Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines

Description

Contemplative approaches to higher education have been gaining in popularity and application across a wide range of disciplines. Spurring conferences, a growing body of literature, and several academic programs or centers, these approaches promise to contribute significantly to higher education in the years to come. This volume provides an overview of the current landscape of contemplative instruction, pedagogy, philosophy, and curriculum from the perspectives of leading researchers and scholar-practitioners. Contributors come from a variety of disciplines, including education, management and leadership studies, humanities, social sciences, the arts, and information science. Drawing on diverse contexts, the essays reveal the applicability of contemplative studies as a watershed field, capable of informing, enriching, and sustaining the many disciplines and instructional contexts that comprise higher education. Chapters discuss the theoretical aspects of the field; the details, experiences, and challenges of contemplative approaches; and the hopes and concerns for the future of this field.
An Introduction to Contemplative Learning and Inquiry Across Disciplines
Olen Gunnlaugson, Edward W. Sarath, Charles Scott, and Heesoon Bai

Part I. Contemplative Studies: A New Academic Descipline

1. Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education: Toward a More Reflective Academy
Arthur Zajonic, Amherst University

2. A Philosophical Framework for Contemplative Education
Deborah Orr, York University

3. Kindred Spirits in Teaching Contemplative Practice: Distraction, Solitude, and Simplicity
Mara Adelman, Seattle University

4. Contemplation: The Soul’s Way of Knowing
John (Jack) P. Miller, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

5. Fitting in Breath Hunting: Thai and U.S. Perspectives of Contemplative Pedagogy
David Lee Keiser, Monclair State University, and Saratid Sakulkoo, Burapha University

6. A Pedagogy for the New Field of Contemplative Studies
Harold D. Roth, Brown University

Part II. Domain Specific Perspectives

7. Learning about Obligation, Compassion, and Global Justice: The Place of Contemplative Pedagogy
David Khane, University of Alberta

8. History as Dharma: A Contemplative Practice Model for Teaching the Middle East and Africa
Elise G. Young, Westfield State University

9. Paying Attention: Introspection as a Ground of Learning
Daniel Barbezat, Amherst College

10. Integrating Mindfulness Theory and Practice at Lesley University
Nancy W. Waring, Lesley University

11. Information and Contemplation: Exploring Contemplative Approaches to Information Technology
David M. Levy, University of Washington

12. Contemplative Pedagogy: Perspectives from Cognitive and Affective Science
Alfred W. Kaszniak, University of Arizona

Part III. Contemplating Change: Individual and Collective Transformation in Contemplative Education Environments

13. Transformative Pathways: Engaging the Heart in Contemplative Education
Diana Denton, University of Waterloo

14. Contemplating Uncomfortable Emotions: Creating Transformative Spaces for Learning in Higher Education
John Eric Baugher, University of Southern Maine

15. Contemplative Disciplines in Higher Education: Cutting through Academic Materialism
Daniel Vokey, University of British Columbia

16. Transitions: Teaching from the Spaces Between
Richard C. Brown, Naropa University

17. A Call for Wisdom in Higher Education: Contemplative Voices from the Dao-Field
Heeson Bai, Simon Fraser University; Avraham Cohen, City University; Tom Culham, Sean Park, Shahar Rabi, Charles Scott, and Saskia Tait, Simon Fraser University

Part IV. New Frontiers of Contemplative Learning and Instruction

18. Considerations for Collective Leadership: A Threefold Contemplative Curriculum for Engaging the Intersubjective Field of Learning
Olen Gunnlaugson, Université Laval

19. Buberian Dialogue as an Intersubjective Contemplative Praxis
Charles Scott, Simon Fraser University

20. Contemplative Pedagogy and Compassionate Presence
Joanne Gozawa, California Institute of Integral Studies

21. What Next?: Contemplating the Future of Contemplative Education
Edward W. Sarath, University of Michigan

22. An Inquiry into the Field Dynamics of Collective Learning
Chris Bache, Youngstown State University in conversation with Olen Gunnlaugson, Université Laval

