults contribute something and, in this sense, provide the child with a greater life horizon.

Safeguarding the child’s right to be themselves is only possible when the adult first has self-delimitated. Only then can they refrain from defining the child’s spiritual experiences, thoughts, or feelings. Only then can the adult listen with a genuine desire to understand how the child experiences, thinks, and feels, as well as how the child’s spirituality unfolds. The adult does this concretely by ensuring that the child does most of the talking, repeatedly asking questions, and by listening long enough to understand and “feel” the child’s inner experiences. In meeting the adult’s response, the child will become familiar with a larger life horizon.

Finally, it is the adult’s responsibility to share perspectives. This is key to unfolding a spiritual language and teaching the child to express their spirituality. The adult shares perspectives by putting into words how they have has understood what the child has communicated. It is essential for the relationship that the adult shows, both through words and body language, that they have been emotionally affected by what the child has said. It is also important that the adult verbally expresses their own feelings, thoughts, understandings, and assumptions about connecting to the present, to themselves, to others, to nature, to the significant and/or to the sacred (i.e., spirituality) into words (IKNL 2018; Hvidt et al. 2023).

8. Conclusions

This article set out to examine spiritual education within a Danish post-secular context, aiming to explore how professional practices—drawing on interdisciplinary insights from theology, sociology, philosophy, and healthcare—can nurture children’s spiritual growth alongside their ethical and personal development.

Our discussion revealed that children possess an innate spiritual capacity that manifests in wonder, curiosity, and the quest for meaning. We examined diverse perspectives on children’s spirituality, integrated research from healthcare on the benefits of spiritual care and scrutinized how secular educational practices often overlook these dimensions. Central to our inquiry is the concept of dannelse, which offers a framework that goes beyond mere academic instruction to embrace the cultivation of critical thinking, ethical awareness, and communal responsibility. By engaging with Gadamer’s notion of the basic movement of the spirit and Arendt’s reflections on thinking and language, our analysis underscores the importance of bridging empirical research with practice-oriented models that support holistic development.

The Danish concept of dannelse enriches spiritual education by framing it as a process of formation or cultivation where individuals not only acquire knowledge but also develop a deeper sense of self, empathy, and social connectedness. This model calls for educational settings to move beyond standardized assessments and measurable outcomes, fostering instead an environment where critical reflection and ethical dialogue are integral to learning. Such an approach enhances the understanding and practice of spiritual education by acknowledging the dynamic interplay between individual inner life and communal participation.

Despite the strengths of our integrative approach—which synthesizes insights from multiple disciplines and provides a nuanced reinterpretation of spiritual education—our work faces limitations. Notably, the subjective nature of spirituality poses challenges for quantification in systems that prioritize evaluation and measurability. Moreover, the entrenched focus on cognitive performance in Danish educational and healthcare settings may still constrain the broader acceptance of a holistic, spirit-oriented pedagogy.

Future research should delve deeper into the professional practices that underpin spiritual education in post-secular contexts. Empirical studies and case analyses are needed to evaluate models anchored in dannelse and to examine how these practices can mitigate the mental well-being crisis linked to performance pressures. Such research would further illuminate the pathways through which spiritual education can be effectively integrated into the Danish cultural context and beyond.

Based on our findings, we recommend that professionals in education, healthcare, and related fields adopt training programmes that balance cognitive, affective, and spiritual dimensions. Educators, parents, and healthcare providers should develop reflective practices, such as self-delimitation and self-reflection, to ensure they do not impose their own spiritual perspectives on children. Additionally, they should engage in genuine dialogue by sharing perspectives and creating spaces that respect and nurture the child’s inherent right to be themselves. These strategies aim to cultivate a shared language around existential concerns and empower adults to support children’s broader development in a holistic manner.