"A call to advance integrative teaching and learning in higher education. From Parker Palmer, best-selling author of The Courage to Teach, and Arthur Zajonc, professor of physics at Amherst College and director of the academic program of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, comes this call to revisit the roots and reclaim the vision of higher education. The Heart of Higher Education proposes an approach to teaching and learning that honors the whole human being--mind, heart, and spirit--an essential integration if we hope to address the complex issues of our time. The book offers a rich interplay of analysis, theory, and proposals for action from two educators and writers who have contributed to developing the field of integrative education over the past few decades. Presents Parker Palmer's powerful response to critics of holistic learning and Arthur Zajonc's elucidation of the relationship between science, the humanities, and the contemplative traditions. Explores ways to take steps toward making colleges and universities places that awaken the deepest potential in students, faculty, and staff. Offers a practical approach to fostering renewal in higher education through collegiality and conversation. The Heart of Higher Education is for all who are new to the field of holistic education, all who want to deepen their understanding of its challenges, and all who want to practice and promote this vital approach to teaching and learning on their campuses"--Provided by publisher.
A call to advance integrative teaching and learning in higher education. From Parker Palmer, best-selling author of The Courage to Teach, and Arthur Zajonc, professor of physics at Amherst College and director of the academic program of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, comes this call to revisit the roots and reclaim the vision of higher education. The Heart of Higher Education proposes an approach to teaching and learning that honors the whole human being--mind, heart, and spirit--an essential integration if we hope to address the complex issues of our time. The book offers a rich interplay of analysis, theory, and proposals for action from two educators and writers who have contributed to developing the field of integrative education over the past few decades. Presents Parker Palmer's powerful response to critics of holistic learning and Arthur Zajonc's elucidation of the relationship between science, the humanities, and the contemplative traditions. Explores ways to take steps toward making colleges and universities places that awaken the deepest potential in students, faculty, and staff. Offers a practical approach to fostering renewal in higher education through collegiality and conversation. The Heart of Higher Education is for all who are new to the field of holistic education, all who want to deepen their understanding of its challenges, and all who want to practice and promote this vital approach to teaching and learning on their campuses
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<p>The role of contemplative practice in adult education has a long history if one includes traditional monastic education in Asia and the West. Its use in American higher education is, however, more recent and more limited. Nonetheless, on the basis of evidence from surveys and conferences, a significant community of teachers exists at all levels of higher education, from community colleges to research universities, who are using a wide range of contemplative practices as part of their classroom pedagogy. In addition to existing well-developed pedagogical and curricular methods that school critical reasoning, critical reading and writing, and quantitative analysis, this article argues that we also require a pedagogy that attends to the development of reflective, contemplative, affective, and ethical capacities in our students. The significance of these is at least as great as the development of critical capacities in students. The rationale for the inclusion of contemplative modalities is articulated within this context. On the basis of considerable experience in teaching at Amherst College, I present an "epistemology of love," which emphasizes a form of inquiry that supports close engagement and leads to student transformation and insight. This approach to knowing is implemented in the Amherst College first-year course, Eros and Insight. It includes a specific sequence of contemplative exercises that are practiced by students and integrated with more conventional course content drawn from the arts and sciences. Our experience shows that students deeply appreciate the shift from conventional coursework to a more experiential, transformative, and reflective pedagogy.</p>
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The role of contemplative practice in adult education has a long history if one includes traditional monastic education in Asia and the West. Its use in American higher education is, however, more recent and more limited. Nonetheless, on the basis of evidence from surveys and conferences, a significant community of teachers exists at all levels of higher education, from community colleges to research universities, who are using a wide range of contemplative practices as part of their classroom pedagogy. In addition to existing well-developed pedagogical and curricular methods that school critical reasoning, critical reading and writing, and quantitative analysis, this article argues that we also require a pedagogy that attends to the development of reflective, contemplative, affective, and ethical capacities in our students. The significance of these is at least as great as the development of critical capacities in students. The rationale for the inclusion of contemplative modalities is articulated within this context. On the basis of considerable experience in teaching at Amherst College, I present an "epistemology of love," which emphasizes a form of inquiry that supports close engagement and leads to student transformation and insight. This approach to knowing is implemented in the Amherst College first-year course, Eros and Insight. It includes a specific sequence of contemplative exercises that are practiced by students and integrated with more conventional course content drawn from the arts and sciences. Our experience shows that students deeply appreciate the shift from conventional coursework to a more experiential, transformative, and reflective pedagogy.
