“Immersing Myself Into that World”: How Latter-day Saint College Students Read Sacred Texts

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:40 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Pedagogical Implications for Considering the Intersection of Religion and Education (Table 4)

Abstract

Formal education and reading instruction in the United States are less-tightly bound with religious motivations and materials than they used to be, yet religion continues to be a force worldwide and in the literate lives of American young people. This study reports on the scripture-reading practices of sixteen Latter-day Saint young adults. Analysis of 26 semistructured interviews and verbal protocol of reading indicates that religious reading was a deeply immersive experience for participants that included four key approaches to sacred texts: Uncovering truth, organizing truth, journeying toward insight, and combating entropy. Findings have implications for literacy theory and instruction as they relate to the nature and development of young people’s text-based meaning-making practices.

Authors

• Eric Dale Rackley, Brigham Young University - Hawaii

• Carly Stone, Brigham Young University - Hawaii