ABSTRACT

In secular societies, the adults’ vocabulary for talking withchildren about spiritual topics is limited. This negativelyaffects Danish children’s spiritual development as well ashinder spiritual care and conversations with adults. Thisstudy explores the spiritual understandings, needs, and lan-guage of Danish children by means of focus group interviewswith 6–9-year-old children in elementary schools. Resultssuggest that Danish children exhibit spiritual thoughts andemotions despite being embedded in a secular culture. Thechildren interact and relate to dilemmas and life values witha spiritual language which they acquire through narrativesand dialogue. Conversations with adults seem to be centralto setting the spiritual development in motion. In a secularDanish school context, adults should support children’s spiri-tual development with a pedagogical didactic where spiri-tuality is taught from the perspective of or with the child anduse spiritual stories to facilitate dialogues about these.

Introduction

The first author had just finished the last focus group interview of the study,when the last boy made his way out of the room. He turned around and said: ‘Itreally was bloody good to talk about death. I liked it. I only thought you wereallowed to talk about death in church’.

I. Larsen and Sørensen (2005) found that despite Danish children wanting todiscuss death, God, faith, soul, and other spiritual topics, only a few of them talkwith their parents or other adults about their spiritual concerns. Denmark isdescribed as a highly secularised society and Danes tend to have a limitedvocabulary for talking about their existential, spiritual, and religious questions and concerns (Andersen and Lüchau 2011; Viftrup et al. 2021); these topicsbelong to their most private sphere, and the limited spiritual vocabulary amongadults also seem to negatively affect Danish children’s spiritual development aswell as hinder their spiritual care and conversations with adults while facingdifficult life-circumstance (I. Larsen and Sørensen 2005).

However, over the past decades there has been an increased focus onstrengthening spiritual care in the palliative field (Sundhedsstyrelsen 2017) aswell as family-centred palliative care in Denmark (FaCe 2020; Sundhedsstyrelsen2018). Furthermore, the Danish State Church has become the biggest providerin Denmark of support groups for people experiencing bereavement and grief.These groups have more focus on existential, spiritual, and religious aspects ofgrieving, loss, and death than secularised grief-groups (T. G. Larsen 2019;Thomsen, Hansen, and Busch 2014). This may indicate an increasing focus aswell as a growing need in the Danish population for processing and talkingabout death and loss with a spiritual vocabulary.

For this study, spiritual vocabulary is defined as how individuals talk abouthorizontal and/or vertical relationships in their lives.This understanding isinspired by Stifoss-Hanssen and Kallenberg (1998), Arendt (2019, 2020), andHartmut Rosa (2021). The horizontal relationships concern a person’s relationsto oneself, other people (both significant people and fellow humans moregenerally), society, the world, nature, and life in general. The horizontal relation-ships can be measured, felt, and perceived concretely in the world. The verticalrelationships concern a person’s relations to God, gods, other kinds of higherpower or force, a transcending understanding of nature, life, or transcendentbeliefs, experiences, feelings, philosophies, or life values. These aspects of lifeare significant for being and becoming human, but they cannot be understoodor measured with conventional scientific measures. For most people, there willbe an overlap between the horizontal and vertical relationships, as people usethem to make sense of life, values, meaning, and purpose, as well as dealingwith difficult life-circumstances (Arendt 2019, 2020; Rosa 2021; Stifoss-Hanssenand Kallenberg 1998). For this study, we define spiritual development as beingformed and develop as a human being with both horizontal and verticalrelationships, and spiritual stories are defined as narratives that ‘feed’ thisspiritual development.Based on this definition of spirituality we view religionas a possible aspect of spirituality for many people, just as most people areaffected by religion and religious language when being a part of society, butspirituality is understood as a bigger construct than religion when understand-ing the development of children. However, there are severe overlaps when itcomes to theory and studies on children’s religiosity and spirituality.

Danish and international studies have found that children, when they areexperiencing particularly difficult life circumstances (e.g., having seriously illparents or being terminally ill themselves) as well as living life without specifichardship, exhibit thoughts and feelings of spiritual, existential, and/or religious character i.e., about prayer, God, afterlife, or death (Coles 1990; Dencker et al.2018; Pehler 1997; Smith and McSherry 2004). Two Danish qualitative studiesalso indicate that several of the physical, psychological, and social effects onchildren related to the sickness and death of a parent, can be reduced if thechildren are given opportunities to talk with adults about their spiritualthoughts during the time of parents’ severe sickness (Buchwald, Delmar, andSchantz-Laursen 2012; Dencker et al. 2017). This is supported by an internationalreview, which found that the personal spirituality of children is important fortheir experience of hope and ability to handle severe sickness (Lima et al. 2013).

However, the limited spiritual vocabulary in secular Denmark may negativelyaffect Danish children’s spiritual development as well as hinder their spiritualcare and conversations with adults while facing difficult life-circumstance.

Even though Denmark is considered one of the most secularised societies inthe world (Zuckerman 2008) and only 8% of Danes believes that religion is veryimportant in their lives (Center 2024), the picture of religion in the Danishsociety is far more complex. The term ‘the Scandinavian paradox’ denotes theseemingly contradictory fact that Scandinavians remain members of theirnational churches, but increasingly self-identify as irreligious (Mauritsen 2022).

