Contemplative reading in the classroom: Narrativity and personal formation in a diverse and secularised Dutch school context

The personal formation of students is an important objective in Religious Education (RE) at secondary schools in the Netherlands. In RE, narrativity plays a crucial role in student formation. This formative education necessitates attention, openness, and space to deepen the learning process. This article explores how a contemplative approach to reading Biblical parables, rooted in the monastic lectio divina, contributes to the personal formation of students within the pluralistic and secularised classroom in the Netherlands. Examples of students' work will illustrate how they relate their own life questions to the parable of the Prodigal Son. For the personal formation of students, cultivating a space for freedom, vacare, is essential.