Professors Practicing Mindfulness: An Action Research Study on Transformed Teaching, Research, and Service

Abstract

In this 2-year action research study, 33 university professors attended a 4-day faculty seminar titled “Mindfulness Meditation in Teaching,” which included guided insight meditation, dialogic inquiry, and action planning. Participants generated and committed to 26 novel methods for integrating mindfulness practice with teaching, research, and service. These practices grouped into four areas including mindful grading and assessment, awareness of students in the classroom, practicing mindfulness in and out of the classroom, and cultivating self-awareness in teaching. A mixed-methods analysis of transformative learning illustrates three fundamental shifts in perspectives and behaviors: balancing expertise with a “beginner’s mind” approach for greater innovative capacity, deepening appreciation for subject matter and communion with students, supporting a genuine sense of community across academic silos, and advocating for a more mindful university culture through six new university-wide initiatives.

A conceptual validation of transformative learning theory

“…However, over the last 20 years, it has become an interdisciplinary lens through which adult learning (i.e., change in beliefs and behavior) can be conceptualized across various disciplines and situations (Taylor and Snyder 2012). Along with extensive practical applications, research on transformative learning has grown significantly in the 30 years in adult education (e.g., Brendel and Cornett‐Murtada 2018; Gawlicz 2022), medicine or public health (e.g., Kerins et al 2020; Tallentire et al 2021; Vipler et al 2021), and general research (Hoggan and Kloubert 2020, Schnepfleitner and Ferreira 2021; Schnitzler 2020) just to mention a few. Most of the research has been qualitative in nature, and few studies have attempted to measure transformative learning, which has limited researchers’ ability to generalize transformative learning theory beyond narrow descriptive accounts and to establish the effectiveness of interventions focused on fostering change.…”

If It Is Life We Want: A Prayer for the Future (of the) University

“…Clearly, critics have called out the limits of instrumentalist approaches to education and instead pushed educators to better account for the inner dimension of learning and growth in transformative (sustainability) education (de Witt et al, 2014;Horlings, 2015;de Witt, 2016;Woiwode, 2016Woiwode, , 2020Burns, 2018;Parodi and Tamm, 2018;Scharmer, 2018;Wamsler and Brink, 2018;Brendel and Cornett-Murtada, 2019;Grenni et al, 2020;Ives et al, 2020;Pisters et al, 2020). Across the board, these much-needed voices call for more engaged, empowering, and creative pedagogies, and the uptake of skills and practices among learners required to grasp and deal with the "dire situation" humanity faces.…”

Embodying a Mindfulness Practice Within the Higher Education Classroom

“…Discussions around the place of mindfulness for academics is expanding as research begins to be produced (Berg & Seeber, 2016;Bush, 2011;Ivtzan & Lomas, 2016;Ivtzan et al, 2011;Lemon & McDonough, 2018). More research appears in relation to students in higher education, however emerging trends are beginning to focus on mindfulness and academics in the classroom (Block-Lerner & Cardaciotto, 2016), and on meditating academics (Brendel & Cornett-Murtada, 2018) for example. As our understanding of what might be possible grows, we are reminded that contemplative practices are required as a need to support a balance between professional and personal lives (Beer et al, 2015).…”