There has been a decline in the number of members in the Evangelical LutheranChurch; In 1990, almost 90% of the Danish population were members, whereastoday, only 72% of Danish citizens are tax-paying members of the Church ofDenmark (DA: Folkekirken) (denmark.dk 2024), but even though only few Danesattend Sunday service, the number of people attending church services hasremained the same since 1990 (Böwadt 2020). The theory of complexity mightbetter describe the Danish society than theories of secularisation. The theory ofcomplexity attempts to surmount the approaches that point to religion assomething that is simply changing, and there is both a decrease and an increasein religiosity at the same time (Böwadt 2020)

It has been suggested, that the same complexity exist in the differentapproaches to religious education (RE) in the Danish school system (Böwadt2020). The Scandinavian countries are often said to be among the frontrunnersas regards non-confessional RE, however, the RE of Danish schools have alsobeen criticised for not promoting the ideals of Human Rights, or meeting theneeds of a pluralistic world and society (Jensen 2005, 2017; Jensen and Kjeldsen2014). Public schools in Denmark are secular institutions that are not affiliatedwith any specific religious denomination, but the teaching of RE is compulsoryin primary and lower secondary school. RE has the name ‘knowledge aboutChristianity’ (DA: Kristendomskundskab) and in grades 1–9 it is timetabled withone lesson per week. While this teaching is not related to either preaching oreven Christian upbringing, the Danish state law on education obliges everyschool to teach the subject as part of safeguarding the ‘Christian culturalheritage’ (Böwadt 2020; Jensen and Kjeldsen 2014).

Spirituality (DA:Åndelighed) has been defined as a central aspect of the general development of children in Denmark since the Danish School Law of 1993 (Retsinformation1993). The Danish School Law addresses how to challenge and stimulate thegeneral development of pupils in Danish schools. It says: ‘ . . . the teacher mustensure that all pupils are given challenges both intellectually, emotionally,socially, and with regards to developing their values and personal stance’(Under the section: General remarks, The organising of the teaching sessions,1993). Furthermore, the law reads: ‘It is stressed that the school must ensureversatility in the challenges during teaching. The individual pupil’s versatile andpersonal development includes spiritual, intellectual, musical, physical, andsocial development’ (Under the section: Remarks on the individual provisionsof the law, Chapter 1: The purpose of the State School, § 1). However, in recentyears, the Danish Ministry of Education has carried out various efforts within allthe other aspects, except within the area of children’s spiritual development.

Despite the importance of attending to children’s spiritual care and develop-ment, it seems that the development of children’s spirituality and spiritualvocabulary is receiving limited focus in Danish schools. Nor does it seem to beintegrated into the broader understanding of general development and educa-tion of children in Denmark.

Therefore, to enhance care for Danish children’s spiritual needs’ and tofurther children’s spiritual conversations with adults when facing difficult life-circumstances, more knowledge about the spiritual understandings, needs, andlanguage of Danish children is highly needed. This knowledge should informDanish adults (i.e., parents, teachers, health professionals, etc.) on how to talkwith children about their spiritual concerns and support their generaldevelopment.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the spiritual understand-ings, needs, and language of Danish children from first and third grade (6–9years old). This was done by means of six focus group interviews with groups of4–5 children from three different state schools in Copenhagen, Denmark. Theinterviews focused on how the children related to and talked about differentspiritual themes presented to them.

Method

We chose an existential phenomenological research design with focus groupinterviews (Halkier 2016) as well as thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006).Existential phenomenology focuses on the enquiry of human experience. Itseeks to understand the meaning of lived experience through the systematicanalysis of lived experience itself. For this study, we applied Heidegger’s con-cept of ’being-in-the-world’, which describes a person being fully and comple-tely as part of the world and as such always in a relationship with the worldthrough its activities or doings (Heidegger 1962/1927). This means that a personcannot rise above his or her existential embeddedness in the world.

We combined this research approach with a thematic analysis with an idiographicapproach which would substantiate the phenomenological experience and thevoices of the children being studied.

Participants

The first author conducted the six focus group interviews at three public schoolsfrom different socio-economic areas of Copenhagen where a total of 26 childrenparticipated: 14 girls and 12 boys, 13 first graders (6–7 years) and 13 thirdgraders (8–9 years old). The focus group interviews took place during schoolhours in an adjacent room to the class. On the day of each interview the firstauthor arrived at the classroom, where she introduced herself for the class, afterwhich the participating children and she went into an adjacent room for theinterview. After the interview the children went back to their classrooms on theirown. The children received a small gift card for their participation. They were notinformed about the gift card before they arrived in the adjacent room wherethey received an introduction to the interview.

Ethics

Research where the voices of children are the primary focus demands specialethical attention (Ladefoged and Petersen 2020). The focus group interviews ofthe current study were arranged by the first author. She established contact tothe teachers, who informed children and parents/guardians both in writing andverbally about the study’s purpose, content, length, use of audio recording,anonymisation as well as the rights of both children and adults to withdrawtheir participation and consent at any given time. The parents/guardians gavetheir permission for the participation of the children by completinga declaration of consent. Just before the interviews the children were told yetagain that their participation would be anonymous, and that they could with-draw their participation and consent at any given time. The children were toldthat they would also receive the gift card no matter if they chose to withdrawtheir participation from the interview.

