Critical Contemplative Pedagogy

Contemplative pedagogy focuses on creating a sense of presence within educators to effectively educate the whole person through mindfulness in teaching. As I engage in a self-study, I develop initial components for the way I employ contemplative pedagogy. I aim to understand myself as an educator in order to teach effectively. One way to enable particular kinds of understandings is through self-study methodology. The foundational framework that develops through my ongoing self-study may interest those who are unfamiliar with the terrain of contemplative pedagogy. For the purposes of this article, I place an emphasis on the philosophy and ethics classes that I taught at Middlesex County College in New Jersey, although I teach several classes on many campuses. My philosophical method requires me to engage in a self-study of my teaching practices. My project involves self-study as a philosophical research methodology that aims to inform educators and rethink the theories and praxis of teaching. As I work towards improvement- aimed pedagogy, I make myself vulnerable as I share my experiences with my Peer Scholar. My Peer Scholar, which some researchers call a “critical friend”, deliberates with me to challenge epistemological assumptions along with suspicions. The self-study dialogue with my Peer Scholar causes me to define initial components of how I engage in an improvement-aimed contemplative pedagogy. My hope is to support those who wish to implement contemplative pedagogy in higher education as I relate my working framework based on the themes that developed from the deliberation. The components in the article that convey how I engage in contemplative pedagogy are not meant to serve as a checklist or stern procedure for classroom activities. I share these components as aspects of my contemplative pedagogy, with suggestive scripts, not as a rigid structure but rather as a work in progress that is always under construction.

Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 2018

This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlights accountability, standardization and performativity. This countermovement has become manifest in an exponential rise in the implementation and research of contemplative practices (e.g., mindfulness, yoga) across educational settings. The paper explores the unfolding of this curricular-pedagogical phenomenon, characterizes its core elements and explains why and how it can be viewed as a 'contemplative turn in education'. Based on a conceptual review of academic publications in the field, the paper demonstrates a progression from a pre-contemplative era to the current contemplative turn. As part of the review three curricular domains within this turn are described: mindfulness-based interventions, contemplative pedagogies and contemplative inquiry. Each domain offers a different perspective on the contemplative turn and contributes to epistemological changes in curricular-pedagogical practice. The paper also presents a critical discourse that challenges the contemplative turn's ethics, implementations and curricular orientations. The latter discourse has been developing alongside and as part of this turn.

This article introduces contemplative practices; explains how contemplative practices, studies, and pedagogy differ; analyzes the mechanics of some key contemplative practices; reviews the research on contemplative practices and learning; and ultimately argues in support of this new direction in pedagogy.

Teaching Theology & Religion, 2011

What is contemplative pedagogy and how is it practiced in Religious Studies classrooms? Contemplative pedagogy cultivates inner awareness through first-person investigations, often called "contemplative practices." Contemplative teaching practices range widely: silent sitting meditation, compassion practices, walking meditation, deep listening, mindfulness, yoga, calligraphy, chant, guided meditations, nature observation, self-inquiry, and many others. Since narrative is a mode of instruction prevalent in contemplative literature, the article includes first-hand reflections from students and a narrative account of how an initially skeptical professor came to incorporate contemplative teaching methods into her courses. It expands from the personal narratives to highlight the work of many contemplative professors in the field. These real-life examples are put into the context of recent publications on shifts in higher education and meditation research. The article seeks to demonstrate the power of contemplative teaching to fulfill many hopes for liberal arts learning. Of particular importance is its emphasis on interior qualities of lifelong impact, such as self-knowledge and ethical cultivation.

