Effects of Executing the Plan for Teaching Philosophy to Children on Spiritual Growth of Female Students in Isfahan

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the effects of executing the plan for teaching philosophy to children on spiritual growth of female students of Isfahan in the school year 2014- 15. This study was a quasi-experimental one conducted through a control group and a pretest and posttest. The statistical population of the study included all female students in Isfahan aged 12 to 14 from among which a sample was selected randomly through cluster sampling from two of the Centers of Children and Adolescents. Then, 15 students were selected randomly from each of these centers and were put into two control and experimental groups. The subjects in both groups filled out the Hall and Edwards (1996) Spiritual Assessment Inventory with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.89. Later on, the subjects in the experimental group attended 15 one-hour sessions of teaching philosophy to children. At the end, both groups were asked to fill the Spiritual Assessment Inventory up again. The data collected were analyzed through descriptive statistics using mean and standard deviation and in a deductive level using multivariate analysis of covariance. Findings revealed that the plan for teaching philosophy to children has been effective on their spiritual growth. In case of the subscales of spiritual growth, it could be said that the plan leads to an increased awareness about God. The plan also decreases desperation and unstable and exaggerated relationship with God. It could be concluded that execution of the plan for teaching philosophy to children promotes spiritual growth in students.

Keywords

• teaching philosophy to children
• female students in isfahan