The project was registered according to the instructions of SDU Research &Innovation Organization (RIO) (No. 10.467), the Danish law of personal data, andthe Helsinki declaration (WMA 2013). The ethical implications of the researchactivities of the project and the ethical implications of research with childrenwere continuously discussed in author group which represented different areasof expertise: General practitioner, pastor, teacher, theologian, anthropologist,and psychologist. The first author is a clinical psychologist with professionalexperience with loss and grief of children and families. She was attentivethroughout the interviews of whether conversation about spiritual themeswould trigger any emotional reactions in the children.

She also offered to be available if the teachers or parents/guardians experienced reactions in thechildren after the interviews.

Focus group interviews

The six focus group interviews lasted between 43 and 52 minutes (average time:48 minutes). During the interviews the children were allowed to draw whiletalking. The introduction to the interviews included a thorough explanationabout how this was an interview, where the children were the specialists whoshould explain their feelings, thoughts, and opinions to the first author. Sheemphasised how it was not an ordinary teaching situation; that there were noright or wrong answers; and the children were allowed to talk with their friendsand disagree with one another during the interview.

The focus group interviews began by the first author reading a short, con-temporary story about ‘the good Samaritan’ aloud for the children after whichthe children should explain what this story was all about. This story was chosen,as even though it is a religious story it also highly relates to horizontal dimen-sions of life. All the children said that they did not know the story beforehand.This story-aspect as a part of the focus group interviews are inspired by thestorytelling method which has been found adequate to explore children’sperspectives, conceptualisations, and understandings as well as for developingpersonal meaning and social-emotional competences (Boyd-Franklin 1987;Koivula, Turja, and Laakso 2020). Studies within the psychology of religionsendorse a multi-method approach to the study of children’s spirituality(Boyatzis 2009; Boyatzis and Newman 2004). This might be even more thecase in Denmark, where we have little shared vocabulary for spirituality, andtherefore research-methods which endorse children’s own verbal descriptionsfor their perspectives on spirituality are warranted.

The questions of the moderator guide were centred on how adults may besttalk with children as well as questions about what the children view as mean-ingful in life. For instance, the children were asked to mention 2–5 things thatwere very important to them and why. They were also asked: What do you thinkthat life is all about? And what advice would you give to a person, who finds lifeto be difficult? The last group of questions was about spiritual vocabulary. Thechildren were introduced to six words, one at a time, and asked about themeaning of these words. The six words were: Hope, illness, love, God/faith,meaning, and death.

The moderator guide was structured with the purpose of gaining the bestpossible access to the spiritual understandings and vocabulary of the children.The goal was to facilitate a safe situation for the children to talk about spiritualthemes without deliberately influencing their understandings or language.However, we also recognise that the development of spiritual language andconceptions take place within relationships, just as all other aspects of children’s development. Therefore, we applied a phenomenological method where therelationship between the interviewer and each participant is considered centralto the research process.

Analysis

Through the analysis two themes and five sub-themes emerged. These themesare illustrated in (Figure 1).

Theme 1: life values

The first overall theme covers how the children expressed values for how theybelieved life should be lived. These descriptions of life values expressed theirbeing-in-the-world. The children never used the term: ‘Life values’ in the inter-views. It is an interpretation of how they applied spiritual vocabulary for beingin, understanding, and handling their lives. Two life values stood out across allfocus group interviews: Helping others and not being too busy. The children’sexpressions about these values occurred primarily as a response to the intro-ductory story about the good Samaritan, after which these value-based reflec-tions ran throughout the rest of the interview conversations.

Sub-theme: helping others

A value that stood out in the interviews was about how helping others isthe right thing to do. None of the children knew the story of the GoodSamaritan beforehand, but after it was read out loud, the children would allexplain how this story was about learning to help others. In one group,they explained:

Child1: You must learn to not make war and that you should help others.

DTV: I think that sounds good.

Child1: And even if it is your enemy, you can and should still always help.

Child2: You shall help no matter what.

DTV: So, you must help, no matter what?

Child2: You can always help.

All children express agreement

It seems that by relating verbally to the dilemmas of the story the childrenexplored and developed values for living. The spiritual language of the story aswell as the spiritual concepts of the children seemed important for compre-hending and internalising these life values into their own lives. However, thechildren also expressed how it could be difficult to live out these values. Forexample, a child said when relating the story to his own life:

I know that you shall always help, but sometimes I get so angry with my older sister,and I don’t help her . . . I just make more war.

Sub-theme: not being too busy

The children also expressed another value on how they believed life should belived. It was about not being too busy to help others. In all the focus groups thechildren explained the reason for the priest and the Levite (in the story of thegood Samaritan) not helping the man in need was due to them being too busyand in a hurry. For instance, one group explained that it was both due tobusiness with their job and not wanting to touch the blood:

Child1: It (the story) is about helping. And you cannot just think about yourself.

