David W. Anderson
Hospitable Classrooms: Biblical Hospitality and Inclusive Education

THIS PAPER CONTRIBUTES to a Christian hermeneutic of special education by suggesting the biblical concept of hospitality as a necessary characteristic of classroom and school environmntes in which students with disabilities and other marginalized students can be effectively incorporated into the body of the classroom. Christian hospitality, seen in the teacher's attitude and approach to students and in the milieu of the classroom, conveys welcome, acceptance, and belonging. Rather than seeing diversity as a threat to community, hospitable classrooms welcome and seek to build relationships among all the students.

K. Jo-Ann Badley and Ken Badley
Slow Reading: Reading along Lectio Lines

THE MEDIEVAL MONASTIC movement preserved and developed reading practices—lectio—from ancient Greek pedagogy as a slow, mindful approach to reading for formation. This ancient way of reading, now better known as lectio divina, challenges the fast, pragmatic reading so characteristic of our time. We propose that the present moment may be ripe for educators to appropriate again lectio-style reading as an educational counterpart to the Slow Movement, whose growth in recent decades may indicate cultural openness to the recovery of more reflective and located practice. We begin by noting tendencies in the academy and the cultura as a whole that indicate the need for slower, more thoughtful reading. We then note the attention that several authors have recently paid to reading with attention and thoughtfulness. After reviewing the elements and purposes of lectio divina, we provide brief narratives of our own attempts to implement and assess more thoughtful reading practices in education and Bible courses, suggesting ways that others might realize more fully the principles of slow reading in their courses.

Deborah C. Bowen
"Jesus Christ the Apple Tree": Preparing for Good Friday in a Literature and Environment Course

THIS PAPER REFLECTS on a visit by Christian poet John Terpstra to the final class session (on a Maundy Thursday) of my Literature and Environment course, to read his poetry suite on making a cross for his church out of a fruit-tree in an orchard being ploughed under for construction. Terpstra plays on the Stations of the Cross by interweaving the story of his own cross-making with the narrative of Jesus' crucifixion. The quasi-liturgical event of this reading created a profound stillness in the classroom, generated an animated discussion following, and raised important issues about the relationship of liturgy to classroom and of affective to cognitive learning.

John williams
The Mirror of Learning: Towards a Theology of Reflection in Christian Education

MOST PROGRAMMES OF adult Christian learning today expect students to engage in theological reflection. The theoretical underpinning for this is often drawn from secular models of reflective practice, made 'theological' by the subject matter for reflection. This article aims to establish an explicitly theological basis for the use of the metaphor of reflection to characterize Christian learning. The insights of this approach are explored in relation to a validated programme of education for Christian ministry on which the author teaches, and some implications are suggested for all church-based learning.

Jennifer S. Feenstra
Vocational Exploration through Service: The Effect of Service-Learning on Student Understanding of God's Calling

COLLEGE IS A TIME of exploration for students. College students who are Christian may also engage in exploration of God's call on their lives, a discernment of their vocation. One pedagogical technique that can help us help students explore vocation is service-learning. To better understand their vocation, students need to understand themselves and fit that with what the word needs (Buechner, 1992). Research on service-learning suggests that both identity and knowledge of the world are expanded through service-learning experiences.