Processing Activity: Awakened Schools Framework - Synthesizing Institute & Pedagogical Culture
Conceptual Foundation (Individual Reflection - 15 minutes)
Section A: Mapping Your Spiritual Core
Before engaging with school culture, reflect on your own spiritual foundation:
Personal Exploration:
How do you define spirituality in your own life? (Consider: meaning, connection, purpose, values—separate from religious identity if applicable)
What strengthens your spiritual core? What depletes it?
Complete this sentence: "I feel most spiritually alive when I am..."
How has your spiritual development been supported (or hindered) by educational environments?
Bridge to Framework: Your answers here connect directly to how you'll create culture for others. The Awakened Schools Institute emphasizes that educators must first know their own spiritual voice before they can authentically guide students.
Should you choose to synthesize these two resources with colleagues as part of professional development, please consider the tools that follow:
Dual Lens Analysis (Small Group Activity - 25 minutes)
Section B: Two Pathways, One Destination
Setup: Divide into pairs or small groups. Each group analyzes one document's contribution to spiritually supportive culture.
Group A: Institutional Culture Builders
Focus: Awakened Schools Institute Summary
Your task: Identify the 3-5 most actionable practices from the Institute framework that directly shape school culture. For each, explain:
What is the practice?
Why does it matter to students' spiritual development?
What would a teacher "see" this practice in action?
Example starter: "The hidden curriculum shows us that students remember how they were treated, not the content. This means [specific practice] is actually more important than..."
Group B: Civic-Relational Architects
Focus: Awakened Schools: Pedagogical Relational Culture
Your task: Identify the 3-5 most essential "drivers" from the research that enable spiritual democracy. For each, explain:
What driver is this?
How does it cultivate relational spirituality?
What civic outcome does this enable?
Example starter: "Transformative relationships matter because students who see others as sacred are more capable of..."
Report Back (5 min): Groups present findings. Note overlaps and complementary elements.
Integration Challenge (Whole Group - 30 minutes)
Section C: Building the Unified Framework
The Challenge: You are designing a spiritually supportive school culture. You have limited time and resources. Using both documents, map how the Institute's framework and the pedagogical drivers work together.
Exercise 1: The 12 Drivers + The Hidden Curriculum
Create a three-column chart:
Driver (from Pedagogical Culture)
How it strengthens the Spiritual Core (Institute language)
Evidence: How will you know it's working?
Example: Transformative Relationships
Creates belonging, helps students know they matter
Students report feeling valued; reduced anxiety; increased help-seeking
[Your driver]
[What spiritual strengthening occurs?]
[Observable outcomes]
Key insight to explore: The Institute says culture matters more than curriculum. The Pedagogical Culture research identifies specific relational drivers. Together, they answer: "What IS the culture we're building?"
Exercise 2: From Spirituality to Civic Action
Using both frameworks, complete this narrative:
"When we deliberately design school culture to support students' spiritual cores through [specific practices from Institute], students develop [relational/spiritual outcomes]. This enables them to [specific civic capacities]. Therefore, our school becomes a 'mini moral democracy' that prepares students to [concrete civic actions in their communities]."
Example bridge: "When we deliberately design school culture to support students' spiritual cores through authentic relational practices, students develop the ability to see others as sacred. This enables them to engage across differences with compassion. Therefore, our school becomes a 'mini moral democracy' that prepares students to reduce division and work toward collective thriving."
Practice Design (Collaborative or Individual - 20 minutes)
Section D: Your Spiritually Supportive Practice
Choose one grade level or program area (advisory, experiential learning, service, clubs and organizations, student leadership, athletics, fine arts, discipline). Using both frameworks, design ONE specific practice that weaves together:
The relational culture (pedagogical approach)
Spiritual core strengthening (why it matters)
Civic preparation (the larger purpose)
Template:
Practice Name: [Something evocative: "Circles of Sacred Listening and affirmation," "The Inherent Worth Gallery,”, “Board of Commendations”.]
What students will do: [Describe the concrete activity—what will be visible in the classroom?]
Spiritual core being strengthened: [Which dimensions of spirituality does this address? Connection? Meaning? Authentic being? Love?]
Which pedagogical drivers does this activate? [Select 2-3 from the 11: transformative relationships, authentic being, ritual, meaningful learning, etc.]
How does this prepare students for civic engagement? [Link to the democracy/polarization-bridging purpose]
How will teachers know it's working? [Observable evidence students are experiencing this spiritually, not just intellectually- this will likely be qualitative in nature]
Synthesis Reflection (Individual or Whole Group - 10 minutes)
Section E: The Unified Vision
Reflection Questions:
Integration: How do the Awakened Schools Institute and the Pedagogical Relational Culture frameworks complement each other? What does each contribute that the other doesn't?
Accessibility: Both frameworks emphasize that this work is accessible and doesn't require special credentials. What misconceptions about "spiritual education" does this challenge?
The Democratic Imperative: Both documents tie spirituality to democracy. Why is this connection crucial right now? How does a spiritually supported student become a more effective democratic citizen?
Your Role: Whether you're a teacher, administrator, parent, or researcher, what is ONE concrete action you could take to support the spiritual core of students in your context, using this integrated framework?
Closing Insight: The two frameworks together argue that schools are not just academic institutions—they are moral and spiritual laboratories where students learn to see others as sacred, connect to deeper meaning, and practice the relational skills democracy requires. This is not an add-on to education; it's the foundation everything else rests on. This is not the end of this conversation, but rather the beginning!
Facilitation Notes
This processing activity is much more akin to a half-day or full-day workshop. You can scale this back as much as we’d like based on what our goals are for ASI.
Time Flexibility: Activity can scale from 45 minutes (abbreviated) to 2+ hours (extended with discussion)
Group Size: Adaptable for individuals, small groups, or whole staff
Outcomes: Participants leave with (1) deeper understanding of both frameworks, (2) recognition of their interconnection, (3) at least one concrete practice they can implement
Assessment: The practices designed in Part 4 and reflections in Part 5 reveal depth of integration