In a KidSpirit PerSpectives article, physics professor Arthur Zajonc inspires us, as students, to become more fully "awake" to our environment through practices of mindfulness.
When we turn to meditation, we are turning toward renewal, peace, and insight. Initially, we may take up contemplative practice as a means of tapping into the abundant resources of the mind and heart that bring serenity, but the meditative journey leads further--to the place where wisdom and love unite.In Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry, Arthur Zajonc offers an overview of the meditative life, weaving practical instruction together with the guidance and inspiration of the world's great teachers, from Rudolf Steiner to Rumi, and from Goethe to the sages of Asia.
Zajonc reminds us that an ethic of humility grounds all practice, and that care of the soul is the basis for sound spiritual reflection and understanding. The author carefully describes each stage of the path and includes many recommended practices.
Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry is the fruit of many years of personal practice and teaching. Arthur Zajonc developed his orientation toward meditation through working with hundreds of university students and professors, as well as with contemplative groups in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
Despite the availability of various substance abuse treatments, alcohol and drug misuse and related negative consequences remain prevalent. Vipassana meditation (VM), a Buddhist mindfulness-based practice, provides an alternative for individuals who do not wish to attend or have not succeeded with traditional addiction treatments. In this study, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of a VM course on substance use and psychosocial outcomes in an incarcerated population. Results indicate that after release from jail, participants in the VM course, as compared with those in a treatment-as-usual control condition, showed significant reductions in alcohol, marijuana, and crack cocaine use. VM participants showed decreases in alcohol-related problems and psychiatric symptoms as well as increases in positive psychosocial outcomes. The utility of mindfulness-based treatments for substance use is discussed.
Mindfulness as a clinical strategy for helping manage physical and psychological symptoms is gathering an impressive evidence base. It is also being embraced widely for personal and professional development. As a therapeutic intervention for nurses working across a spectrum of settings, it helps expand practice, and integrating mindfulness in nursing undergraduate and graduate curricula is imminent. In the present study, we outline the development and measurement of mindfulness as a personality trait and therapeutic intervention, and advocate the use of a questionnaire alternative to expensive and impractical laboratory measures. The aims of the present study were to examine and compare the use and reliability of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) in samples of nursing students from South Africa, China, and the Philippines, and compare the findings in the nursing student samples to other student and non-student samples. Three samples of students of nursing from China (n = 193), the Philippines (n = 243), and South Africa (n = 131) completed the 31-item FFMQ. The internal consistency was acceptable, and the correlations were significant among all facets and the total score. Although the total mean scores between the three samples were not significantly different, there were significant and interesting differences in the facet scores, and these are discussed in the light of likely cultural influences, and comparative data from other samples of students and clinical populations. The instrument shows promise for future use in educational research as a tool for curriculum change, for personal and professional development of nurses, and as a clinical tool for determining mindfulness changes over time.
The current study investigated the feasibility of implementing a 10-week mindfulness-based intervention with a group of incarcerated adolescents. Before and after completion of the 10-week intervention, 32 participants filled out self-report questionnaires on trait mindfulness, self-regulation, and perceived stress. We hypothesized that self-reported mindfulness and self-regulation would significantly increase, and perceived stress would significantly decrease, as a result of participation in the treatment intervention. Paired t-tests revealed a significant decrease (p < .05) in perceived stress and a significant increase (p < .001) in healthy self-regulation. No significant differences were found on self-reported mindfulness. Results suggest that mindfulness-based interventions are feasible for incarcerated adolescents. Limitations and future research are discussed.
