A espiritualidade do professor no processo pedagógico da educação superior

Abstract

The concept of spirituality is very broad, so much so that various practices such as empathy, love for others, respect, self-awareness, among others, can be understood as spirituality. Faced with so many concepts, it became exciting to study the relevance of spirituality in higher education institutions, focusing on the following research problem: to what extent can spirituality be relevant to higher education? To reach the objective and answer to this problem, this research was developed in two higher education institutions, one confessional and the other non-confessional. The following research instruments were used: document analysis, interviews with professors and application of a questionnaire to students, in addition to a theoretical framework with frontier and seminal authors, in order to verify how spirituality is observed and worked on in both institutions. Data analysis was performed by means of triangulation, using the qualitative deductive method and the exploratory quantitative inductive method. It was found that both institutions have pedagogical documents that encourage practices of spirituality in the classroom. The research revealed that in the confessional institution, the concept of spirituality linked to being superior prevails, as well as the following factors were mentioned: love for others and empathy. In the non-denominational school, the concepts were linked to spirituality practices not linked to religion. It was found that the vast majority of students from both institutions believe that spirituality is relevant in the formation of students, mainly in the form of responsible practices, stimuli for overcoming difficulties, and the search for personal development. However, most believe that such practices are not worked on in the classroom.