The priest and the Levite only think of themselves and their jobs.

Child2: I want to say the same, and also about their jobs.

DTV: They only think of their jobs and not on helping others?

Child3: They are more concerned about themselves than about others. Justbecause he might be a bit icky and because there’s a lot of blood.

Child2: I think it’s mean because the priest and . . . – they just walk by, and theydon’t help in any way at all. Even if they . . . could have not touched him andcalled for help instead, so they didn’t have to touch him.

Another child describes the business of the priest and the Levite and how theSamaritan conversely had time. She explains why one helped and the others did not: Girl1: Because they were busy and in a hurry and . . . they were doing some-thing else instead of wasting time helping him, but he (the Samaritan) who went byand helped him, he had time to do it, so he might as well do so.

The children relate to and explore their being-in-the-world through the spiritualunderstandings evoked by the story. It seems that these children are familiarwith adults being too busy to help others and with jobs being important.However, it seems that the children are aware of how being too busy to dothe right thing is wrong, as well as when you have time enough you might aswell just do the right thing and help. Therefore, not being too busy wasconsidered a life value for the children. For these Danish school children, itseemed as if both time and busyness are important spiritual concepts highlyaffecting their life values and being-in-the-world.

Theme 2: death

Death was the spiritual concern that the children spoke about the most duringthe interviews, both when asked directly to the word: ‘Death’ at the end of theinterview but also throughout the focus group interviews e.g., when discussingwhat was important to them. Several children expressed worries about death.The following is an example of worries concerning parents dying:

Child1: I think it is important that my parents do not die before I am all grownup.

Child2: I think so too.

The children would relate to their thoughts and concerns about death indifferent ways. More than once the children spoke about death in relation toa known story. The children would tell or refer to a commonly known storywhere death was involved in one way or the other, and then they would use thestory to talk about their own thoughts, feelings, or opinions about death anddying. e.g., ‘The Little Match Girl’ by Hans Christian Andersen. In this story thelittle match girls dies, but even though it is a sad story, it is also about how deathcan be more than sad or scary. It can also be peaceful and freeing. The childrenused this story to relate to different aspects of death:

Child1: I’m not sure, but when you die, if you’ve had a good life . . . If you’ve hada good life, and you’re already happy, even though you know you’re dying . . .I know someone, who already knew that she was going to die, and she was stillhappy. I don’t know why she was happy.

Child1: Yes

DTV: So, it’s possible to be happy even though you know, you are going to die?

Child2: Like the girl with the match sticks

DTV: Right – try to tell me about that story (Child1 and Child2 tell the story)

Child2: . . . And I have told the entire story just to say that she died with a smileon her lips . . . like that . . . I think, sometimes you can die with a smile on yourlips, even though you know, you are going to die.

In this excerpt we see, how the children relate to the reality of death through thefairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. They use the story as a part of theirspiritual vocabulary for talking about their concerns about death. We see howrelating to the story and adding it to their spiritual understandings and lan-guage, death becomes more nuanced and perhaps easier for them to handle.

Sub-theme: illness

The sub-theme about illness is closely connected to the children’s generalconcerns about death. They had a lot of thoughts about illness and how illnesswould often cause death. e.g., a dialogue in response to the word: ‘Illness’:Children speaking at the same time: Illness. Ugh. Illness. That’s awful.

DTV: What comes to mind when I say ’illness’? Children as with one voice: Death!

DTV: Death. Because you can die from illness?

Child1: For instance, if it’s a dangerous illness.

[Children speaking at the same time]: Cancer. Covid.

DTV: Not everyone dies from covid or cancer.

Child2: Cancer. Yes. I’m afraid of cancer.

For all the children, cancer was directly linked to death, and they expressedworrying about their loved ones would become sick with cancer. They allseemed to know a person who had died from cancer as well as persons whohad survived cancer. However, it was not only their thoughts about death thatincreased in relation to illness. The children also described illness as somethingthat affected or limited their lives e.g., covid lockdowns. Illness as an existentialphenomenon could be said to affect the being-in-the-world of the children byworrying about death as well as experiencing limitations of living.

Sub-theme: afterlife

When discussing death and dying, the children also used several verbal under-standings about afterlife. They were concerned about what happens whena person dies, as well as how you may affect the afterlife through your currentlife. This is apparent in this dialogue:

Child1: You die, and you don’t come alive again unless you have an electricshock (resuscitation)

Child3: Those who believe it, think you go up to God. And in the old days theybelieved that they came up to Thor in Valhalla and had a great feast.

DTV: Well, that sounds nice. What do you believe?

Child2: I believe you die and go up to Heaven and then you . . .

Child3: Some believe that you go down to Hell.

DTV: Do you believe, you are going to Hell?

Child2: That is only if you are like bad and stupid and stuff.

Child1: If you are good, then you come up to God.

Child3: Yes, if you have done something bad, then God makes sure that you godown to Hell.

Child2: So, actually I ought to go to Hell, because I’ve done quite a few dumbthings.

DTV: Pardon? Please try to say that again. Do you think you are going to Hell,was that what you said?

