Chapter 8: Havens for Acceptance, Faith, and Affirmation: The Spiritual Dimension of Reflection in Teaching for Democracy

In this interpretive case study, the researcher conceived of an amended conceptual model of reflection, which took into account the more spiritual, coping-based aspects of reflection when teaching in service of ambitious aims. Through this model, the researcher examined the sources upon which four ambitious teachers looked in coping with problems of instructional and existential significance throughout a unit of study. From interview data collected through video-stimulated recall methodology, the study found: (1) Three coping strategies—acceptance, faith, and affirmation—to account for how teachers managed problems and uncertainty. (2) The teachers’ acceptance of instructional problems was aided by their deep commitment to their moral centers. (3) Faced with profound uncertainty, the teachers employed faith, deriving it from their school communities, their sense of responsibility to their students and society, and their understanding of the nature of teaching as demonstrated through metaphors. (4) The teachers found affirmation in partial evidence that their students comprehended “big ideas” and in breakthroughs with particular students. This study offers teacher educators at the pre-and in-service level conceptual and practical guidance for encouraging reflection in ways that honor the spiritual dimensions of their work.