Author Biographies
Index

Sujets

• Mindfulness
• Mindfulness (Buddhism)
• Behavioral neuroscience
• Tertiary education
• Mind
• Educational psychology
• Body

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 16 juillet 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438452418
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines
Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines
Edited by
Olen Gunnlaugson Edward W. Sarath Charles Scott Heesoon Bai
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Jenn Bennett
Marketing by Kate McDonnell
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Contemplative learning and inquiry across disciplines / edited by Olen Gunnlaugson, Edward W. Sarath, Charles Scott, and Heesoon Bai.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5239-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Education—Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Interdisciplinary approach in education. 3. Mind and body. 4. Contemplation. I. Gunnlaugson, Olen, editor of compilation.
LC268.C775 2014
370.11'4—dc23
2013030148
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
An Introduction to Contemplative Learning and Inquiry Across Disciplines
Olen Gunnlaugson, Edward W. Sarath, Charles Scott, and Heesoon Bai
PART I CONTEMPLATIVE STUDIES: A NEW ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
1 Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education: Toward a More Reflective Academy
Arthur Zajonc, Amherst University
2 A Philosophical Framework for Contemplative Education
Deborah Orr, York University
3 Kindred Spirits in Teaching Contemplative Practice: Distraction, Solitude, and Simplicity
Mara Adelman, Seattle University
4 Contemplation: The Soul’s Way of Knowing
John (Jack) P. Miller, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
5 Fitting in Breath Hunting: Thai and U.S. Perspectives on Contemplative Pedagogy
David Lee Keiser, Montclair State University, and Saratid Sakulkoo, Burapha University, Thailand
6 A Pedagogy for the New Field of Contemplative Studies
Harold D. Roth, Brown University
PART II DOMAIN SPECIFIC PERSPECTIVES
7 Learning about Obligation, Compassion, and Global Justice: The Place of Contemplative Pedagogy
David Kahane, University of Alberta
8 History as Dharma: A Contemplative Practice Model for Teaching the Middle East and Africa
Elise G. Young, Westfield State University
9 Paying Attention: Introspection as a Ground of Learning
Daniel Barbezat, Amherst College
10 Integrating Mindfulness Theory and Practice at Lesley University
Nancy W. Waring, Lesley University
11 Information and Contemplation: Exploring Contemplative Approaches to Information Technology
David M. Levy, University of Washington
12 Contemplative Pedagogy: Perspectives from Cognitive and Affective Science
Alfred W. Kaszniak, University of Arizona
PART III CONTEMPLATING CHANGE: INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE TRANSFORMATION IN CONTEMPLATIVE EDUCATION ENVIRONMENTS
13 Transformative Pathways: Engaging the Heart in Contemplative Education
Diana Denton, University of Waterloo
14 Contemplating Uncomfortable Emotions: Creating Transformative Spaces for Learning in Higher Education
John Eric Baugher, University of Southern Maine
15 Contemplative Disciplines in Higher Education: Cutting through Academic Materialism
Daniel Vokey, University of British Columbia
16 Transitions: Teaching from the Spaces Between
Richard C. Brown, Naropa University
17 A Call for Wisdom in Higher Education: Contemplative Voices from the Dao -Field
Heesoon Bai, Simon Fraser University; Avraham Cohen, City University; Tom Culham, Sean Park, Shahar Rabi, Charles Scott, and Saskia Tait, Simon Fraser University
PART IV NEW FRONTIERS OF CONTEMPLATIVE LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION
18 Considerations for Collective Leadership: A Threefold Contemplative Curriculum for Engaging the Intersubjective Field of Learning
Olen Gunnlaugson, Université Laval
19 Buberian Dialogue as an Intersubjective Contemplative Praxis
Charles Scott, Simon Fraser University
20 Contemplative Pedagogy and Compassionate Presence
Joanne Gozawa, California Institute of Integral Studies
21 What Next?: Contemplating the Future of Contemplative Education
Edward W. Sarath, University of Michigan
22 An Inquiry into the Field Dynamics of Collective Learning
Chris Bache, Youngstown State University in conversation with Olen Gunnlaugson, Université Laval
Author Biographies
Index
An Introduction to Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines
Olen Gunnlaugson, Edward W. Sarath, Charles Scott, and Heesoon Bai
Background of Contemplative Perspectives
