Teachers' Experiences With and Understandings of Presence in Daily Educational Practice

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 79
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching, Teachers, and Mindfulness

Abstract

Following the conceptualisation of presence of Rodgers and Raider‐Roth (2006), our paper aims to empirically substantiate the manifestation, emergence and significance of presence in education. We explored twelve secondary teachers’ experiences with and understandings of presence in their daily practice in-depth. The findings indicate that the teachers experience and understand presence as a multifaceted phenomenon and in various ways. They relate presence to cooperation with students, dialogic interaction and teaching-that-really-matters. We provide specific examples of classroom practices and have made steps in the further operationalization of presence in education. Insights in presence in education can promote our understanding of how academic learning and personal development can coalesce in preparing students for their role as citizen in a pluralistic society.

Authors

• Edith Roefs, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences

• Paulien C. Meijer, Radboud University Nijmegen

• Yvonne A.M. Leeman, Windesheim University & University of Humanistic Studies

• Ida Oosterheert, Radboud University Nijmegen