Zajonc 2016

Source:   BOOK CHAPTER

APA Citation:

Zajonc, A. (2016). Contemplation in education. In K. Schonert-Reichl & R. Roeser (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness in education: Integrating theory and research into practice. New York, NY: Springer.

Author bio:

Arthur Zajonc – Mind and Life Institute, MA

Arthur Guy Zajonc is a physicist and the author of several books related to science, mind, and spirit; one of these is based on dialogues about quantum mechanics with the Dalai Lama. Zajonc, professor emeritus at Amherst College as of 2012, has been teaching there since 1978. (source: wiki)

Notes:

CHAPTER 2

Education is a public service guaranteed by the government and should be entirely free of religious orientation. Because many of the practices used in contemplative pedagogy have their roots in the religious traditions of the East and West, a perennial discussion concerning decontextualization is common. There is growing evidence that the efficacy of mindfulness and secular contemplative exercises can be demonstrated independent of the religious origins of such exercises (see Lutz, Dunne, & Davidson, 2007; Lutz, Greischar, Rawlings, Ricard, & Davidson, 2004). Contemplative practices offer faculty, students, and staff tools for working productively with the mind and emotions. These tools can become an important aid to sustained reflection and capacity building. Meditation may also support the achievement of direct insight and creativity. In these ways, contemplation can play a valuable role in education at many different levels. Loc 1134-1142

The development of the whole human being is as much the concern of education as information and skills, insofar as education seeks to be comprehensive in executing its important task. In fact, unless and until we attend more to the social-emotional development of the student alongside his or her cognitive development, the challenging content we seek to teach (for example formal mathematics) may remain an elusive goal (Eccles & Roeser, 2014). Loc 1144-1147

The experience of higher education is, whether it be years spent in college, university, or professional school, an important and formative one. Not only does one train for a vocation during these years, but even more fundamentally, one’s intellectual disposition, ethical orientation, character, and inner life are shaped in ways that can endure for decades. For these reasons, it is of special importance to offer an integrative educational experience that nurtures the whole human being, one that makes full use of the three acumens, including the reflective and contemplative. The cultivation of the mind through meditation should be as much a part of a person’s education as the skills of writing, numeracy, articulate speech, and intellectual mastery of one’s discipline. Good judgment, creativity, compassionate action, social-emotional intelligence, and true insight depend on the ability for balanced reflection, on sustained attention to complex situations, and equanimity in the face of difficulty. In short, a genuine, integrative education calls for the cultivation of our contemplative capacities (see Parker & Zajonc, 2010). Loc 1166-1175

interest in the uses of contemplation in teaching, learning, and research is burgeoning for the good reason that it is a genuine aid to education at many levels, but especially in higher education. It will be critical to meet that growing interest with a wide range of programs and research of the highest quality. 1323-1325