Contemplation and student life: meeting self in the midst of chaos!

Caroline BarrattSchool of Health and Human Sciences

barrattc@essex.ac.uk

Photo credit: Presenter’s own

Defining contemplative pedagogy

‘Contemplative pedagogy shifts the focus of teaching and learning to incorporate ‘first person’ approaches which connect students to their lived, embodied experience of their own learning. Students are encouraged to become more aware of their internal world and connect their learning to their own values and sense of meaning which in turn enables them to form richer deeper, relationships with their peers, their communities and the world around them.’

(Contemplative Pedagogy Network 2014)

Why contemplative pedagogy? Why now?

Impact of mindfulness on wellbeing and performance

Crisis in purpose of HE – moral and ethical imperative?

Global crises demanding new responses

What does it mean to be a teacher?

Growth of interest in contemplative practices in the west

Contemplative Pedagogy

Contemplative pedagogy

Bringing contemplative practice into the classroom:

Meditation and silence

Yoga, Tai chi

Journalling and free writing

Pilgrimage

Beholding and Lectio divina

Ritual and ceremony

I think the most important bit is...

“We want to create the opportunity for our students to engage with material so that they recognise and apply its relevance to their own lives, to feel deeply and experience themselves within their education...the one aspect of students learning for which they are unambiguously sovereign is their awareness of their experience and their own thoughts, beliefs and reactions to the material covered in the course… Without opportunities to inquire deeply, all they can do is proceed along paths already laid down for them”

(Barbezat and Bush, 2014:4)

Seeing differently...

Zajonc remarks (Cited in Boyce, 2007):

“Knowledge, from the point of view of any contemplative tradition, is not primarily object-oriented. It is epiphany - or insight-oriented. It’s not good enough to know about reality; you need to change how you see reality. Real education is transformation.”

Creating presence and space in learning

Reflection – what have you learnt? How has to affected your world view?

Using labyrinths – students asked to walk a labyrinth reflecting on what they hope to achieve and having an open heart and mind and then at the end of the course reflecting on how far they have travelled, taking away a small stone to remember the course by.

Using silence in learning and discussion

Meditation at the start of class

Identifying intention that relates to student sense of meaning and values

Seeing with new eyes (and hearts!)

Beholding exercises - environment, other people, images

Instead of telling students what they should see they are asked to ‘say what they see’ e.g. geology walks, graphs in chemistry

Art history students asked to look at the same painting for an hour a week for the whole semester and write a journal about it.

Reflecting more deeply on the written world e.g. Lectio Divina

Contemplation of questions

Giving students the opportunity to connect and really hear each other

Deep listening - explore meaning and understanding

Rituals and pilgrimage e.g. holocaust study

Practices which develop self compassion and compassion for others e.g. Metta Bhavana and Tonglen

Meditating together

Creating connection and compassion

But that’s about HOW to teach so why should it interest me?

Broaden your awareness of what education is Help you make the most of your university experience Help you connect meaningfully with others So that you can ask some great questions of those that teach

you to keep us on our toes So that you can appreciate how important you are in your

learning experience To emphasise your responsibility within a learning community

Knowing from experience

Aldous Huxley:

‘...to be shown for a few timeless hours the outer and inner world, not as they appear to an animal obsessed with survival or to a human being obsessed with words and notions, but as they are apprehended, directly and unconditionally…this is an experience of inestimable value to everyone and especially to the intellectual.’

Beholding for connection and compassion

This beholding practice is about connecting with our bodies and to develop a more profound sense of ourselves.

And then to be able to ‘take in’ another person and their

experience and connect it to our own.

Meaning and community

1) My experience as a student has been…

2) Whilst studying at university I have become…

3) Whilst studying my view of the world has changed because…

4) During my remaining time at university I aspire to be…

Contemplation and student life: meeting self in the midst of chaos!

Caroline BarrattSchool of Health and Human Sciences

barrattc@essex.ac.uk

Photo credit: Presenter’s own