Introducing the landmark study: Faith in the Nexus
The Faith in the Nexus project focussed on how the collaboration between home, school, and church can support children's spiritual development. This article summarizes the work.
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(new) Listening to children’s spiritual expression
Introducing the landmark study: Faith in the Nexus
Animating children’s voices: bring faith talk alive for adults and children at school and at home.
Nexus Research in Church Toddler Groups
Transforming Research into Practice
The Faith in the Nexus project focussed on how the collaboration between home, school, and church can support children's spiritual development. It arose out from a 2016 study published by Theos and written by Alwyn Mark which explored the passing on of faith from parents to their children. Passing on Faith offers a background and context to the Faith in the Nexus project and can be download here.
The Faith in the Nexus project was an extensive empirical mixed methods study, including a large survey and many focus groups in school settings. It was undertaken by National Institute of Christian Education Research, (NICER), an educational research centre at Canterbury Christ Church University. Throughout this research, the research team took a child-centred approach by attentively listening to the voices of Year 5 and Year 6 children speaking across 27 Roman Catholic and Church of England = primary schools in England and Wales and an inclusive approach to the idea of spiritual flourishing.
The project has gone on to be highly influential informing both EU funded research initiatives focussed on anti-religious bullying (see here) and also the Church of England’s Growing Faith initiatives which seeks to engaged young people (see here).
Faith in the Nexus has transformed our understanding of children’s spiritual flourishing with implications for organized religion, education settings and the sustaining of religion-cultural identity at home:
· Children are the initiators and drivers of their spiritual development, actively seeking out places of reflection, times to pray, and space to talk about faith and encounters with God.
· Children value opportunities to ask open-ended questions about things of deep importance to them and things they wonder about, and for others to listen to their opinions.
· Children’s responses revealed how they navigate the diversity of religious beliefs within their homes and schools to craft their spiritual journey
· Church primary schools can provide safe spaces to talk about faith, spiritual matters, and ask challenging questions; pupils identified RE lessons as such a space.
· Children value the support of family, school and parish church and appreciate adult engagement in their spiritual questing
· Responding to children’s talk about faith is challenging; adults may struggle with how to respond, avoid, or close down such conversations
· Flourishing connections between school, home and parish church, nurtures relationships between individuals and these institutions
· The value of having a sense of belonging to a vibrant community was apparent in both children’s and adults’ responses.
You can access and read the full Faith in the Nexus report for free.
Why did we use the term Nexus?
A NEXUS is a focus for connection, where multiple lines from different places come into relationship around a point of focus. In this project, the Nexus refers to the connections between church school, the parish church, and the home. The Faith in the Nexus project aimed to reveal the influence of these connections in children’s developing spiritual life, and, specifically, how what happens in school (collaboration with church and others) impacts on children’s faith and spiritual life at home.
Communicating findings through animation
We made animations coming out of the project with accompanying pdf guides to help translate the findings for professional, adult and child audiences. Three core animations support the first research phase. The first animation draws attention to the key findings of the report whilst the second animation has an empowering message for parents nurturing their child’s spiritual journey. The third animation is aimed at encouraging children to consider their own spirituality.
Click here to download the Parents Guide to use with this animation
Click here for the Children’s questions sheet
Project details
Date:From 2017 - 2023
Institute:Canterbury Christ Church University
Researchers:Dr. Ann Casson, Ann Pittaway, Dr Sabrina Hulbert, Professor Bob Bowie
Funding body: Douglas Trust Grant £420,000