Investigating the impact of covid-19 socialisation restrictions on children’s spiritual well-being: case studies from Poland and the UK

ABSTRACT

Parent and practitioners observations were examined to provide insights into the impact of covid-19 restrictions on children’s spiritual well-being, specifically related to reduced physical meeting of church communities in two case study contexts: Poland and the UK. Exploration of the four domains of spiritual wellbeing was carried out (Fisher 1998), with specific focus on how the abrupt changes in the communal domain may have impacted on other aspects of the child’s spiritual well-being. Significant variations in the response by churches during the pandemic were overlaid by disparate perceptions of the spiritual needs of children in these contexts. The extent to which these responses dovetailed with parental responsibilities and expectations of the church was considered alongside awareness of the changed nature of church’s activity with children during the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Spiritual well-being
• faith community
• covid
• church
• children’s spirituality

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Conclusions from the online meeting of the Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese of Warsaw Wednesday 2 December 2020 (https://archwwa.pl/aktualnosci/jakie-wnioski-po-spotkaniu-rady-duszpasterskiej/)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Krystyna Heland-Kurzak

Krystyna Anna Heland-Kurzak - Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Pedagogy at The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Poland. Email: [email protected]. Her background is teaching and a doctorate on pedagogy on 2018. Her interests lie in children’s spirituality and religiosity, and childhood studies. She holds a master’s degree, both, in Pedagogy from The Maria Grzegorzewska University and Theology from Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University.

Sarah Holmes

Sarah Holmes - Lecturer in Early Childhood, School of Education, Liverpool Hope University, UK. Email: [email protected]. Her research interests lie on children’s faith and spirituality, particularly nurturing of faith within the family context and issues surrounding nurturing children’s faith effectively and ethically.