Research in the science of learning (cognitive science, psychology, neuroscience, sociology) is an ever-evolving field. We don’t exactly know how the brain works, learns, or retains memory right now, but there are some threads that can inform our best practices.

This chapter serves as a starting point to make connections between the proven objectives of contemplative practices and pedagogy in the classroom and some evidence-based methods we know make optimal conditions for learning in higher education.

Objectives of CP&P and their links to our goals for students from Barbezat & Bush’s Contemplative Practices in Higher Education (2014):

Focused attention and problem-solving

• Practices such as meditation cultivate concentrated attention, which is crucial for tackling complex problems (p. 12).
• On the other hand, problem-solving can also require open-mindedness, or the ability to think laterally. Psychologists Murray and Byrne (2005) describe this as “the capacity to hold alternative possibilities along with the ability to switch their attention between them”.
• This connects with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (1968), in which students move from seeing one worldview as “truth” into harnessing multiple worldviews and seeing that there are multiple truths.
• To do so, Barbezat & Bush (2014) say that the student needs to discern when to hold onto an idea, and when to let it go. This is closely linked with the practices of mindful awareness. See Joseph Siddiqi’s talk and practice in this OER: Noticing the movement of attention.
• Exposing student to multiple worldviews and training their ability to see a topic from various perspectives enhances their ability for creative and analytical problem-solving

Deeper understanding

• As educators our goal is to guide students to deep learning or understanding (connecting ideas to previous and future knowledge) versus surface learning (rote memorization, associating knowledge unreflectively).
• The “slowing-down” nature of contemplative practices provides a method for engaging in this deeper understanding
• A practice such as lectio divina (put simply, engaging with a piece of text multiple times with a different focus each time) can provide an opportunity for students to “sink into” the material, a rare opportunity amongst the amount of reading they are often assigned. With this practice, for example, new interpretations can arise from each reading, making it more meaningful and understandable.
• Joseph Siddiqi’s talk and practice in this OER also touches on deepening understanding, by directing the attention in the process of creating a painting: Noticing the movement of attention.

Connection and compassion

• Building on constructivist learning theory where knowledge is co-constructed and cannot be formed alone
• Dacher Keltner, social psychologist in his book Born to be Good (2009) argues that our human instinct to be cooperative and compassionate is in fact more dominant than our tendency to be selfish or violent, connecting to scientific research that our brains are wired to connect with each other.  
• Contemplative practices can offer students an opportunity to develop connection and compassion with and for their peers, increasing their ability to collaborate with others.
• See practices in this resources such as:
  • Metta (loving kindness) meditation
  • Contemplative collage practice
  • Gratitude practice 

Personal meaning

• CP&P can cultivate what Barbezat & Bush refer to as “intentional cultivation of personal inquiry” (2014)
• The often introspective nature of CP&P primes students to reflect on themselves, “begin to open to their own sense of meaning”
• Important for students’ self-realization of their learning goals, making the learning meaningful and relevant for them. This meaningfulness and relevancy connexts to what Sousa (2011) talks about with research in educational neuroscience in How the Brain Learns.
• See practices in this resource such as:
  • In memoriam and letter from the future
  • Kintsugi collage

References