Dwelling in Possibility: Lectio Divina as a Tool for Mindful Making and Seeing

• In Event: Rituals of Resistance: Lectio Divina as a Holistic Tool for Transformation

Abstract

To be human means more than to be able to think; it encompasses the integration of all the senses and faculties we associate with the human person. Combining aesthetic and artistic explorations opens students to the complexity of their own experiences and enables them to make connections with the world in which they live (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2005).
The visual arts are an essential part of any well-rounded, holistic curricula and give voice to students’ perceptions in a manner which allows them to work through experiences in meaningful and imaginative ways. The arts promote a rich multi-sensory experience that engages the mind, body, and emotions of both students and pre-service teachers.
Prominent educational researchers such as Nel Noddings (2005), Linda Darling-Hammond (2010), and Elliot Eisner (2002), have spoken out against the narrowness of current curricula.  In turn they report the many benefits of the arts in cultivating the essential qualities of student learning as schools strive to support: academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity (Ravitch, 2010; Robinson, 2001).
Lectio Divina, designed for sacred reading of scripture, is a practice involving reading or listening that opens gradually to contemplation; it is considered a path of the heart (Lichtmann, 2005; Paintner, 2015). The four-step process of Lectio Divina aids the movement of awareness from the rational and analytical towards a greater wholeness, by including intuitive and emotional ways of knowing. Adapting the Benedictine practice of Lectio Divina to a contemporary context that includes visual art offers a tool to prepare students to make meaningful connections to our diverse world, to expand their capacity to learn and communicate effectively, and to grow emotionally and creatively.
This research is a multidimensional study employing qualitative methodology using phenomenology and arts-based methodology. This study explores how the four-step reading process of Lectio Divina was implemented in art education settings to investigate both teacher and student perceptions about Lectio Divina’s transformative capacities. The purpose of this project is to research how, and in what ways, art and Lectio Divina can support students emotionally and cognitively while simultaneously strengthening learning about the social, political, and cultural aspects of art practices.
The researchers compared data gathered in three distinct educational settings; data included case studies, field notes, documentation (visual and written), blog posts, student and self-reflections, and questionnaires. The researchers walked the students and preservice teacher through the Lectio Divina four-step process as they analyzed artwork, poetry, essays, and journal passages. Responses took a variety of forms, including drawings, photographs, poems, and journal entries. In all cases, the researchers found that the Lectio Divina process led to enhanced abilities to decode visual and linguistic elements; an expanded connection to the experiences and perspectives of others as expressed through artworks; fuller understanding of the roles of freedom and discipline in making visual and written art; and heightened authenticity, including greater self-understanding and a stronger sense of voice. Visual art and Lectio Divina provide a ritual of resistance to the narrowing of curriculum.

Authors

• Kristi L. Oliver, University of Massachusetts

• Libby Falk Jones, Berea College

• Jane Dalton, University of North Carolina at Charlotte