Spirituality and social work: Introducing a spiritual dimension into social work education and practice

Against a background of growing international interest in the place of spirituality in social work education and practice, this paper describes a qualitative study of the spiritual experiences of non-Maori social work students at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, and the application of spirituality to their practice as social workers. The study found that both the programme and Wananga environment enhanced and deepened participants' own spirituality and flowed through into their practice. Elements of the Wananga programme which contributed to the students' spiritual development are identified, along with a discussion of the influence of the bicultural nature of the programme and take pu on their practice.