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Research:
Spirituality and Human Development
Program
Identity, Spirituality and
Schooling in Adolescence (ISSA) Study
Robert W. Roeser
This project, funded by the William J. Fulbright Faculty Scholars
Program (2005) and supported by a faculty scholars grant from the
William T. Grant Foundation, focuses on the development of
religious/spiritual identities among South-Asian Indian youth in the
context of private secondary schools in India. The study assessed
religious/spiritual identity development in approximately 2000
students in grades 7 to 9 who were attending private schools that saw
moral and spiritual education, in addition to regular subject-matter
education, as an essential part of their educational mission.
 The
study focused on 12 different schools that were selected on the
basis of their diverse approaches to moral and spiritual education,
approaches grounded in a variety of indigenous Indian and Christian
spiritual traditions. The project also focused on the broader
question of adolescents' cultural identity development during a time
of rapid societal change due to globalization in India, especially
in the urban centers. Attention was directed towards assessing
whether or not the widespread concern heard among Indian adults that
"Indian youth were losing their traditional cultural values"
was supported by evidence from youth themselves.
Research Papers (PDF)
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