In his call for renewal in higher education, Zajonc (2010) addresses the triumvirate of experience, contemplation and transformation. Zajonc, a professor of Physics who has written extensively about Goethe's science contributions, decries the fact despite decades of research in developmental psychology and neuroplasticity, educators seldom incorporate pedagogy from " best practices " research in their teaching. Furthermore, tertiary institutions rarely embrace transformative views of pedagogy and become bogged down in the quagmire of tradition and the status quo. Contemplative pedagogy, with its focus on teaching methods designed to cultivate deepened awareness, concentration and insight, fosters other ways of knowing and experiencing ourselves, others, and the world in which we live. Complementing rational, linear educational perspectives with creative and critical approaches, this form of inquiry is positioned as a new paradigm for the scholarship of teaching and learning through refined attention emphasizing direct experience, contemplation and transformation. Heeding the call for renewal in university curricula, our chapter contributes to the transformative paradigm by discussing the conceptualization and integration of contemplative pedagogy in a School of Education course, Mindfulness in Education and two interdisciplinary courses Opening to Other Ways of Knowing and Being and Neuropsychology and Meditation. The aim of this chapter is to provide well-intentioned professors with pedagogical frameworks and practices that will enable the contemplative goals of the course to be more fully reached in service of facilitating transformative learning experiences for students.

Journal of Transformative Praxis

Critical pedagogy is a pedagogical philosophy and social movement founded on the notion of critical social theories and paradigms. Critical pedagogy encompasses a wide range of topics, including future and hope. Whilst developing educational programs, implementing pedagogies, and responding to humanitarian crises, critical pedagogy becomes a basis for examining deep-seated values, beliefs and assumptions that might otherwise challenge empowering, equitable and socially just educational and social systems (Luitel & Dahal, 2020). Such a process is, without doubt, an important component of renewing education and culture. Politics is at the heart of critical pedagogy (McLaren & Leonard, 1993). Hence, in this editorial, we attempt to highlight critical pedagogy: future and hope of the Freirean concepts of critical pedagogy (1921-1997). Education as “Banking”, liberatory pedagogy, education is political, critical pedagogy is not Eidos, pedagogy of hope, critical reflection as/for conscien...

2021

Academic interest in “mindfulness” has grown exponentially since the 1980s. Along with the dissemination of mindfulness came an appropriation of contemplative sacred texts and the somatic psychologies along with a misperception of its concepts and practices as inherently religious. Contemplative pedagogy, which addresses the application of contemplative studies to the classroom and its community, is therefore equally likely to be misunderstood. Despite recent studies claiming the benefits of contemplative pedagogy on students’ mental health, test results, and personal and interpersonal relationships, contemplative pedagogy is still widely underutilized; this suggests such a misunderstanding of the field and could explain the lack of implementation in the classroom. In this study, I outline both sacred and secular origin contributors of contemplative pedagogy, with Gestalt therapy theory and cognitive behavioral therapy theory in particular as psychological contributors appropriated;...

Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies, 2018

Critical pedagogy is understood in myriad ways. Most often associated with Freire’s problem-posing approach, in opposition to the traditional banking method of education, it is also closely connected with neo-Marxist, critical theory-based analyses of education, schooling, and society. Despite popular perception, there is no single ideological perspective or particular social movement that defines critical pedagogy. The dominant conceptualizations of critical pedagogy are unnecessarily narrow, both politically and philosophically. Critical pedagogy has become less a process of students investigating the world and constructing personally meaningful understandings that aid them in the struggle to overcome oppression and achieve freedom and more akin to an a priori set of beliefs about the world presented as maps to be followed. The aim of this paper is to broaden the conception of critical pedagogy and thereby increase its uptake by teachers and its effects on individuals, schools, and society by adopting a less orthodox conception of what it means to practice critical pedagogy.

Employing performative writing, this essay asks the reader to consider the role contemplative practices could play in both teaching and learning. By building bridges to connect critical and contemplative pedagogy, I situate teaching not only as a practice of compassionate engagement, but also as an opportunity to embrace and practice mettacommunication.

Curriculum Inquiry, 2002

One of the scholarly debates of the last decade has been about the discourses of pedagogy and pedagogy's function in society. As a result, pedagogy has been critically theorized, conceptualized, and analyzed, resulting in a body of work that adheres to the importance of understanding the human subject in pedagogy. Liberatory pedagogies, particularly critical pedagogies, are concerned with students who traditionally have been marginalized in school. Using a blend of autobiography and criticism, this article examines the case of an often marginalized group, disabled students, and asks whether they are present in the texts of critical pedagogies. The article concludes with a discussion of the tensions between inclusive theory and inclusive practice and, finally, suggests the constraints under which inclusive practices operate.