Meditation and mindfulness for effective teaching/learning & wellbeing in adult and higher education settings

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

We live in a fast-paced world and daily confront an array of distractions. As educators in adult and higher education settings, we see learners juggling jobs, family obligations, community, and professional services, with their learning activities, as we do the same. Multi-tasking has become a norm absorbing our intent and attentiveness, which may impact our academic success and/or physical wellbeing. So, what can help us as educators and co-learners better manage such situations? How can both faculty and students become more relaxed, focused, attentive, confident and fully present with each other while teaching and learning? How can institutions as a whole to support faculty, staff and students well-being while teaching and learning in this high demanding environment for quality education?

This group panel session includes several studies/papers that aim to help respond to the aforementioned questions by presenting the topic on Meditation and Mindfulness for Effective Teaching/Learning & Wellbeing in Adult and Higher Education Setting through various angles. Each paper illustrates its own focus and dimension of the rationales, reflections, and visions of applying meditation and mindfulness activities. First the panel provides an understating of the nature and functions of the meditation and mindfulness activities from both East ancient traditions and West modern sciences for effective teaching/earning & wellbeing. Second each panelist will present a paper with its own context to which some contemplative exercises have been developed and applied in classroom settings, academia, and instructional levels for both effective teaching/learning and wellbeing, along with argument, issues, and challenges for consideration for analysis and discussion. Third, several themes will be highlighted from the papers presented for further discussion with audience. The panel encourages questions for dialogue and interaction through our own assigned chair and discussants.

We argue meditation and mindfulness activities developed from both East ancient traditions and West modern sciences provide new paradigms of knowledge and instructional approaches.
From an Eastern perspective, “Meditation” refers to “an inner state where…leaving only the pure, thought-free awareness that alone is able to perceive reality directly, as it is” (Osho, 1974, p. x), originated in Eastern ancient traditions, such as, Hinduism, Buddhism in India, and Daoism in China. The practices of yoga (which originated in India), and Qi Gong and Tai Chi (both of which originated in China) are examples of meditation techniques.

Mindfulness is also a form of Western psychological practice, “described as welcoming new information involving more than one view, and focusing on process before outcome, control over content (meaning perspective), and creation of new categories (Mezirow, 1991p. 115). It is akin to what transformation theory calls “reflective action” (Mezirow, 1991, p. 114). Langer and Moldoveanu (2000), in discussing the fruits of mindfulness exercises state, “The subjective ‘feel’ of mindfulness is that of a heightened state of involvement and wakefulness or being in the present…. The whole individual is involved” (p. 2). Mindfulness activities then “lead to (1) greater sensitivity to one’s environment, (2) more openness to new information, (3) new categories for structuring perceptions, and (4) enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives” (p. 2). Western mindfulness meditation aims to gain awareness and insights, pay attention to the present moment, and become non-judgmental (Schmidt, 2004).

The nature of comparative education facilitates learning from others that enables the borrowing and expanding human wisdom around the world. There are many meditation techniques grounded in Eastern philosophies. Suzuki and Watts in the 1950s borrowed from Zen Buddhism making meditation popular in the West, then further developed by Kabat-Zinn (1994) into mindfulness activities. We will highlight the philosophy of Osho in one of our paper presentation, which is used to develop the relaxation activities for various kind of teachings in different educational settings. We will discuss Osho’s teaching, which is experiential based to present Eastern meditation in a Western context.

Research from neuroscience and psychotherapy keeps confirming positive outcomes associated with meditation techniques for improving health care, including mental health, brain functions, and emotional regulation (Fulton & Cashwell, 2015; Marshall, Laures-Gore, & Love, 2018). For example, Chiesa and Seretti (2010) indicate electroencephalographic (EEG) studies reveal a significant increase in alpha and theta activity during meditation. Hölzel, Lazar, Gard, Schuman-Olivier, Vago and Ott’ (2011) explore several components of the effects of practicing mindfulness, including, attention regulation, body awareness, emotion regulation, and change in perspective of self.

The presentations for our group panel are literature review based and practical orientated session. Our panel presentation collectively presents different contexts and needs of applying mindfulness based activities and meditation towards effective results of learning, teaching and wellbeing in various educational settings. Issues and reflections for deeper understanding of the purpose and functions mindfulness and contemplative inquiry for holistic learning/teaching and well-being and how we may be informed for future research are shared.

We conclude that aided by meditation techniques, learners and educators can effortlessly remove presuppositions and become willing to “let my doubting mind be clear” (Osho, 1974, p. 9) before receiving and dialoguing new perspectives. Further, learners may experience a way of knowing, which not only prepares them for new learning but also opens new dimensions to learn about self. This panel session invites more attention to mindfulness and meditation for broader use that not only expand education and learning and benefit our wellbeing. but also sustain our human wisdom collectively.

Please review each of the three papers’ summaries for details.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Contemplative Inquiry and Holistic Education

Chair

• Qi Sun, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Individual Presentations

• Eastern Thoughts, Western Practices: Meditation and Mindfulness for Learning and Wellbeing in Adult and Higher Education - Qi Sun, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

• Mindfulness at Metropolitan Universities - Kristi Archuleta, University of Central Oklahoma

• The Sacred to the Secular: Mindfulness and Meditation as Instructional Methods in Academia - Kalpana Gupta,, Colorado State University

• Connecting to the Source of Life Through Contemplative Practices. - Tom Elwood Culham, City University of Seattle in Vancouver; Neha Shivhare, Assistant Professor, Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Deemed University) Agra, India;

Discussants

• Kristi Archuleta, University of Central Oklahoma

• Qi Sun, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

• Kalpana Gupta,, Colorado State University