Contemplative practice and resilience: sustainability pedagogy to support wellbeing and transformation

Summary

A 2-credit undergraduate course on contemplative practice and resilience positively impacted student wellbeing in three ways: a short-term boost after class, a moderate increase in coping capacity during the semester, and lifestyle changes that helped some students transcend previous challenges. Despite these improvements, many students faced significant stress and limited coping abilities, which affected their readiness for sustainability learning. These findings highlight the need for effective sustainability pedagogies and mental health strategies in higher education.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract A focus on cognitive – rather than affective or embodied - learning in higher education limits opportunities for students to practice reflexive and collaborative competencies that support effective participation in social-environmental problem solving. At the same time, undergraduate learners are struggling, seeking help for problems related to everyday life in higher numbers than ever before. With the nested goals of facilitating sustainability change agency and supporting student wellbeing, we developed a 2-credit undergraduate course on contemplative practice and resilience. We used a mixed methods approach to investigate the integration of contemplative practices alongside content on individual, community, and social-ecological resilience. Our research was guided by two questions: How does contemplative practice contribute to student wellbeing? How do contemplative practices for sustainability learners impact change agency? Our analysis revealed the course positively impacted participant wellbeing in one of three ways: (1) class-level , which describes a short-term wellbeing boost that followed class for some students, (2) semester-level , which reflects a moderate increase in wellbeing characterized by increased awareness and capacity for coping with challenge over the course of the semester, and (3) lifestyle , which describes the new skills and changed mindsets demonstrated by several students that allowed them to transcend, rather than cope more effectively with, previous challenges. Observing increased wellbeing across the entire group was encouraging, but we also found that students were suffering more deeply than we anticipated. Persistent stress and limited coping capacity impacted their readiness for sustainability learning related to engagement and action. These are important findings related to the design of effective sustainability pedagogies, the development of strategies to address the mental health crisis across U.S. universities, and the ways contemplative practice can support both efforts.

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