Child2: Yes . . . Because I’ve done quite a few dumb things.

These children express several understandings of afterlife, and child2 concludesthat he is going to hell. Despite, these children growing up in secular Denmark,they display several spiritual understandings that affects how they understanddeath, and how they see themselves in relation to an afterlife.

Some children also displayed abstract understandings of afterlife. Forinstance, this girl, whose mother had died from cancer some months prior:

I think, life is like going to school and when you die, the school-day is over. Then you’velearned everything, and then you go home. So, when you die, you come home,because you’re done with school . . . school is life and home is dying.

This spiritual understanding where death is related to going home is notreligious in the sense of going home to God or heaven. The girl didn’t applyreligious concepts when presenting this spiritual perception of afterlife.However, it seemed as she related this ‘afterlife-home’ as a place where shewould meet her mother again someday.

Sub-theme: religious concepts

Several of the children used religious concepts when talking about death, andespecially when they were asked directly about the word: God/faith. Some ofthe children said they believed in God, whereas others said they didn’t.However, they would still describe God with a physical appearance and positivebehaviour. For instance, this dialogue:

Child1: I think he is a man in a white dress.

Child2: And long hair.

DTV: And a white dress. That’s the kind of image we’ve seen, right?

Child3: I think, he is sweet.

Child4: And caring and considerate!

DTV: It’s nice of you to think that he is caring.

Child1: And he is also just and fair . . .

DTV: Fair, right? Did you say fair? Why is God fair?

Child2: I think, he thinks about . . . How he can help. He’s just and fair to people.

DTV: Right?

Child1: Like if I hit Child4 and God saw it, then he would be fair and say that itwas me and then put me in the naughty corner (In Danish it is called: The shamecorner)

We see how the children use their concepts and images of God as a standard forpositive behaviour and how the fairness of God also works as a sort of ’spiritualsanction’. It seems that the children use their spiritual concepts of God todevelop values about how they should behave towards others. In this waytheir spiritual and religious concepts and language become a part of theirbeing-in-the-world.

In general, through the interviews the children were highly occupied aboutdeath and they also talked about that using religious concepts. e.g., this excerptis a response to the word: ’Death’:

Child1: Satan.

DTV: How come you think: Satan?

Child1: Because he is dead.

DTV: He is dead, is that right?

Child2: He is death itself.

Child2: I think that he can kind of choose when people are going to die. Like, hecan press a button or do something. For instance, if there’s someone who hasbeen bad or something, or he doesn’t like that person, then he can do some-thing so that person dies.

Child3: Then he gets a heart attack.

DTV: Okay. That’s the kind of thing, that Satan or the devil does?

Child1: Well, I don’t believe he is alive, but I mean if he was.

DTV: If he was alive . . . then it would be like that? That quite something. What doyou think happens when you die?

Child4: Then you become an angel.

DTV: Then you become an angel – like go to Heaven and become an angel?

Child5: I just think you lie in the ground.

Child1: Yes, I just think, you are asleep.

Child3: Or you have become dust if you were cremated.

Child2: then you see your grandma and granddad.

Child5: I don’t want to be put down into the ground, because then there’s allkinds of worms in the coffin.

Child2: Don’t say that.

Child5: Cremation is also better for nature.

DTV: Really? Oh, so it’s better for the environment.

Child2: Our family, we make a . . . . We turn ourselves into trees when we die.

These children use several spiritual, religious, and existential concepts andunderstandings for relating to the reality of death. We see how the childrencombine concepts like Satan, angels, heaven, to see deceased again, as well asa focus on nature and being environmentally responsible. The latter with natureand the environment can be understood as an existential concern which isparticularly present for the generations growing up in a time with much focuson climate change. Even though the children do not necessarily believe in God,Satan, heaven, or hell, it still seems that these religious concepts are importantfor their understandings of right and wrong, as well as for their values abouthow to behave and treat other people. The children’s use of religious conceptsand narratives are not limited to how they understand and comprehend ‘death’.They also use it to develop life values and particularly develop values about howthey should behave towards others.

Discussion

In this study we found, like I. Larsen and Sørensen (2005) that if children aregiven the opportunities, they are eager to talk about spiritual issues. Thisindicates that the Danish children in this study also exhibit thoughts andemotions of spiritual, existential and/or religious character (Coles 1990; Pehler1997; Smith and McSherry 2004) despite being embedded in a highly secular culture. Whether the children will find it easier to deal with difficult circum-stances later in life (Buchwald, Delmar, and Schantz-Laursen 2012; Dencker et al.2017) or if they develop a personal spirituality (Lima et al. 2013) is a questionbeyond the remits of this study. However, the study found that the childrenused existential, spiritual, and religious concepts and understandings andinvolved both horizontal and vertical relationships for relating to different lifecircumstances, particularly concerns about death and thoughts about lifevalues. This points to the importance of supporting Danish children’s spiritualdevelopment and further spiritual care and conversations for them.

