Can you imagine that any classroom may have students with closed eyes, a teacher not lecturing but simply listening or watching students? The most common response can be no. But, the truth is otherwise. Yes, it’s rare but starting to happen.
Contemplative practices in the classroom are a new phenomenon. Meditation is gaining a traction of acceptance as a part of classroom pedagogy to bust stress among students. Self-reflective practices are becoming the new normal of the modern classroom culture. Several colleges in Philadelphia (USA) and other foreign educational institutes have begun with these initiatives. These fresh classroom initiatives consist of discourses in Buddhist meditation, the experience of silence, and the practice of mindfulness in various ways.
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You may think contemplative practices have been incorporated only to increase awareness or as a part of pedagogical initiatives to overcome stress. In a lecture, Professor Girishwar Misra, an internationally renowned Professor of Psychology from Delhi University, said that western psychology empowers us with the knowledge to understand, control, and manipulate others, but what about us as first-person. Does psychology teaching impart any quantum of change in attitudes and behaviors of learners? Our experience says-no or not much. Yes, they develop an understanding of psychological issues, but many face more psychological issues than other students.Â
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We also remember that psychologists like Freud and others had abnormalities in their cognitive processes and behavioral tendencies. So, the usual response is that it’s OK. We, as psychologists, are like allopathic doctors. They take training to treat others but may suffer from several illnesses. But unfortunately, psychology is not like medical science. Allopaths know pills for every ill. So, they can treat themselves also because physical ailments have explicit symptoms. However, self-related concerns require an ability to connect to oneself. Prof. Anand Prakash, an eminent expert on Organizational Behavior, says that clinical psychologists get some exposure to self-understanding during training but the same is missing for our students. Recently, it has been well-recognized that psychology students should learn not only strategies to help others but to help themselves too.
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According to research (Tomlinson, 2020) published by the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, many employable skills relate to self-awareness. For example, effective communication cannot be possible without proper awareness of non-verbal cues. Attention comes through a balanced cognitive state. Teamwork cannot be possible if a person is not happy. There can be many such skills that are part of one’s self-concept. In materials of humanism and cognitivism, we find some scope for experiential activity. But, contemplative learning is different from simple experiential learning.
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In experiential learning, learners get engaged in direct experience of any phenomenon related to the syllabi, but metacognitive awareness does not get invoked. In contrast, contemplative activities develop not only self-reflexivity but also increase awareness of metacognitive processes. They support the process of learning through the enhancement of cognitive capacities. Moreover, they harmonize emotionally and develop present-moment living. Therefore, experience of boredom, anxiety, depression, a motivation can be managed through them.
According to research (Tomlinson, 2020) published by the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, many employable skills relate to self-awareness. For example, effective communication cannot be possible without proper awareness of non-verbal cues. Attention comes through a balanced cognitive state. Teamwork cannot be possible if a person is not happy. There can be many such skills that are part of one’s self-concept.
In materials of humanism and cognitivism, we find some scope for experiential activity. But, contemplative learning is different from simple experiential learning. In experiential learning, learners get engaged in direct experience of any phenomenon related to the syllabi, but metacognitive awareness does not get invoked. In contrast, contemplative activities develop not only self-reflexivity but also increase awareness of metacognitive processes. They support the process of learning through the enhancement of cognitive capacities. Moreover, they harmonize emotionally and develop present-moment living. Therefore, experience of boredom, anxiety, depression, a motivation can be managed through them. Now the question comes.
Which particular contemplative practices can be used during the teaching of psychology?
I have published a detailed book chapter in an international volume. I would like to point out some techniques/strategies for contemplative learning as below:
- Somatic experiencing
- Synchronized breathing
- Sensory withdrawal
- Delay in immediate gratification
- Reflecting on past trauma and positive experiences
- Moments of existential crisis and resolution
- Colourful breathing
- Body-mind centering
- I-rest
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