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The current study investigated the feasibility of implementing a 10-week mindfulness-based intervention with a group of incarcerated adolescents. Before and after completion of the 10-week intervention, 32 participants filled out self-report questionnaires on trait mindfulness, self-regulation, and perceived stress. We hypothesized that self-reported mindfulness and self-regulation would significantly increase, and perceived stress would significantly decrease, as a result of participation in the treatment intervention. Paired t-tests revealed a significant decrease (p < .05) in perceived stress and a significant increase (p < .001) in healthy self-regulation. No significant differences were found on self-reported mindfulness. Results suggest that mindfulness-based interventions are feasible for incarcerated adolescents. Limitations and future research are discussed.
the Amazon, Brazil, where pioneering work taking an ecosystem approach to human health provided a complete new view of the origin of mercury in the environment and its effects on human health. Photo h \ Jean Lebel.
Background: This study investigated the experience of 23 incarcerated male adolescents who participated in an adapted 10‐week mindfulness‐based intervention.Method: Participants completed semi‐structured interviews immediately following the final class of the treatment intervention. A six‐step thematic content analysis was used to identify major themes from the transcribed semi‐structured interviews.
Results: Four major clusters of themes were identified: increase in subjective well‐being, increase in self‐regulation, increase in awareness, and accepting attitude toward the treatment intervention.
Conclusion: Results suggest that adapted mindfulness‐based interventions are feasible as treatments for incarcerated youth and have promising potential. Clinical implications are discussed.
Since it was first proposed in 2000, the concept of the Anthropocene has evolved in breadth and diversely. The concept encapsulates the new and unprecedented planetary-scale changes resulting from societal transformations and has brought to the fore the social drivers of global change. The concept has revealed tensions between generalized interpretations of humanity’s contribution to global change, and interpretations that are historically, politically and culturally situated. It motivates deep ethical questions about the politics and economics of global change, including diverse interpretations of past causes and future possibilities. As such, more than other concepts, the Anthropocene concept has brought front-and-center epistemological divides between and within the natural and social sciences, and the humanities. It has also brought new opportunities for collaboration. Here we explore the potential and challenges of the concept to encourage integrative understandings of global change and sustainability. Based on bibliometric analysis and literature review, we discuss the now wide acceptance of the term, its interpretive flexibility, the emerging narratives as well as the debates the concept has inspired. We argue that without truly collaborative and integrative research, many of the critical exchanges around the concept are likely to perpetuate fragmented research agendas and to reinforce disciplinary boundaries. This means appreciating the strengths and limitations of different knowledge domains, approaches and perspectives, with the concept of the Anthropocene serving as a bridge, which we encourage researchers and others to cross. This calls for institutional arrangements that facilitate collaborative research, training, and action, yet also depends on more robust and sustained funding for such activities. To illustrate, we briefly discuss three overarching global change problems where novel types of collaborative research could make a difference: (1) Emergent properties of socioecological systems; (2) Urbanization and resource nexus; and (3) Systemic risks and tipping points. Creative tensions around the Anthropocene concept can help the research community to move toward new conceptual syntheses and integrative action-oriented approaches that are needed to producing useful knowledge commensurable with the challenges of global change and sustainability.
<p>Arthur McKeown provides an in-depth review of Françoise Pommaret, et al., <em>Lhasa in the Seventeenth Century</em>. (Than Garson 2005-09-22)</p>
This timely, accessible reference and text addresses some of the most fundamental questions about human behavior, such as what causes racism and prejudice and why good people do bad things. Leading authorities present state-of-the-science theoretical and empirical work. Essential themes include the complex interaction of individual, societal, and situational factors underpinning good or evil behavior; the role of moral emotions, unconscious bias, and the self-concept; issues of responsibility and motivation; and how technology and globalization have enabled newer forms of threat and harm. New to This Edition *Many new authors; extensively revised with the latest theory and research. *Section on group perspectives, with chapters on bystanders to emergencies, remembering historical victimization, organizational dynamics, and globalization and terrorism. *Chapters on free will, conscious versus unconscious processes, media violence, dehumanization, genocide, and sexual violence. *Chapters on false moral superiority, compassionate goals in relationships, and moral emotions in incarcerated offenders"-- "This timely, accessible reference and text addresses some of the most fundamental questions about human behavior, such as what causes racism and prejudice and why good people do bad things. Leading authorities present state-of-the-science theoretical and empirical work. Essential themes include the complex interaction of individual, societal, and situational factors underpinning good or evil behavior; the role of moral emotions, unconscious bias, and the self-concept; issues of responsibility and motivation; and how technology and globalization have enabled newer forms of threat and harm. Key Words/Subject Areas: aggression, altruism, antisocial, evil, free will, good, guilt, heroism, human behavior, morality, prejudice, prosocial, racism, shame, social psychology, stereotyping, terrorism, values, violence Audience: Students and researchers in social psychology; also of interest to sociologists.
