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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Spirituality in Religious Education: Implications of Changing Contemporary Contexts Introduction - Religion and Spirituality In the past few decades much has been written about an emerging spirituality in Western social contexts which is evident in the different expressions and pathways followed by individuals in their ongoing search for meaning and purpose, and their answers to questions such as: Why am I here? or Where am I going?

Since much of this is happening outside traditional frameworks of religion and/or family, it has led to a burgeoning commercial enterprise in the shape of books, courses, lifestyles and so on, all on offer and which promise some progress, understanding and even enlightenment on the ‘spiritual’ journey.

In particular, attention has been given to the way in which religion and spirituality have developed separate identities in the contemporary context, and while they are undoubtedly linked for many, for others, spirituality is perceived as quite a distinct entity from religion. Nonetheless, in the perceptions of many educators involved in religious education, spirituality is still closely bound with religiosity so that the expressions of each become blurred, one into the other.

The spirituality of young people has been of interest to researchers for several years now and writings and discussions have continued to revisit and redevelop explanatory theories and concepts.

One feature that has been highlighted in understanding contemporary spirituality especially as it pertains to Generation Y (as some researchers have identified them), is the individualistic nature of the search for meaning and the subsequent expressions of spirituality (for instance, see the latest findings of Mason, Webber, Singleton and Hughes, 2006).

Previously, theorists appear to have contradicted this view when they have discussed aspects of young people’s lives in terms of both individual and communal yearnings. This could be because of the particular samples of young people used in different studies, some of which have been more or less restricted to particular groups, while others have included a large variety of young people from different religious, cultural and social backgrounds.