James Hartwick earns 'Outstanding Dissertation Award'
Released: November 15, 2006
James Hartwick
Can praying make one a better teacher? According to a 2003 survey of a random sample of Wisconsin public school teachers conducted by James Hartwick, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, more than 60 percent of the 91.5 percent of teachers sampled believe that praying does make them a better teacher.
Hartwick's research earned him the 2006 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Religion and Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association for his dissertation, "An Investigation into the Spiritual, Religious, and Prayer Lives of Wisconsin Public School Teachers: The Inner Life of the Teacher."
"I am pleased that this research into the spiritual and religious lives of public school teachers has been recognized as significant," Hartwick said. "I am grateful to the many teachers who participated in this study, and I believe that this award draws attention to the fact that many teachers, even public school teachers, consider themselves to be spiritually informed, and that this aspect of teachers' identity may have a profound effect on their professional lives."
When asked about the motivation behind his research, Hartwick spoke of his own practice of praying for his students when he was a high school teacher.
"Opportunities arose that I just couldn't explain," Hartwick said. "Students, who had no idea that I had prayed for them, seemed to react to me much more positively than I could have ever imagined. I feel that prayer helped me to be more centered, patient, understanding and ultimately more receptive to my students."
Hartwick recognizes that not all teachers are spiritually or religiously devout. In fact, his research identifies that while many teachers draw strength from their religious beliefs and practices, others do not. He suggests, "Each group should respect and encourage the other group to become the best teachers that they can be."
Hartwick believes that more could be done to support teachers who draw strength from their spiritual beliefs and practices. Hartwick suggests three ways that spiritually informed teachers could be supported. First, teacher education programs could offer elective courses designed to help interested teachers appropriately connect their spiritual and religious lives to their professional work as teachers. Second, traditional religious retreats could be designed as a form of professional development to support religiously or spiritually inclined teachers. The last and perhaps most controversial suggestion would be the designation of a "sacred space" set aside in the schools where teachers could voluntarily pray, meditate or simply center themselves to prepare them for the difficult work of teaching.
Hartwick realizes that some might resist these ideas, but he counters with, "Isn't the idea to support teachers so that they can offer the highest quality education to students? No one is being compelled to participate in spiritual or religious practices. It is all based on the inner compass of individual teachers."
Given the promising research findings of this initial study regarding the prevalence and perceived importance of public school teachers' spiritual and religious beliefs and practices, Hartwick invites other researchers to join him in investigating this phenomenon.
"It is my hope that not only will this study contribute to an emerging area of research for myself and others to pursue, but that it may also begin to legitimize and initiate support for the practice of spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, as a way of nurturing the inner life of the teacher, from which good teaching flows," Hartwick said.- Chad Guild,guildca16@uww.edu