The Danish school law emphasises that children should be presented withversatile challenges in order to develop values and opinions (Retsinformation1993). This study found that the children interacted with and related to dilem-mas and life values with a spiritual language. Late Danish child psychologist andprofessor in social psychology, Per Schultz Jørgensen (1933–2022) explains howchildren develop and perceive life through the use of narratives and relation-ships with important adults (Jørgensen 2020). He also understands spirituality asthe development of values and opinions, and he define this as ‘the innercompass’ of the child. Through narratives and relationships, the child interna-lises the social conversations, values, and understandings of its surrounding andthese become an inner dialogue. This ongoing outward, social as well as innerdialogue of the child facilitate reflections and development of personal valuesand opinions. However, the child needs a ‘solid’ social and outer dialogue aswell as ‘solid’ narratives to ‘feed’ this inner developmental process. In this study,it can be argued that the story of the Good Samaritan as well as the group-dialogues functioned as ‘solid food’ for the children’s spiritual development.

Schweitzer (2006) similarly describes how stories are highly involved in thespiritual development of children, because the child can not perceive all theimportant questions in life by themselves. Yet, dialogue and open conversationare central as well, as it is the questions more than the answers that set thespiritual development of the child in motion. Therefore, the dialogue aboutspiritual stories is important for children’s spiritual development, and it shouldbe done didactically either from the child’s perspective or with the child.Although, Schweitzer (2006) does refer to spiritual rights his focus remains onreligion and religious education. However, for this discussion we apply histheory in relation to spirituality as the bigger construct than religion andbelieving the theory is applicable on both religiosity and spirituality of children.Schweitzer believes that a spiritual pedagogical approach should not justprovide the child with answers to the dilemmas and challenges of life, butshould give open answers that offers relationships and continues reflectionsand conversations through the child’s life (Schweitzer 2006). Thereby, he pointsto a pedagogical didactic where spirituality is taught through dialogue with thechild. Either 1) from the perspective of the child where the adult recognises andlistens to the child’s spiritual language and experiences and establish dialogue and relationship from there. Or 2) with the child, where the adult focuses onhelping the child finding good questions and answers to spiritual matters. Thesetwo approaches stand in contrast to 3) spirituality for children where the adultsis preoccupied by passing on their own beliefs and spiritual answers to the childwithout a dialogue with the child (Schweitzer 2006).

It seemed that the focus group setting functioned as a space for spiritualdevelopment, as it provided both spiritual stories and a focus on spiritualityfrom the perspective of the child where the researcher through dialogue andrelationship listened to and recognised the child’s spiritual language andexperiences. In this study we aimed to gain access to the voices of thechildren about their spiritual concerns and language and to minimise theinfluence of the researcher on the spiritual language of the children.However, we were aware that the development of children always takesplace in relationships. The children of this study seemed to relate with theresearcher and each other in a way, where the focus group became animportant social and outer conversation that facilitated inner spiritual dialo-gue. The research setting of this study with dialogue and relationship mayhave constituted a spiritual pedagogical practice impacting the children’sspiritual development.

In a Danish school context where children are presented with few spiritualstories and conversations because adults have limited spiritual language, fewspiritual answers, and seldom a personal belief of their own to pass on, it doesseem achievable to support children’s spiritual development by working witha pedagogical didactic where spirituality is taught from the perspective of orwith the child, as well as read spiritual stories to children and facilitate dialoguesabout these.

Limitations of the study

The focus group interviews as a spiritual pedagogical practice, as describedabove, constituted both a limitation as well as a way in which we couldexplore the phenomenon on the children’s premises. However, the focusgroup interviews can also be criticised for being encumbered by interpreta-tions and assumptions, where the researcher for instance becomes tooleading in the questioning or imposes values onto the children. This mayhave affected the statements of the children. Furthermore, to begin thefocus group interviews with the story of the Good Samaritan can also becriticised for leading the spiritual thinking and language of the children ina certain direction. It could both lead them towards a dominating Christianor Jewish perspective as well as a dominating horizontal spirituality, asthere is no discourse on death, or afterlife, or even God in this story.

The study is anchored in existential phenomenology that emphasisesdescription and interpretation of human experiences. This means that the identified themes and the theoretical level of interpretation reflect theinteraction between interviewer and the children as well as the authors’interpretation hereof, whereby aspects of the children’s experiences can beoverlooked.

The children in the study have been chosen through cooperation withteachers and parents, but to gain a nuanced set of data, a strategicelection of participants could have been desirable (Patton 1990). It mayalso be criticised that only 26 children from the first and third grade, andonly from schools in the Copenhagen area took part. New studies witha focus on generalisability with a broader demographic as well asa greater sampling would be desirable as well as incorporating morequantitative approaches.

Conclusion

The children used several spiritual, religious, and existential concepts andunderstandings for relating to the reality of death and express how theybelieved life should be lived. Even though the children not necessarily believein God, Satan, heaven, or hell, these concepts were still important for theirunderstanding of right and wrong, as well as for their values about how tobehave and treat other people.

In pedagogical practice in Denmark, adults should be encouraged toread spiritual stories to children and facilitate dialogues about these, andto support children’s spiritual development by working with a pedagogicaldidactic where spirituality is taught from the perspective of or with thechild.

