As Ridge Shukrun’s piece on the importance of self reflection prior to implementing CP&P into your work with students introduced, there are varying approaches to how a contemplative practice is implemented. As Duerr (2004) noted it is important to consider the appropriate context and audience for the method in question, which we have covered in our chapter on aligning the practice with your learning objectives. Additionally, a question that surfaces often in discussions on contemplative practices and pedagogies is the issue of cultural appropriation or “watering down” a practice by taking it to a different context, or knowingly/unknowingly imposing a worldview onto students.

We believe this is where crucial self reflection work takes place – there are no straightforward answers as to how to implement CP&P in a culturally-appreciative or relevant manner. Thus this section, primarily built up by specialists and knowledge keepers in this area, serves as an opportunity to contemplate within ourselves. As noted through various CP FIG and Summit gatherings, sometimes the answer after all of this is that a practice is not appropriate in certain contextst.

We begin this section with an invitation to do a self-reflection on cultural humility practice, guided by questions developed by Naj Sumar, where the answers you provide will become a downloadable script that you can take with you. This is followed by an inquiry cycle activity written by Clarissa de Leon who uses “thoughtbooks” as a tool for engaging with culturally responsive and culturally relevant pedagogy. Next, Emil Briones shares insights into reclaiming ancestral practices which were co-created during their session as the Contemplative Pedagogies Summit. This section concludes with a summary of a talk by Kariwentha Lee Scott and Karonhiaktatie David McComber on the conflicting world views of Western colonial materiality and Indigenous land-based relationality.

References

Duerr, M. (2004). A powerful silence: The role of meditation and other contemplative practices in American life and work. Yumpu.