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

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium showcases empirical studies that disrupt and reimagine classroom life using rituals of resistance. Lectio Divina, as a holistic tool for transformation, knits the papers together to resist the narrowing of the curriculum in school and to connect fragmented forms of curriculum together as an embodied act of valuing deep dimensions of being human—including the spiritual. The empirical research of this symposium includes spoken word performance, poetry, story-telling-to-poem, social media integration, and visual art. Lectio Divina, a sacred reading method created by Benedictine monks, has been secularized and woven into each of these research studies for its power as a contemplative and embodied way of learning.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Holistic Education

Chair

• Maureen Patricia Hall, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth

Papers

• Radical Vulnerability Unveils Educational Possibilities - Vajra M. Watson, University of California - Davis

• Deepening Empathy and Addressing Diversity: Lectio Divina as a Holistic Tool for ESL Education - Maureen Patricia Hall, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth; Catherine E Hoyser, University of Saint Joseph; Nicholas Santavicca, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth

• Dwelling in Possibility: Lectio Divina as a Tool for Mindful Making and Seeing - Kristi L. Oliver, University of Massachusetts; Libby Falk Jones, Berea College; Jane Dalton, University of North Carolina at Charlotte