Insights from Adolescents’ Prayer Requests within a Christian Ethos School: A Qualitative Perspective

Abstract

State-maintained Christian ethos schools are a prominent part of the educational landscape of England and Wales, and a growing body of empirical research has sought to access, study and interpret the voices of their students in order to contribute to a fuller understanding of life within these schools and their place in contemporary Britain. As part of this endeavour, this study focuses on what may be learnt from students’ prayer in a joint Anglican and Catholic Christian ethos secondary school. Following the identification of the school prayer board and intercessory prayers within school Eucharists as offering a significant contribution to the Christian ethos school, this study set out to explore and evaluate these prayer requests composed by students. Taking a sample of 212 prayers, an established analytic framework for the analysis and classification of intercessory prayer (the apSAFIP) was employed and other notable characteristics identified (including prayer type, ‘proclamations’, drawings, liturgical language and style). The findings draw attention to the distinctive profile of the prayer requests offered within the school in terms of the issues for which prayers are offered, and the religious language, expressions, and themes that shape these prayers. The study concludes by appraising the performance of the apSAFIP in this new context and by considering what may be learnt from these themes and linguistic forms about the spiritual and religious lives of the students.