Using Lectio Divina as Contemplative Pedagogy in an Online Leadership Class

Keywords: Contemplative Pedagogy, Lectio Divina, Leadership Development, Online Education, Constructive Alignment

Session Type: SoTL

Abstract

Lectio Divina is an ancient Christian method of Scriptural study, and means prayerful reading from Latin. Though primarily used in the modern age to reflect and contemplate on Scripture, professors have used Lectio Divina in humanities, such as philosophy and art, along with professional studies in seminaries and education, as a contemplative pedagogy. The application in secular studies has been reported to increase student ownership of the material, enhance engagement, focus and collaboration. The practice of Lectio Divina removes distractions from the student with short, focused listening, reading, discussion and reflection. In this research, the Lectio Divina method was applied in online leadership classrooms for MBA students to see if an increase in student engagement, as measured by quantity and quality of discussion posts could be achieved. The research effort occurred over six semesters and two academic years in entirely online, asynchronous classes.

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