Improve student success with contemplative pedagogy

The Tree of Contemplative Practices Image by Carrie Bergman + design by Maia Duerr/The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. See references for details.
The Tree of Contemplative Practices Image by Carrie Bergman + design by Maia Duerr/The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. See references for details.

College life is fleeting and for most people it only happens once. For their time at university to be enriching and memorable students need to be present, engaged, and take in all that UNL has to offer. Living college life to the full can be exhausting mentally and physically, though, so how do we also establish healthy life-long habits? Additionally, post-pandemic, there has been a significant increase in anxiety and clinical depression among college students.

Yulia Levchenko, instructional designer, shares how mindfulness as a pedagogical approach can help students be more present, improve concentration, deepen their understanding of course content, increase their ability to manage stress and anxiety, and in general be more resilient to life challenges.

At the 2023 Fall Teaching and Learning Symposium, Ana Maria Vélez, associate professor of entomology, presented a five-minute speed session on her use of mindfulness in her classroom. She found that contrary to her expectation that students would push back, that the majority engaged in the activities. Moreover, students reported in a survey that they found the exercises done at the beginning of class and the tips in the announcements useful. They also planned to use some of the mindfulness techniques they learned in the future. To learn more about Vélez’s experience, download and view slides 3-7.

The American Psychological Association defines mindfulness as “awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings.” It goes on to say that “mindfulness can help people avoid destructive or automatic habits and responses by learning to observe their thoughts, emotions, and other present-moment experiences without judging or reacting to them.”

Mindfulness in the classroom is a part of contemplative pedagogy — a student-centered approach to teaching that embraces, for instance, meditation, to help students “become more aware of their internal world and connect their learning to their own values and sense of meaning which in turn enables them to form richer deeper, relationships with their peers, their communities and the world around them.”

Contemplative methods can be implemented through practices such as mindfulness meditation, and contemplative reading and writing, that develop awareness and connection. A video by the UVA School of Medicine describes mindfulness (2:43) and how it can help college students.

Mindfulness Meditation
Addresses Common Teaching and Learning Challenges:

  • “My students are distracted and unfocused in class.”
  • “How can I help create a supportive class climate?”
  • “My students are anxious about their performance in class.”

Purpose:
  • Focus and attention building
  • Compassion and connection to others

Time: Varies (3-5 minutes)

Implementation:
  • Sit in silence (eyes closed or soft focus)
  • Focus on the breath
  • Observe thoughts, but don’t engage or judge them; allow them to flow
  • Select an object of concentration (e.g., breath, question, idea, guided visualization)

Examples: Breath awareness; contemplation on a question or concept; transition between activities or at start of class; reflection before or after difficult topics, before presentations, or before quizzes or exams. View this introductory video to breathing meditation from UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (5:32 min).

Contemplative Reading
Addresses Common Teaching and Learning Challenges:
  • My students struggle to understand difficult texts.
  • My students do not remember what they read.
  • Students complain that they don’t see the relevance of course readings.

Purpose: 
  • Focus and attention building
  • Deeper understanding of and connection to course materials

Time: Varies

Implementation: Immersive, attentive, slow, done in community / in dialogue with text and others

Example: Reading aloud, in-class or as homework; use of digital media in conjunction with traditional texts; slow reading, rereading, annotating, performing, or memorizing passages.

Contemplative Writing
Addresses Common Teaching and Learning Challenges:
  • How can I help my students overcome writer’s block and procrastination?
  • My students are very grade-motivated, rather than learning-motivated.
  • I want my students to reflect on how class experiences relate to their everyday lives.

Purpose: 
  • Deeper understanding of and connection to course materials
  • self-inquiry, personal meaning, and creativity

Time: Varies (5-20 minutes)

Implementation: Varies depending on technique.

Examples:
  • Mindful writing: Use a few moments of reflection/contemplation before, during, or after writing to clarify and refine thoughts.
  • Freewriting: Write continuously (without stopping to fix grammar, spelling, etc.) for a predetermined amount of time (10-15 minutes). Prompts can be based on a specific question, more general (e.g., “when I read the text, I thought…”) or by asking students to incorporate a specific word.
  • Journaling: students write about their experience (usually a paragraph or two) from a first-person perspective. Students sometimes benefit from more structured experience; for example, using their journal to address a specific prompt.

One of the most important things about mindfulness is how accessible it is. A few minutes per class is a great start. Consistency is key. It’s common and normal to come to realization how much your mind races between the past and future. The goal is to help students ground themselves in the present, to help them connect with their bodies and minds, to feel, think, and experience college life in all its richness.

References and additional resources:

Teacher Connect Wed. Oct. 23, 2024