“And the Word was made flesh?” – Exploring young people’s situated learning in leadership and spirituality in a secular context

Abstract

This article explores the situated learning found among 18 young volunteers taking part in an education programme about leadership and Christian spirituality in the Church of Sweden. Focus group interviews and observations are analysed in the framework of situated learning, using legitimate peripheral participation as a lens. The study shows how the young people, through the education programme, formed a safe community where new identities were shaped through participating in new ways of worship, making pilgrimages, engaging in peer dialogue, and in reflection. They also gained new perspectives and models for volunteering. The young people´s experience of living in a secular culture presents challenges to their identity formation and to their ongoing spiritual practice and development. The use of situated learning provides a deeper understanding of the process of learning in spirituality and of the problems associated with conflicting communities of practice.