The purpose of this study, conducted in Winter 2003, was to document academic programs and other initiatives in North American universities and colleges that incorporate transformative and spiritual elements of learning. A combination of qualitative and quantitative instruments was used for data collection. Transformative learning has historically referred to a primarily epistemic, rational process whereby adult learners become aware of their unconscious roles, beliefs, and assumptions. The operational definition of transformative learning used in this study emphasized reflective learning, the intuitive and imaginative process, and the ethical, spiritual, and/or contemplative dimensions of education. Questionnaire responses and interviews indicated that although there is great interest in bringing transformative/spiritual elements into higher education, this movement still exists primarily among individual faculty within classrooms rather than as a departmental or institutional strategy. However, there are a number of notable initiatives in mainstream educational institutions. Survey participants were also asked about strategies that would support the transformative learning movement.
The purpose of this study, conducted in Winter 2003, was to document academic programs and other initiatives in North American universities and colleges that incorporate transformative and spiritual elements of learning. A combination of qualitative and quantitative instruments was used for data collection. Transformative learning has historically referred to a primarily epistemic, rational process whereby adult learners become aware of their unconscious roles, beliefs, and assumptions. The operational definition of transformative learning used in this study emphasized reflective learning, the intuitive and imaginative process, and the ethical, spiritual, and/or contemplative dimensions of education. Questionnaire responses and interviews indicated that although there is great interest in bringing transformative/spiritual elements into higher education, this movement still exists primarily among individual faculty within classrooms rather than as a departmental or institutional strategy. However, there are a number of notable initiatives in mainstream educational institutions. Survey participants were also asked about strategies that would support the transformative learning movement.
The purpose of this study, conducted in Winter 2003, was to document academic programs and other initiatives in North American universities and colleges that incorporate transformative and spiritual elements of learning. A combination of qualitative and quantitative instruments was used for data collection. Transformative learninghas historically referred to a primarily epistemic, rational process whereby adult
learners become aware of their unconscious roles, beliefs, and assumptions. The operational definition of transformative learning used in this study emphasized reflective learning, the intuitive and imaginative process, and the ethical, spiritual, and/or contemplative dimensions of education. Questionnaire responses and interviews indicated that although there is great interest in bringing transformative/spiritual elements into higher education, this movement still exists primarily among individual faculty within classrooms rather than as a departmental or institutional strategy.
However, there are a number of notable initiatives in mainstream educational institutions. Survey participants were also asked about strategies that would support thetransformative learning movement
Although the systematic study of meditation is still in its infancy, research has provided evidence for meditation-induced improvements in psychological and physiological well-being. Moreover, meditation practice has been shown not only to benefit higher-order cognitive functions but also to alter brain activity. Nevertheless, little is known about possible links to brain structure. Using high-resolution MRI data of 44 subjects, we set out to examine the underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation with different regional specificity (i.e., global, regional, and local). For this purpose, we applied voxel-based morphometry in association with a recently validated automated parcellation approach. We detected significantly larger gray matter volumes in meditators in the right orbito-frontal cortex (as well as in the right thalamus and left inferior temporal gyrus when co-varying for age and/or lowering applied statistical thresholds). In addition, meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the right hippocampus. Both orbito-frontal and hippocampal regions have been implicated in emotional regulation and response control. Thus, larger volumes in these regions might account for meditators' singular abilities and habits to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability, and engage in mindful behavior. We further suggest that these regional alterations in brain structures constitute part of the underlying neurological correlate of long-term meditation independent of a specific style and practice. Future longitudinal analyses are necessary to establish the presence and direction of a causal link between meditation practice and brain anatomy.
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