The “Inner Work” of Equity-Based Design: Contemplative Pedagogy Fostering Self-Reflection and Instructional Change

• In Event: Enacting Equity-Based Reform Through Humanizing Pedagogies: Supporting Professional Learning Spaces for STEM and Special Educators

Abstract

Objective:
Given the need for designers of equity-based solutions to undergo a radical inner transformation, this paper investigates how professional learning communities (PLC) engaged in contemplative pedagogy to foster self-reflection, self-awareness to embody equity-based mindsets across inservice STEM and Special Educators to actively engaging in the equity-based design process.

Perspective & Theoretical Framework:
Contemplative pedagogy is a revolutionary pedagogy that allows individuals to focus internally and be the driving force behind their learning. The objectives of contemplative pedagogy are to (a) foster awareness and self-reflection (b) cultivate self-inquiry and personal meaning (c) deepen understanding, (d) enhance focus and attention and (e) foster interpersonal relationships. To accomplish these objectives contemplative pedagogy utilizes mindfulness, contemplative reading, deep listening, compassionate based-discussion, and mindful journal reflection (Barbezat & Bush, 2014; Author, 2020).

Methods & Data Analysis:
For the current study, purposive sampling was used to select 10 in-service STEM and Special Education teachers engaging in a year-long PLC to engage with (1) learning the process of equity-based design and (2) utilizing equity-based design to solve equity challenges. Qualitative methods guided the research design and data collection (Maxwell, 2013). The project duration was for one academic year, beginning in September and concluding in June where teachers were guided through the steps of the equity-design process and utilized contemplative pedagogy as a tool to foster self-reflection, self-awareness and the embodiment of equity-based mindsets to identify a problem of practice. Data collection included: 1) bi-monthly, synchronous video-recorded workshops, 2) teacher artifacts, and 3) teacher interviews. Guided by the research question - to what extent did utilizing contemplative pedagogy as a tool to foster self-reflection, self-awareness and the embodiment of equity-based mindsets bring about inner transformation? - open coding was first used. This approach of open coding yielded a set of descriptive and structural codes to arrive at the findings (Saldana, 2021).

Findings & Significance:
The data reveals how contemplative pedagogy facilitated inner transformation that ultimately helped to guide the design process. In our coding, we extrapolated the following initial codes related to transformational learning: change in perspective, a shift in epistemology, a shift in behavior, and a shift in feelings. For example, one teacher articulated that reflection brought about by working through equity-based mindsets helped her “better cater to [her] student population in a way that [she] was not able to do in the past,” and she realized that “self-reflection and self-awareness are not separate from the daily work that we do as teachers but must go hand and hand”.

Teacher leaders that are seeking to design equity-based solutions first need to deepen their equity lens by undergoing a radical inner transformation. Designers of equity-based change must start with the process of self-reflection and self-awareness to shed light on their biases, expectations and assumptions and must also embody equity-based mindsets; then and only then can they truly “design with fairness and empathy” (Norvaisas, 2022; Stanford d.school, 2022).

Authors

• Sunyata Smith, Lehman College - CUNY

• Jennifer M. Collett, Lehman College - CUNY