Contemplative Education

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Contemplative Education

• Jane Compson, Department of Philosophy, UCF
• jcompson_at_mail.ucf.edu

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Overview

• Terms contemplation and mindfulness
• The problem
• Contemplative education as a response
• Practice!

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Contemplation

• Contemplation - a third way of knowing that
  complements the rational and the sensory.
  Contemplative practices quiet and shift the
  habitual pattern of the mind to cultivate a
  capacity for deepened awareness, concentration
  and insight. (Tobin Hart, 2004)

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Contemplation as a missing link
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Mindfulness

• Mindfulness is a flexible state of mind in which
  we are actively engaged in the present, noticing
  new things and sensitive to context. (Langer,
  1998)
• Mindfulness means paying attention in a
  particular way On purpose,in the present
  moment, andnonjudgmentally. John Kabat-Zinn,
  2006

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• Every way of knowing, every epistemology,
  becomes an ethic. (Parker J Palmer)
• The modern emphasis on objectification
  predisposes us to an instrumental and
  manipulative way of being in the world. (Arthur
  Zajonc)
• (Hard Times)

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W.B. Yeats The Scholars

• BALD heads forgetful of their sins, Old,
  learned, respectable bald heads Edit and
  annotate the lines That young men, tossing on
  their beds, Rhymed out in love's despair To
  flatter beauty's ignorant ear. All shuffle
  there all cough in ink All wear the carpet
  with their shoes All think what other people
  think All know the man their neighbour knows.
  Lord, what would they say Did their Catullus
  walk that way?

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Divide and Conquer

• I am come in very truth leading to you nature
  with all her children to bind her to your service
  and make her your slave (Francis Bacon, The
  Masculine Birth of Time)
• The scheme of Nature, regarded in its whole
  extent, cannot have had, for its sole or even
  principal object, the good of human or other
  sentient beings. What good it brings to them is
  mostly the result of their own exertions.
  Whatsoever, in nature, gives indication of
  beneficent design proves this beneficence to be
  armed only with limited power and the duty of
  man is to cooperate with the beneficent powers,
  not by imitating, but by perpetually striving to
  amend, the course of nature - and bringing that
  part of it over which we can exercise control
  more nearly into conformity with a high standard
  of justice and goodness. John Stuart Mill, On
  Nature

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Loving wisdom

• Knowing itself remains partial and deformed if
  we do not develop an epistemology of love instead
  of an epistemology of separation. (Zajonc)

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• In a world beset with conflicts, internal as
  well as external, isnt it of equal if not
  greater importance to balance the sharpening of
  our intellect with the systematic cultivation of
  our hearts? Do not the issues of social justice,
  the environment and peace education all demand
  greater attention and a more central place in our
  universities and colleges? (Zajonc 2006)

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Zajoncs epistemology of love

• Contemplative inquiry not only yields insight
  (veritas) but also transforms the knower through
  his or her intimate (one could say loving)
  participation in the subject of ones
  contemplative attention. (p.2)

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Contemplative Education (Zajonc)
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Time to practice
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The religious issue

• Opening the contemplative mind in schools is not
  a religious issue but a practical epistemic
  question. It is about how we know, not about
  what knowledge we are giving others. Inviting the
  contemplative simply includes the natural human
  capacity for knowing through silence, looking
  inward, pondering deeply, beholding, witnessing
  the contents of our consciousness and so forth.
  These approaches cultivate an inner technology of
  knowing and thereby a technology of learning and
  pedagogy without any imposition of religious
  doctrine whatsoever. If we knew that particular
  and readily available activities would increase
  concentration, learning, wellbeing, and social
  and emotional growth and catalyze transformative
  learning, we would be cheating our students to
  exclude it.
• (Tobin Hart, Opening the Contemplative Mind in
  the Classroom, Journal of Transformative
  Education Vol 2. No. 1 January 2004, p.29)

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Mindful Learning (Ellen Langer)
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Resources

• Brown, J., Langer, E. (1990). Mindfulness and
  intelligence A comparison. Educational
  Psychologist, 25(3), 305-335.
• Carson, S., Shih, M., Langer, E. (2001). Sit
  still and pay attention? Journal of Adult
  Development, 8(3), 183-188.
• Claxton, G. (2005). Mindfulness, learning and the
  brain. Journal of Rational-Emotive Cognitive
  Behavior Therapy, 23(4), 301-314.
• Hart, T. (2004). Opening the contemplative mind
  in the classroom. Journal of Transformative
  Education, 2(1), 28-46.
• Kabat Zinn, J. (2005). Coming to our senses
  Healing ourselves and the world through
  mindfulness (1st ed.). New York Hyperion.
• Kabat Zinn, J., University of Massachusetts
  Medical Center/Worcester Stress Reduction Clinic.
  (2005). Full catastrophe living Using the
  wisdom of your body and mind to face stress,
  pain, and illness (Delta trade pbk. reissue ed.).
  New York, N.Y. Delta Trade Paperbacks
• Langer, E. J. (1993). A mindful education.
  Educational Psychologist, 28(1), 43-50.
• Langer, E. J. (1997). The power of mindful
  learning Addison-Wesley/Addison Wesley Longman.
• Langer, E. J. (2000). Mindful learning. Current
  Directions in Psychological Science, 9(6),
  220-223.
• Palmer, P J (1998), The Courage to Teach.
• ZAJONC, A. (2006). Love and knowledge Recovering
  the heart of learning through contemplation.
  Teachers College Record, 108(9), 1742-1759.
• www.contemplativemind.org
• http//www.arthurzajonc.org/uploads/JCAL20Love20
  and20Knowledge20paper.pdf
• http//www.mindfuled.org/
• www.arthurzajonc.org