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from illness or trauma, but it has been left relatively unexplored, particularly when compared to the field as a whole. In “Anchored by Faith: Religion as a Resilience Factor,” by Kenneth I. Pargament and Jeremy Cummings, the obstacles faced by those wishing to include religion are described in their survey of human resilience. They write,

      In spite of the fact that the founding figures in psychology viewed religion as central to an understanding of human behavior, the field of psychology largely neglected religious issues for much of the 20th century. When religion was considered, it was often (1) viewed as a source of pathology, (2) measured by a few global religious items, and (3) explained in terms of purportedly more basic phenomena . . . The number of studies on religion has grown, and it has become clear through this research that religiousness can play a significant role in response to major life stressors.28

      Pargament and Cummings assert “religiousness is a significant resilience factor for many people.”29 Pargament in particular has done much of the foundational research connecting religiousness and resilience, and he bemoans the fact that researchers have “neglected or diminished”30 the role of religion to this point. For a religious educator or practical theologian, though, Pargament and Cummings cover no new ground. They sum how prayer and membership in a religious community give comfort and even pain relief to the afflicted, can give a sense of meaning in the face of trauma, and they explain how some therapists (their examples are all Christian) use “psychospiritual interventions” to enhance their work with patients.31 Their final assertion, “religiousness can be a catalyst for positive life changes and stress-related growth,”32 is true enough, but they provide no road map for how religious or inter-religious educators might connect religious or ethical commitments and fostering resilience as a capacity for learning.

      While reflective practice includes competencies that dovetail well with religious and inter-religious education, resilience as a possible competency fits less well. Limitations include: focus on the personal, to the exclusion of considering how resilience might be fostered in group settings like classrooms; focus on internal processes; and lack of research on how people might learn resilience practices.

      And yet, challenges in life—and in the classroom—are normal, particularly when we move beyond shallow, more initial relationships and experiences into the turbulence that truer encounters can create. As we close this section, let us examine some possible connections between competence or resilience and the wider learning community that surrounds individuals. These connections are most likely to be fruitful for understanding how resilience might work as a capacity in inter-religious learning.