A contemplative turn in education: charting a curricular-pedagogical countermovement

Journal of Transformative Education

2021

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can result in positive “side effects,” such as concentration and individual well-being, highly desirable to schools operating within a neoliberalist agenda emphasizing performativity. However, employing a critical literature review, we argue that adverse side effects also occur, though under-researched. We engage critical and systems theories, within a broader complexity paradigm, to show how MBIs manifest as a form of “iatrogenesis,” whereby a “sleight of hand” occurs, offsetting systemic fallibility as individual culpability. Iatrogenesis provides both “cancer” and “cure,” the source of much stress and the means to cope, leaving systems under-critiqued whilst the individual is expected to adjust to this logic. Guised like this, MBIs may do more harm than good, obfuscating deeper transformation of self and society. We conclude by uniting with those who argue the need to embrace more authentic and holistic versions of mindfulness for individual and social transformation to occur.

Section: Modalities Of Mindfulness Within Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modalities Of Mindfulness Within Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Iatrogenic Effects Of Mindfulness 'In' Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mindfulness “in” Education as a Form of Iatrogenesis

Brito

Joseph

Journal of Transformative Education

2021

“…Large RCTs have a place but this article will argue that such an approach is misguided in focus and methodology. We will argue that such research positions mindfulness as a psychological intervention to help young-people cope with the educational system rather than asking timely and significant questions about the nature of education itself and how mindfulness may catalyse a contemplative turn in education (Ergas 2018a) that privileges deeper personal inquiry, holistic development and an empowered orientation to the world. Before we engage with such issues in greater depth let's first examine why an instrumental focus is defendable but ultimately, limited.…”

Section: The Journey From Spirituality To Health Intervention To Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It will conclude with the argument that mindfulness needs to be reframed as a collective way of being within a humanistic model of schooling (mindfulness as education) centred on first-person experience, deep self-knowledge, ethics and agency rather than an individual way of coping with current oppressive models of education (mindfulness in education). Such theorisation draws upon a number of writers, most notably Ergas (2015Ergas ( , 2017Ergas ( , 2018a who has recently (Ergas 2018b) also began to articulate similar distinctions between modalities of mindfulness in education, though the notion of mindfulness as education to be introduced here advocates a possibly deeper and more critical sensibility. The article will begin to identify what mindfulness as education could look like, though a full expose is beyond the scope of this particular piece of writing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adding Lemon Juice to Poison – Raising Critical Questions About the Oxymoronic Nature of Mindfulness in Education and Its Future Direction

British Journal of Educational Studies

Buttarazzi

2019

This article seeks to amplify a debate initiated in this journal by Hyland (2016) by deepening a number of conceptual, methodological and implementational issues concerning the application of mindfulness based interventions (MBIs) to schools and other places of learning. It argues that the pursuit of the byproducts of mindfulness, enhanced focus and well-being, serve a neoliberal agenda for education. This is lemon-juice to poison as it encourages students to accept and cope with oppressive structures partially responsible for suffering in society rather than develop the deepened awareness necessary to challenge and transform them. Reconnecting mindfulness with its original meaning of remembrance and discernment is highlighted as a means for engaging students with more agentic possibilities. The article begins to make the case for mindfulness as education, rather than mindfulness in education, realised as an embodied approach rather than psychological intervention with key roles for contemplative pedagogy and mindful inter-personal relationships.

‘Doing well’ and ‘being well’—secondary school teachers’ perspectives

Wilson

British Educational Res J

Joseph

2023

The mental health and wellbeing of young people is increasingly a concern in schools. This study explores how English secondary school teachers perceive and engage with the concept of wellbeing. By asking teachers to reflect on their practice, we can draw out their relational experience and knowledge about wellbeing in the classroom. Twenty teachers were interviewed about their practice in the context of the Covid‐19 pandemic and during the academic year 2020–21. Reflexive thematic analysis reveals the challenges experienced by teachers. Specifically, we find a perceived role conflict for teachers between giving care and purveying knowledge. We draw on recent policy research and the work of Nel Noddings to account for this conflict in terms of conceptualisations of teaching practice and purpose. We illustrate how an emphasis within schools on ‘doing well’ academically undermines and marginalises a more holistic sense of ‘being well’, which contributes to a set of strains on teachers personally, professionally and relationally in terms of their interactions with students and colleagues. We propose that ‘doing well’ arises out of ‘being well’, rather than the converse, and should hence be an educational policy priority. Finally, we offer implications for how wellbeing may be woven into school culture.