We are delighted that the long awaited academic window for writing this book has finally opened! The good news is that contemplative approaches to higher education are beginning to emerge across a wide cross section of disciplines and fields from the work of scholar-practitioners who are pushing the boundaries of traditional theories and practices of post-secondary instruction and learning. As well, scholar-practitioners are finding ways in which long-established contemplative theories and practices can optimally fit into or be shaped by existing academic disciplines. This is not entirely surprising. Thinkers such as Pierre Hadot (1995) and Michel Foucault (2001) have noted the convergence and divergence of contemplative and academic traditions in the past; Foucault and many others have extensively documented the “Cartesian moment,” a turn in the history of Western thought where contemplative practices, as part of care of the self in context of community and cosmos were divorced from academic pursuits. While contemplative practices have been foundational to wisdom traditions throughout various cultural periods, more recently these practices are being reexamined across different context(s) of learning, particularly in mainstream North American institutions of higher education. Many scholars are finding it increasingly necessary to incorporate the rigors of contemplative practice within academic contexts, discovering that contemplative process and method is well equipped to enhance, deepen, and broaden academic thought and praxis across disciplines. As well, as the essays in this volume make clear, contemplative practices help focus the mind, offer the dispassionately reflective capacities of mindfulness, reduce stress, create and uncover meaning, insight and wisdom, as well as facilitate awareness of both inner and outer worlds and our fruitful engagements in them. Among the most significant contributions is that these practices help students and instructors deepen their awareness of and engagement with self, others, and the world.
In the past decade, several academic conferences and a growing educational literature have focused on contemplative approaches to instruction, learning, and knowing. As an example, the following conferences in recent years have either exclusively focused on or featured presentations about contemplative approaches to instruction and learning: Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education (Amherst College, May 2003), Contemplative Practices and Education: Making Peace in Ourselves and in the World (Teachers College, 2005), Uncovering the Heart of Higher Education (San Francisco, 2007), Mindful Learners: The Uses of Contemplative Practice in the Classroom (CUNY, 2006), Creativity, Consciousness, and the Academy: Bridging Interior and Exterior Realms of Teaching, Learning, and Research (University of Michigan, 2006), Developmental Issues in Contemplative Education (Garrison Institute, 2008), The Contemplative Heart of Higher Education, First Annual Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (Amherst College, Massachusetts, 2009), and The Contemplative Academy, Second Annual Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education Conference (Amherst College, 2010).
In addition to institutions that were founded upon contemplative principles, such as the California Institute for Integral Studies, JFK University, Maharishi University, and Naropa University, all of which are accredited up through the graduate level, mainstream institutions such as Brown University and the University of Michigan have implemented contemplative curricula. The Rocky Mountain Contemplative Higher Education Network based in Colorado offers programs for academics interested in contemplative approaches to education as does the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (CCMS) in Massachusetts, which has hosted annual contemplative retreats for contemplative curriculum development and issued over 130 individual fellowships for U.S. academics across North American campuses to develop courses that employ contemplative practices and more recently monthly Webinars. The creation by the CCMS of the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education provided a national network to further promote this work. Finally, Teachers College Record (September, 2006) devoted an entire issue to the topic of contemplative education, and journal articles on contemplative approaches to instruction have appeared in other academic journals. 1 This research represents an acknowledgment that scholars wish to include and are including contemplative practices