Having grown up in Kerala, India and studied at a local language school, Dr. Khairunisa Muhammad Shafi is incredibly proud to have earned her doctorate in an English-speaking country on the other side of the world.
The 34-year-old completed her Masters in Social Work at Mahatma Gandhi University in India and then worked as a social worker from 2011 to 2016 before starting her PhD studies at Te Kunenga ki Pulefloa Massey University in 2018.
In her dissertation, Dr Shafi investigated the influence and understanding of spirituality among social work teachers, practitioners and the New Zealand public, and how spirituality can be utilised in social work education and practice.
“The importance of spirituality in Māori life and the Social Worker Registration Board’s requirement that social work practitioners demonstrate respect and knowledge of diverse people’s beliefs motivated me to study spirituality.”
Dr Shafi’s findings suggest that teachers, practitioners and the general public all experience spirituality in different ways.
“The spiritual experiences of social work teachers and practitioners include awareness of personal relationships with God, nature, social work and family, and these experiences shape their teaching and practice. In comparison, the general participants had many more beliefs about what and who they connected to in order to experience spirituality in their lives.
“For example, being creative, being ambitious, and experiencing connections with animals, plants and friends were powerful spiritual experiences for the public.”
She says understanding the public’s diverse spiritual experiences and their impact on well-being, as well as their perceptions of the role of spirituality in social work practice, can guide social workers in integrating spirituality-based interventions.
Dr. Shafi’s research has led to the development of a conceptual framework to assist teachers and practitioners in integrating spirituality into their teaching and practice in a non-intrusive, client-centered manner.
It was a perfect fit for Dr Shafi, who says she felt a spiritual connection when she met her supervisor, Associate Professor Ksenia Napan.
