Religious Youths’ Motivations for Reading Complex, Religious Texts

Abstract

Background/Context Research confirms that religion is a significant part of the lives of American youths, that religious texts are an essential part of their experiences in the world, and that as part of their everyday cultural practices, religious youths demonstrate strong commitments to reading religious texts. Currently, however, the field of literacy has yet to develop a body of research that examines the motivations that drive young people to engage with the religious texts that appear to mean so much to them. Focus of Study and Research Questions Situated within social and cultural perspectives of literacy and motivation, the purpose of this study is to examine religious youths’ personal motivations for reading complex, religious texts such as the Bible and the Book of Mormon by looking closely at the connections among their literacy practices, religious ideologies, and the expression of their religious identities. Two questions operationalize this purpose: 1. What are the similarities and differences among Latter-day Saint and Methodist youths’ personal motivations to engage with religious texts? 2. In what ways are these motivations influenced by the youths’ religiocultural traditions, ideologies, practices, and commitments. Research Design Qualitative methods were used to examine youths’ motivations for religious literacies. Nine months of ethnographic observations in multiple contexts and 59 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted over two years were transcribed and analyzed to address the purpose of the study. Analytic procedures were informed by grounded theory. Findings The findings revealed a broad-level framework that explained the youths’ personal motivations for reading religious texts that transcended religious affiliation. Youths in both congregations were motivated to engage with complex, religious texts because they providing them with (a) knowledge about their religious traditions, (b) tools for applying religious knowledge to the lives, (c) strength to endure life's challenges, (d) comfort during stressful times, and (e) a connection to God. Conclusions/Recommendations As a space to explore the interactions among religion, literacy, and motivation, this study contributes to a more robust understand about the manner in which young people engage with complex, religious texts. This research also has implications for conceptualizing motivated literacy, engaging students with complex, academic texts, and studying motivation for literacy as social practice.

First and Second Conversations: Remote Learning and Interpretive Boundaries

“…In his view, the interpretation of the Bible follows a set of rules whose meaning is clear and that you have to follow whether you agree or not. But the modern Bible classroom in independent religious schools is a far cry from this dictatorial image (Hassenfeld, 2017; Juzwik, 2014; Rackley, 2016). Biblicism as a literate practice allows for, and in fact can encourage, discussion‐based text instruction.…”

Spiritual and religious meaning making in language and literacy studies: global perspectives on teaching, learning, curriculum and policy

“…As an examination of religion as social and cultural practice, this research shows how, for religious young people, meaning-making work is situated within the contexts and cultures of their lives. Relatedly, Rackley examined motivations for religious literacy, proposing a framework of motivated religious literacies (Rackley, 2016) and identifying characteristics of religio-social learning spaces that encouraged young people to engage with sacred texts (Rackley, 2021).…”

Exploring global religious traditions through artifactual literacy projects

“…It is important to carry something for a long time.” She reiterates the importance of belief in God for her family. As Rackley (2016) argues, “it behooves educators who aim to meet the literacy needs of an increasingly diverse population of students to know more about their students, including their motivations for religious literacies” (p. 10). In this project, I learned about Ali’s appreciation of community literacy practices, including learning about traditions and texts in religious contexts.…”

“…Ali expressed her ideas in the journal entry above in my English course for linguistically and ethnically diverse students, in which they earn language arts credits toward high school graduation. Rackley (2016) also argues that many students are motivated to read religious texts as “part of their everyday culture practices” (p. 1) and “an essential part of their experiences in the world” (p. 2). As I read Ali’s words, I wondered how I could connect what she shared as important in her family’s literacy practices to the regular English language arts curriculum.…”

“…Several researchers have argued that religious materials can aid students’ literacy learning (Papen, 2018; Skerrett, 2013). Juzwik (2014) posited the possible connections between the close reading of religious texts, often characteristic of people undergoing cultural change and the close reading tasks found in the Common Core State Standards Initiative (2021) for English Language Arts (see also Rackley, 2016). Therefore, I posed the question to myself: could I engage students in reading district-mandated texts through projects designed to foreground their religious, linguistic and cultural assets (Moll et al , 1992) as they connected with the required reading in the general language arts curriculum?…”