- When I was teaching early on,
a little, second-grader came up to me and said,
"My grandmother died. Where did she go?"
And my initial response was not to say anything.
I realized later on, that I, as a teacher,
could have clearly welcomed in
that part of who a child was.
- And it really is a part of us.
Research suggests that not only is spirituality innate,
it's also an essential part of childhood development.
- Genetic epidemiological twin studies show us,
right at puberty, we start asking the same questions:
"What is my meaning? What is my purpose?"
Actually, "What is the meaning?"
We now have 20 years of science that shows us,
we are all naturally, innately spiritual beings.
- The science of spirituality might be news to you,
but these studies were put into motion
over three decades ago,
with support from the Fetzer Institute,
an organization championing educational programs,
that are proving how the spiritual part of a child,
is essential to the whole.
- Society tells young boys not to be vulnerable.
That was a big thing I was fed into.
And it wasn't until I had to look back at myself,
that I was able to be fully human, as I want to be.
- We have an epidemic amongst teens
and young adults of depression, of addiction.
The rate of death by suicide now rivals the rate of death
by auto accident in high school,
and this presses now into middle school.
I'm trained as a clinical scientist,
and I learned that depression
was to be understood as a problem
of chemical imbalance in the brain;
as a psychological eclipse in just about any way.
But the way that I had sensed in my own path,
was the road to recovery through spiritual deepening.
40 years ago, we threw religion
out of the public square for a good reason:
We were trying to be inclusive.
But when we did that,
we also threw the spiritual baby out with the bathwater.
Spirituality and religion are two different things.
About 30% of people in the United States say,
"I am spiritual, but I am not religious."
For me, spirituality is experienced in my family,
in nature, as I am moved by music.
What's interesting is that
when we take people who are spiritual but not religious,
and spiritual and religious—
across many beautiful faith traditions— into the MRI,
we see the exact same neural correlates.
Whether we are talking to God,
feeling the presence of nature or spirit,
we all use the same neural correlates.
When we looked at the risk and resilience
involved in personal spiritual life,
it turned out that a child
with a strong spirituality was 90% less likely
to have depression.
There's nothing in the clinical,
or social sciences that is
90% protective against depression.
There is no capacity
within the child as profoundly central
to all other lines of development,
than a strong, natural, spiritual core.
The crisis is that we socialize young children
out of natural spiritual awareness.
- This society doesn't want human beings.
They want perfect examples of human beings.
The QUESTion Project—
it's just a place to be human.
- You have to have fun with the question.
- The QUESTion Project is a class where we ask questions.
You're able to share what makes us unique
in a way that we can contribute to people around us,
and contribute to ourselves as well.
- The QUESTion Project,
is one of hundreds of educational pilot programs
geared toward fostering spirituality in schools.
It's a program that allows each child
to explore fundamental life questions
through the lens of their own religious tradition,
or not, as appropriate to them.
- QUESTion Project is really just teaching us to
voice your opinion, 'cause your voice matters.
Being able to think about
yourself as a human being and say,
"This is who I am. How do I become who I want to be?"
- Courses like this are rooted
in social and emotional learning, or SEL for short:
a style of teaching that was pioneered by Linda Lantieri.
- I did not imagine that I would be living
to see some SEL in 92% of the nation's schools.
There are actually hundreds of studies
that show the beneficial outcomes of SEL.
There's improved emotional and social skills.
Children improve in their academic performance,
11 percentile points higher.
- But Lantieri believes programs like
the QUESTion Project are an opportunity for SEL
to go further by developing children's spiritual capacities.
- How can I figure out who I really am?
- Why do people hurt each other?
- What happens when I die?
- When young people can ask those deep questions,
they begin to feel that, “Our questions are okay,”
that everybody counts.
There's a foundation of feeling love.
All of those things engage kids beyond skill-building,
and into that realm that makes us uniquely human.
I knew that if we didn't add the spiritual dimension
to this work, we were going to leave kids
with not all they needed to know.
And the Fetzer Institute, is really poised right now
to step up in supporting this movement.
- Fetzer understands that a basic science
to establish the natural spirituality of the child,
presented a blueprint
for building a new system of education.
The people of Fetzer walk the walk.
They live out spiritual values.
- I came here after spending many years working
in the corporate setting.
I was looking for something that had a greater capacity
to contribute something to the world.
At Fetzer, I found an organization that was really
interested in making the world a more loving place—
and that's what we are here doing.
We are bringing together partners,
and funding work that actually does help folks to go deeper.
To engage across difference,
knowing that love is the core energy
that brings everyone together.
- Without the QUESTion Project,
I wouldn't be the person I am right now.
I started renewing myself, and that's the Alex you see now.
The Alex who's not afraid to question himself,
not afraid to be vulnerable.
You never stay the same.
You're never stagnant in that class.
- What if students everywhere had access
to this kind of learning?
What if schools were a place where children could explore
every part of themselves, not just academics?
- We wouldn't dream
of depriving a school child of lunch.
We wouldn't dream of eliminating recess.
Natural spirituality needs to be supported.
- We need to step up our game here,
and we need to provide those conditions for young people
to have that awakening for them.
- Maybe it's time
to start questioning the status quo.
Could a movement to look within
to our own spirituality be what the
next generation needs most?
- I've been fortunate enough
in the five decades of being in K-12 education,
that I'm not only seeing SEL accepted,
now I am seeing little signs that all of who children are
would be part of our education.
- Yeah, I think you'll see it.
- I think I will.
- I know, um—
- You really got me crying now, you see?
You caught it there.