Now I Can See the Moon

Contemplative education dawns in the 21st century with great possibility. Thus far, the field resonates with life and promises to expand American educational pedagogies with ideas of new epistemologies, dynamics, and languaging around why, how, and whom we educate. Much work has been done on the analysis of the threads that may inform contemplative studies, from our own culture and that of others, and this article adds to that body of work, exploring ways that western pedagogical strategies might inform contemplative education, most specifically in terms of purpose, the interior life of faculty, and the relationship with students.

‘Teaching of’ and ‘Teaching about’ Meditation

The growing interest in meditation and meditation inspired classroom practices has garnered a share of advocates and detractors. The recent critiques in Candy Gunther Brown’s Debating Yoga and Mindfulness in Public Schools (2019) offer the most trenchant legal and ethical obstacles to implementing a contemplative education in American public schools. I trace the contours of Brown’s legal claims relevant to higher education and propose a pathway forward by arguing for the importance of underpinning contemplative practices with sound pedagogical theory. I offer one example of contemplative pedagogy based on metacognition as implemented in my Zen Buddhism course.

Towards Teaching With an Open Heart

In this paper, I explore practices for opening the heart and offering compassion towards others and also myself in the context of teaching. In doing so, I reflect upon experiences that involve the uneven distribution of “air time” in the classroom; I concentrate on such experiences because, as long-standing sources of irritation for me, I believe they can evoke insights about being present. How, for example, might I invite deeper awareness of my own being in such situations, notice how I am feeling in relation to the students, individually and collectively? How might I become better acquainted with my own resistances? Send love and compassion towards the students and also myself? Through contemplative practice, I observe my mind and habits of being. My aspiration is to teach from a softer, gentler place. I situate this work in relation to the literature in contemplative education, specifically that which offers insights into teachers’ inner work.

Transformative Learning and Well-Being for Emerging Adults in Higher Education

The concept of well-being has emerged over the past several years in a significant way in higher education across North America, posing the question of what well-being means in relation to transformative education. The meaning and implications of relating well-being and transformative learning for emerging adults, college and university students aged 18–25, are articulated. Critical thinking, typically cited as the ideal mental activity aimed for in higher education, is explored in relation to mindfulness as a complementary form of mental activity and in both their connections to contemplative education. This unites these sometimes disparate activities many educators see as essential functions for student success, suggests a more holistic conception of student well-being, and promotes transformative education through a process of self-clarification for students in the midst of emerging adulthood.

Spiritual Care in Holistic Nursing Education: A Spirituality and Health Elective Rooted in T.R.U.S.T. and Contemplative Education

Research to date demonstrates that spiritual care as an integral part of holistic nursing can be hampered if nurses experience insufficient preparation or organizational cultures that fail to prioritize spiritual well-being. In response, the author has developed a three-credit spirituality and health elective in an undergraduate nursing program to help participants address spiritual needs and mobilize spiritual strengths within themselves, patients, and workplaces. Using the T.R.U.S.T. Model for Inclusive Spiritual Care as its framework, the six-unit course draws on contemplative education practices in hopes of preparing a critical mass of nurses with the ability and confidence to foster safe, relevant spiritual care and promote a holistic, patient-centered health care culture. Course participants regularly demonstrate and report deeper self-awareness, skills development, and confidence in relation to spiritual care; the course also has been positively evaluated and fully subscribed over its seven offerings to date, validating its effectiveness in relation to short-term outcomes. Research is needed to evaluate its long-term effectiveness in helping alumni integrate spiritual care into their holistic practice and workplace culture.

Transference and the Gateless Barrier: A Relational Approach to Contemplative Education

While contemplative approaches have recently garnered much attention in different areas of transformative education, the interpersonal and relational aspects of contemplative training have received less scrutiny. This article examines the relational dynamics involved in contemplative education from a Lacanian viewpoint. The concept of transference is used to unpack the fantasies, desires, and errors involved in contemplation, a process aimed at deep existential realization. Transcripts of Zen Buddhist kōan training from Philip Kapleau’s classic book The Three Pillars of Zen are used as a case in point.

Mindfulness and Education

This article focuses on the literature on mindfulness and mindfulness meditation with children and young people in schools and in higher education. It touches on mindfulness for adult educators including teachers and on the overlapping field of contemplative education in higher education. This is a selective guide to the theoretical, research, and practice-based literature in a rapidly evolving field and aimed at those unfamiliar with the territory. Work with young people cannot be understood in isolation, so the article begins by going back to first principles, looking at issues of definitions and origins of mindfulness from within ancient wisdom traditions, most particularly, but not exclusively, its Buddhist origins. It then contextualizes work with young people within the rapid rise of secular mindfulness for adult populations since the late 1970s, explores modern scientifically based definitions, and the domination of the therapeutically based model of mindfulness as an “intervention,” touching on some concerns and critiques, and outlining how mindfulness is currently being measured in adults and young people. It moves on to an account of overviews of mindfulness in education, citing the best of the plethora of guidance on how mindfulness might be implemented in schools, universities, and classrooms. It outlines the key literature on the rapidly expanding world of contemplative education, which is asking rather different questions to those raised by the model of mindfulness as an “intervention,” being more firmly based in philosophical and educational approaches. The world of classroom curricula is a burgeoning and lively one, and the article cites some of the best evidenced and most positively reviewed resources. There is a growing and promising evidence base to guide the field, and the last part of the article outlines the main reviews, which between them suggest there is a small to moderate impact of mindfulness when well taught and implemented. The article concludes by looking in more detail at the core literature in main areas in which mindfulness appears to be showing impact, including: psycho-social well-being and mental health; social and emotional skills including compassion and kindness; cognition, executive function, learning, and academic attainment; and physical health. See also the Oxford Bibliographies article in Education, “Mindfulness, Learning, and Education,” which has overlaps with this article, but explores in more detail definitions, overviews and websites and the implications for learning, while this article has a stronger focus on psychological mechanisms, measurement, and the empirical evidence base. They are probably best consulted together for a full understanding.