|
Exploring
Mystical Experience
A Group Activity
Religion: Multifaiths
(comparative) Purpose:
to explore the nature of mystical experience across religions through
primary text reading and analysis Cognitive
Skills: analysis, synthesis Learning Styles: active,
verbal (possibly reflective) Intelligences: interpersonal,
linguistic (possibly intrapersonal) Use:
in class For: whole
class and small groups Estimated
time: 30 minutes Materials
needed: handout
reading and analysis
chart (permission granted to use these materials for
non-profit, educational purposes only - Laura Shulman) The
Activity:
-
Distribute
handout for readings. Instruct students to "note common themes,
terms, experiences, as we go through the reading. Take notes, highlight or
circle key terms."
-
Begin with round-robin
style reading of texts from handout (each student and teacher, reading a
paragraph or so in turn until all passages are completed).
-
Once reading is
completed, have students spend a minute or two jotting down common themes
they noted in the readings.
-
Distribute
chart and place students in groups of three to five.
-
Task groups with
sharing observations of trends in the experiences described in the readings.
Have them use the chart to identify which readings contained which trends
(ten minutes).
While groups work,
teacher can circulate to check on progress. If
time is limited, to assure that all themes and readings are considered, ask
some groups to work from the bottom up while other groups work from the top
down on the chart.
Additional ideas:
-
Prior to
reading texts, students can be asked to think about and write a description
of a spiritual or mystical experience they may have had. (reflective,
intrapersonal)
-
After the group
activity, students may be invited to share what they have written about
their own experiences or to reflect upon how their own experience may relate
to the experiences in the readings.
Alternative
possibilities: primary text readings for any discipline can be read
and discussed or analyzed in a similar fashion.
|