The Place of Practice in Contemplative Pedagogy and Writing
Across the Disciplines March 1, 2019 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.37514/atd-j.2019.16.1.02 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Contemplative pedagogy emphasizes practice commitment, critical subjectivity, and character development. This paper describes how these three characteristics shaped a general education course on curiosity, playfulness, and creativity, and how they apply to students' contemplative writing assignments. The approach aims to harness the transformative potential of contemplative traditions for educators across disciplines.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | A contemplative course and contemplative writing can be defined through the three characteristics of practice commitment, critical subjectivity, and character development. |
Abstract
Contemplative pedagogy is part of the larger emerging field of Contemplative Studies. Louis Komjathy (2018) has observed three characteristics shared by various aspects of Contemplative Studies: practice commitment, critical subjectivity, and character development. This paper uses these three characteristics to describe and define a “contemplative course” and “contemplative writing.” First, this paper describes a contemplative approach to the development of the General Education course “Curiosity, Playfulness, Creativity” in terms of the author’s practice commitment, critical subjectivity, and character development. Second, the paper discusses these three characteristics as they apply to students’ contemplative writing experiences and assignments in that course. These notes on theory and practice may provide inspiration for educators across disciplines to craft contextinformed contemplative courses and experiences that tap into the radical, transformative power of contemplative traditions.