Promoting young people’s spiritual well‐being through informal education

Abstract

This paper introduces the context for young people in the United Kingdom today, identifies some of the key factors associated with well‐being, and then focuses on ways spiritual well‐being can be promoted through informal education. Informal education is the widely acknowledged primary pedagogical approach for professional youth workers. Using informal education techniques, youth workers can seek to enhance young people’s well‐being in general and spiritual well‐being in particular. Suggestions and examples from practice which build on this theoretical base are then explored.

Keywords:

• informal education
• youth work
• spirituality
• conversation
• well‐being