Research On American Colleges And Universities Improving The Quality Of Spiritual Life Of College Students

As one of the special phenomena of human life,spiritual life is the essential characteristic that distinguishes human beings from other creatures.On the one hand,with the great development of material wealth,the spiritual life of college students is facing many problems.The influence of such phenomena as low moral consciousness,weak moral emotion and bad moral behavior on college students is more and more discussed.On the other hand,topics such as “Chinese dream” and“cultural confidence” put forward by the CPC central committee are closely related to the development of college students' spiritual life.Therefore,it is of great practical significance to study the improvement of college students' spiritual life quality.The United States has paid much attention to the spiritual life of college students in both theoretical research and practice,and has accumulated rich experience in this field.This study mainly adopts the methods of comparative study and case analysis,and combines with specific cases to discuss the dimensions,theoretical basis,causes,effects,strategies and inspirations of improving the spiritual life quality of college students in American universities.At present,American colleges and universities mainly focus on the five dimensions of students' spiritual life,including the pursuit of spiritual life,ethical care,universal world view,calmness and philanthropicparticipation.The main theoretical bases for promoting the spiritual life quality of college students in the United States include: personal investment theory,emphasizing the importance of individual uniqueness and the living environment;Fuller and parks' theory of faith development affirms the connection between faith and learning and defines four interrelated components of faith--the self,the other,the world and god;Attachment theory,which is related to the theory of faith development,discusses how people form faith through their connection with god.The focus on student spiritual life in American higher education dates back to colonial times.Colonial college values the dissemination of denominational values,beliefs,traditions and cultural heritage.After the civil war,American colleges and universities put more and more emphasis on science and professional knowledge.Various social problems emerged in the 1960 s and 1970 s,especially since the 1990 s,American higher education has been criticized in many aspects,especially the fact that higher education obviously lacks value and fact,cognition and emotion,inner and outer coexistence.Therefore,the American society began to explore the connection between higher education and spiritual life,so as to build a platform for improving the spiritual life quality of college students.The strategies to improve the quality of college students' spirituallife in American colleges and universities mainly include :(1)advocating culture,creating an open culture that supports the development of college students' spiritual life by clarifying the university's mission,carrying forward the school tradition,and creating campus culture;(2)courses,including elective courses,special courses and religious courses;(3)carry out activities,including theme week activities,project development,seminars and service learning,etc.In the process of improving the quality of college students' spiritual life,American colleges and universities pay more attention to the role of teachers,campus environment and multi-party cooperation in the development of college students' spiritual life,which has the following enlightenment to the relevant practices of Chinese colleges and universities:(1)take campus culture as the path to promote the improvement of college students' spiritual life quality.Including carry forward the theme of campus culture,expand the concept of campus culture,strengthen the main role of college students in campus culture.(2)take the faculty and staff as the leading force to improve the spiritual life quality of college students.It includes renewing the concept of the development of college students' spiritual life,innovating the way of the development of college students' spiritual life,and enhancing the personality of college teachers.(3)take campus experience as the main nutrition to enrich the spiritual life of college students.It includesimproving the cultural accomplishment of college students,enriching their social practice and enhancing their higher education.