Ruth Wills
Biographic Data
| ID | 8835646 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ruth Wills |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ruth |
| FAMILY NAME | Wills |
| SIGNATURE | WILLS R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Winchester |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4208-1307 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Teaching for authenticity
During my first inspection experience as a primary school music teacher, it was noted that my work contributed to the spiritual nature of the school. Since then, my exploration into what both children’s spirituality and spiritual pedagogy entail has formed the basis of my writing and research. This commentary paper documents my journey from a practitioner perspective to a deeper understanding which has sought to identify a philosophical underpinn…
Spirituality, football and Olivia
Olivia Pratt-Korbel, a nine-year-old English girl, was mistakenly shot by a masked gunman in Liverpool, U.K. Less than a week later at a football match played at the home ground of Liverpool Football Club, the whole crowd stood to its feet to applaud the life and memory of this local youngster.This was an incredibly moving and spiritual experience of connectedness and solidarity.This article, underpinned philosophically by both Buber's 'I-Thou' a…
Jack Priestley
Creating the condition for doubt. How might questioning and critical thinking inspire children’s spiritual development
Doubt, in much of Kierkegaard’s writing, is the inspiration for faith. Illustrating doubt in terms of the suspension of totality, the negation of certainty, and subsequent reflection, Fear and Trembling, and Philosophical Fragments, both authored pseudonymously by Kierkegaard, consider how individuals might learn on the strength of their own personal contingency within the remits of pre-existing structures and systems. After exploring Kierkegaard…
Responding to change
Striving through study to light a way through the darkness
Can learning about the Holocaust be spiritual? Reflections on a teaching and learning experience with Primary School children
In April 2017, I spent a week in Poland researching the Holocaust in Europe. Most notably, I visited the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. Following the visit, I facilitated three History lessons with 10- and 11-year-old children on the role of Auschwitz in the Second World War. As the sessions unfolded, the spiritual themes of meaning, identity and remembering emerged from the children’s responses; therefore, this article forms a refle…
Exploring the ethics of agency through the lens of Bildung
Experiencing something of a renaissance, the German pedagogical idea ‘Bildung’ has recently been reconsidered for contemporary education. Historically proposed by von Humboldt, Bildung’s interplay represents a relational movement between a learner and the world that aims for personal freedom and growth. It is also identified as a means by which learners might become aware of their personal capacity to develop responses to daily experiences. Thus,…
Spirituality across disciplines
"Spirituality across disciplines: research and practice." International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 22(3-4), pp. 357–358
Redefining religious education
Challenging ‘the they’
Through the lens of Heideggerian’s Being and Time, this paper examines the world of ‘the they’ for twenty-first century children, highlighting perceived power figures in their lives. Exploring philosophically how the falling of a child’s Dasein from its primordial state into ‘the they’ culminates in an inauthentic presentation of self, it will then describe how spiritual educators might encourage a turning of the tide, allowing children to be cri…
Beyond obedience and abandonment
International Association for Children’s Spirituality
The International Association for Children’s Spirituality (IACS) is a global network of individuals and groups who recognise the importance of addressing the spiritual lives of children and young p
Beyond relation
This paper takes a philosophical view of the spiritual concept ‘relational consciousness’ first proposed by Rebecca Nye in 1998. I will consider the relational aspect of spirituality through the ontology of Heidegger and the dialogical relationship ‘I and Thou’ of Martin Buber, examining the problems that contingency and mediation within consciousness bring particularly to a child’s notion of ‘God’. Through two writings of Hegel, I will introduce…
The magic of music
This paper considers the spiritual nature of music making and in particular the activity of singing. As a music teacher for children aged 5–11, I have recently observed a change in the behaviour and self‐esteem of certain children in school since they joined the choir. This has also inspired them to flourish in other areas of school life. This study focuses on three aspects of spirituality and well‐being in relation to the experiences of corporat…
Children’s ministry that fits
No prominent works on this page.
The magic of music
This paper considers the spiritual nature of music making and in particular the activity of singing. As a music teacher for children aged 5–11, I have recently observed a change in the behaviour and self‐esteem of certain children in school since they joined the choir. This has also inspired them to flourish in other areas of school life. This study focuses on three aspects of spirituality and well‐being in relation to the experiences of corporat…
Children’s ministry that fits
Beyond relation
This paper takes a philosophical view of the spiritual concept ‘relational consciousness’ first proposed by Rebecca Nye in 1998. I will consider the relational aspect of spirituality through the ontology of Heidegger and the dialogical relationship ‘I and Thou’ of Martin Buber, examining the problems that contingency and mediation within consciousness bring particularly to a child’s notion of ‘God’. Through two writings of Hegel, I will introduce…
International Association for Children’s Spirituality
The International Association for Children’s Spirituality (IACS) is a global network of individuals and groups who recognise the importance of addressing the spiritual lives of children and young p
Challenging ‘the they’
Through the lens of Heideggerian’s Being and Time, this paper examines the world of ‘the they’ for twenty-first century children, highlighting perceived power figures in their lives. Exploring philosophically how the falling of a child’s Dasein from its primordial state into ‘the they’ culminates in an inauthentic presentation of self, it will then describe how spiritual educators might encourage a turning of the tide, allowing children to be cri…
Beyond obedience and abandonment
Redefining religious education
Exploring the ethics of agency through the lens of Bildung
Experiencing something of a renaissance, the German pedagogical idea ‘Bildung’ has recently been reconsidered for contemporary education. Historically proposed by von Humboldt, Bildung’s interplay represents a relational movement between a learner and the world that aims for personal freedom and growth. It is also identified as a means by which learners might become aware of their personal capacity to develop responses to daily experiences. Thus,…
Spirituality across disciplines
"Spirituality across disciplines: research and practice." International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 22(3-4), pp. 357–358
Responding to change
Striving through study to light a way through the darkness
Can learning about the Holocaust be spiritual? Reflections on a teaching and learning experience with Primary School children
In April 2017, I spent a week in Poland researching the Holocaust in Europe. Most notably, I visited the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. Following the visit, I facilitated three History lessons with 10- and 11-year-old children on the role of Auschwitz in the Second World War. As the sessions unfolded, the spiritual themes of meaning, identity and remembering emerged from the children’s responses; therefore, this article forms a refle…
Jack Priestley
Creating the condition for doubt. How might questioning and critical thinking inspire children’s spiritual development
Doubt, in much of Kierkegaard’s writing, is the inspiration for faith. Illustrating doubt in terms of the suspension of totality, the negation of certainty, and subsequent reflection, Fear and Trembling, and Philosophical Fragments, both authored pseudonymously by Kierkegaard, consider how individuals might learn on the strength of their own personal contingency within the remits of pre-existing structures and systems. After exploring Kierkegaard…
Spirituality, football and Olivia
Olivia Pratt-Korbel, a nine-year-old English girl, was mistakenly shot by a masked gunman in Liverpool, U.K. Less than a week later at a football match played at the home ground of Liverpool Football Club, the whole crowd stood to its feet to applaud the life and memory of this local youngster.This was an incredibly moving and spiritual experience of connectedness and solidarity.This article, underpinned philosophically by both Buber's 'I-Thou' a…
Teaching for authenticity
During my first inspection experience as a primary school music teacher, it was noted that my work contributed to the spiritual nature of the school. Since then, my exploration into what both children’s spirituality and spiritual pedagogy entail has formed the basis of my writing and research. This commentary paper documents my journey from a practitioner perspective to a deeper understanding which has sought to identify a philosophical underpinn…
Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Spirituality (8 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Epistemology (6 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (6 works) · Religious Education and Schools (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Aesthetics (5 works) · Art (5 works)