Acknowledgment

We would like to say a special thank you to the participating children as well as parents andteachers who made the focus group interviews possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

We would like to thank the foundations that have supported this study: Samfonden and OleKirks Fond.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Dorte Toudal Viftrup is a Danish psychologist specializing in children, youth, and families,as well as loss, grief, and crisis. She is involved in practice-oriented research projects on theexistential needs, well-being, and development of children, young people, and families. DorteToudal Viftrup is also an experienced practitioner, working as a clinical psychologist andproviding therapy that incorporates existential and spiritual dimensions.

Dr. Ricko Nissen holds a MA in Anthropology & Religious Studies, PhD in Anthropology onreligion in psychiatry. He is specialised in qualitative and ethnographic methods, and he hasdone fieldwork in Central Australia among the Arrernte and Warlpiri, as well as qualitativeresearch at the Psychiatric Hospital Middelfart, Denmark.

Anne Thompson is a minister in the Danish Metodist Church. She has served in variouspastoral roles, offering guidance, support, and inspiration to her congregation. Her ministryfocuses on fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment, emphasizing the importance offaith, hope, and love in everyday life. Anne Thompson is also involved in various communityinitiatives, including programs for youth development.

Merete Dalsgaard’s educational expertise and research center on the importance of values inupbringing, formation, and leadership – both within the family and in the workplace. Inrelation to the family, she has a particular focus on values (existential formation) as a guidingprinciple in digital family life (master’s thesis). Existential formation revolves around thehuman need for community and meaning in life and can counteract individualization andloneliness among children, young people, and parents.

Dr. Niels Christian Hvidt is a Danish theologian and professor known for his expertise in theintersection of theology, spirituality, and health. His research explores the impact of religiousbeliefs on health, the spiritual dimensions of medical care, and the role of hope and meaningin patients’ lives. He has published extensively in academic journals and authored severalbooks on these topics.

Dr. Jens Søndergaard is a prominent Danish general practitioner and professor known for hiscontributions to family medicine and public health. His research focuses on primary care,chronic disease management, patient-doctor communication, and the implementation ofevidence-based practices in general practice. He has published numerous articles inrespected medical journals, contributing valuable insights to the field of primary care. Inaddition to his academic and research work, Dr. Søndergaard is dedicated to clinical practice,providing comprehensive care to his patients.

ORCID

Jens Søndergaardhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-1629-1864

References

Andersen, P. B., and P. Lüchau. 2011. “Individualisering Og Aftraditionalisering Af Danskernesreligiøse værdier (Individualization and de-Traditionalization of the Danes’ Religious Values).”In Små og store forandringer. Danskernes værdier siden 1981 (Small and big changes. The Danes’values since 1981), edited by P. Gundelach, 76–96. København: Hans Reizels Forlag.

Arendt, H. 2019. Åndens Liv (Life of the Mind). Århus: Klim.

Arendt, H. 2020. Menneskets vilkår (The Human Condition). København: Gyldendal.Böwadt, P. R. 2020. “Religious Education in Denmark: Towards a More Multifaceted Subject?”Religions 11 (11): 561.

Boyatzis, C. J. 2009. “Examining Religious and Spiritual Development During Childhood andAdolescence.” In International Handbook of Education for Spirituality, Care and Wellbeing,edited by M. de Souza, L. J. Francis, J. O’Higgins-Norman, and D. Scott, 51–67. Dordrecht:Springer Netherlands.

Boyatzis, C. J., and B. Newman. 2004. “How shall we study children’s spirituality.” Children’sSpirituality: Christian Perspectives, Research, and Applications, edited byD. Radcliff, 166–181.Wipf & Stock.

Boyd-Franklin, N. 1987. “Group Therapy for Black Women: A Therapeutic Support Model.” TheAmerican Journal of Orthopsychiatry 57 (3): 394–401.

Braun, V., and V. Clarke. 2006. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research inPsychology 3 (2): 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.

Buchwald, D., C. Delmar, and B. Schantz-Laursen. 2012. “How Children Handle Life When TheirMother or Father is Seriously Ill and Dying.” Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 26 (2):228–235. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6712.2011.00922.x.

Center, Pew Research. 2024. “How Religious is Your Country?” https://www.pewresearch.org/interactives/how-religious-is-your-country/.

Coles, R. 1990. The Spiritual Life of Children. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.Dencker, A., B. Andreassen Rix, P. Bøge, and T. Tjørnhøj-Thomsen. 2017. “A Qualitative Studyof doctors’ and nurses’ Barriers to Communicating with Seriously Ill Patients About TheirDependent Children.” Psycho-Oncology 26 (12): 2162–2167. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4440.

Dencker, A., M. Kristiansen, B. A. Rix, P. Bøge, and T. Tjørnhøj-Thomsen. 2018.“Contextualisation of Patient-Centred Care: A Comparative Qualitative Study ofHealthcare professionals’ Approaches to Communicating with Seriously Ill Patients AboutTheir Dependent Children.” European Journal of Cancer Care 27 (1): e12792. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecc.12792.

denmark.dk. 2024. “Religion and Identity.” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.FaCe. 2020. FaCe Family Focused Healthcare Research Center. University of Southern Denmark.https://www.sdu.dk/en/om_sdu/institutter_centre/klinisk_institut/forskning/forskningsenheder/face.

