Contemplative Practices in Higher Education

Contemplative pedagogy is a way for instructors to:

empower students to integrate their own experience into the theoretical material they are being taught in order to deepen their understanding;
help students to develop sophisticated problem-solving skills;
support students’ sense of connection to and compassion for others; and
engender inquiries into students’ most profound questions.

Contemplative practices are used in just about every discipline—from physics to economics to history—and are found in every type of institution. Each year more and more faculty, education reformers, and leaders of teaching and learning centers seek out best practices in contemplative teaching, and now can find them here, brought to you by two of the foremost leaders and innovators on the subject.

This book presents background information and ideas for the practical application of contemplative practices across the academic curriculum from the physical sciences to the humanities and arts. Examples of contemplative techniques included in the book are mindfulness, meditation, yoga, deep listening, contemplative reading and writing, and pilgrimage, including site visits and field trips.

Daniel Barbezat, professor of economics, Amherst College. A member of the Amherst faculty since 1988, Barbezat received the B.A. degree in economics and philosophy from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and the M.S. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Champaign. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. Daniel received the Jonathan Hughes Prize for Excellence in Teaching Economic History at the 2004 annual meeting of the Economic History Association.

Mirabai Bush is senior fellow and the found director of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. Mirabai formerly taught writing and English literature at SUNY Buffalo, and directed an innovative program there for diversifying the university. She also directed the Seva Foundation Guatemala Project, as well as co-founded and directed Illuminations, Inc., which was reported in Newsweek, Fortune, and the Boston Business Journal.

Foreword by Parker J. Palmer vii

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xvii

The Authors xxi

PART ONE Theoretical and Practical Background 1

1 Transformation and Renewal in Higher Education 3

2 Current Research on Contemplative Practice 21

3 Contemplative Pedagogy in Practice: Two Experiences 39

4 Teacher Preparation and Classroom Challenges 67

PART TWO A Guide to Contemplative Practices 87

Introduction to the Practices 89

5 Mindfulness 95

6 Contemplative Approaches to Reading and Writing 110

7 Contemplative Senses: Deep Listening and Beholding 137

8 Contemplative Movement 159

9 Compassion and Loving Kindness 174

10 Guest Speakers, Field Trips, and Retreats 189

11 Conclusion 198

Afterword by Arthur Zajonc 205

References 207

Index 217

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Contemplative Practices in Higher Education Powerful Methods to Transform Teaching and Learning

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials