Practices from Spiritual Direction that Deepen Civic Engagement

JoAnn Campbell, Minnesota Campus Compact

Journal of College & Character VOLUME VIII, NO. 1, November 2006

Students can benefit spiritually from their work in civic engagement and service learning if encouraged to appreciate the mystery involved in every human interaction, especially with people different from themselves. The ancient art of spiritual direction offers practices that can deepen reflection and integrate service activities with the students’ values and lived experiences.

The 2004 UCLA Higher Education Research Institute’s study of College Students’ Beliefs and Values found that 75% of current college students are "searching for meaning/purpose" in their lives (4). The principal authors, Alexander and Helen Astin, write that "higher education represents a critical focal point for responding to the question of how to balance the exterior and interior aspects of life more effectively" (iii).

I want to suggest that a key strategy for helping students balance the exterior and the interior is reflection, and that the act of reflecting can be strengthened or made more potent and powerful by borrowing techniques, stances, and practices from spiritual direction.