Halkier, B. 2016. Fokusgrupper [Focus Groups]. 3. ed. Viborg: Samfundslitteratur.Heidegger, M. 1962/1927. Being and Time. Oxford: Blackwell.Jensen, T. 2005. “European and Danish Religious Education: Human Rights, the Secular State,and Rethinking Religious Education and Plurality.” Religion and Education 32 (1): 60–78.https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2005.10012351

Jensen, T. 2017. “Religious Education in Public Schools: The Most Important Tendencies (WithSpecial Focus on Scandinavia.” State Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide 35:46–71.https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2017-35-4-46-71.

Jensen, T., and K. Kjeldsen. 2014. “RE in Denmark – Political and Professional Discourses andDebates, Past and Present.” Temenos – Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion 49 (2):185–224. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.9546.

Jørgensen, P. S. 2020. Opdragelse til livsmod og bæredygtighed (Upbringing towards courageand sustainability). København: Kristelig Dagblads Forlag.Koivula, M., L. Turja, and M.-L. Laakso. 2020. “Using the Storytelling Method to Hear Children’sPerspectives and Promote Their Social-Emotional Competence.” Journal of EarlyIntervention 42 (2): 163–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053815119880599.

Ladefoged, L., and K. E. Petersen, eds. 2020. Forskning med børn og unge: etik og etiskedilemmaer. 1. udgave ed. Kbh: Hans Reitzel.Larsen, I., and P. G. Sørensen. 2005. “Gudsforestillinger I Folkeskolen (God-Images in PrimarySchool Children).” In Gudstro I Danmark (Faith in God in Denmark), edited byM. T. Højsgaard and H. R. Iversen, 143–162. København: Anis.

Larsen, T. G. 2019. “Flere tør tale med børn om sorg.” (More adults dare to discuss grief withChildren). Bibelselskabet. . https://www.bibelselskabet.dk/flere-tor-tale-med-born-om-sorg.

Lima, N. N. R., V. B. Do Nascimento, S. M. F. de Carvalho, M. L. R. Neto, M. M. Moreira,A. Q. Brasil, F. T. C. Junior, G. F. de Oliveira, and A. O. A. Reis. 2013. “Spirituality inChildhood Cancer Care.” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 9:1539–1544. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S42404.

Mauritsen, A. L. 2022. “Irreligiøsitet, kristendom og levet kulturreligion: En kvalitativ analyse afindividuelle og kollektive identiteter.” Religionsvidenskabeligt Tidsskrift 73:5–18. https://doi.org/10.7146/rt.vi73.127161.

Patton, M. Q. 1990. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. Newburry Park, CA: SagePublications.Pehler, S. R. 1997. “Children’s Spiritual Response: Validation of the Nursing Diagnosis SpiritualDistress.” Nursing Diagnosis: ND: The Official Journal of the North American Nursing DiagnosisAssociation 8 (2): 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-618x.1997.tb00138.x.

Retsinformation. 1993. “Forslag til Lov om folkeskolen.” In LSF 270, edited by Folketinget.Fremsat af Undervisningsminister (Ole Vig Jensen). https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/ft/199212k00270.

Rosa, H. 2021. Resonans (Resonance). København: Eksistensen.Schweitzer, F. 2006. Barnets ret til religion. Frederiksberg: Eksistensen.Smith, J., and W. McSherry. 2004. “Spirituality and Child Development: A Concept Analysis.”Journal of Advanced Nursing 45 (3): 307–315. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2003.02891.x.

Stifoss-Hanssen, H., and K. Kallenberg. 1998. Livssyn, sundhed og sygdom – teoretiske og kliniskeperspektiver [View of life, health and illness]. København: Reitzels Forlag.Sundhedsstyrelsen. 2017. Anbefalinger for den Palliative Indsats (Recommendations forPalliative Care). København S: Sundhedsstyrelsen.Sundhedsstyrelsen. 2018. Anbefalinger for palliative indsatser til børn, unge og deres familier.København: Sundhedsstyrelsen.Thomsen, M. H., L. B. Hansen, and C. J. Busch. 2014. Når sorgen bæres sammen. En undersøgelseaf folkekirkens sorggruppepraksis. Resultater, anbefalinger og perspektiver. Løgumkloster:Folkekirkens Uddannelses-og Videnscenter.

Viftrup, D. T., C. Prinds, R. Damberg Nissen, V. Østergaard Steenfeldt, J. Søndergaard, andN. Christian Hvidt. 2021. “Older Adults’ Experience of Meaning at the End of Life in TwoDanish Hospices: A Qualitative Interview Study.” Frontiers in Psychology 12 (4063). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700285.

WMA. 2013. “WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research InvolvingHuman Subjects.” 64th WMA General Assembly. edited by, Fortaleza, Brazil. World MedicalAssociation.Zuckerman, P. 2008. Society without God. What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us AboutContentment. New York, NY: NYU Press.

Main article link:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/1364436X.2024.2388046?needAccess=true