I am an Associate Professor at Beit Berl College and a researcher in the field of contemplative education. Contemplative practices have been developed across cultures toward fostering well-being, heightened awareness, and finding meaning. In recent years we are witnessing an increasing interest in mindfulness practice, yoga, tai chi and other contemplative practices in education. My research focuses on rendering the pedagogical aspects of these practices based on their sources (i.e. Buddhism, classical yoga), psychological research, first-person and second-person methods of inquiry, and educational theory. Basically I explain why observing one's breath, performing a yogic posture or a tai chi form is education in the deepest sense of the word.
In this brief video I discuss my work in the field of contemplative education and teacher educati... more In this brief video I discuss my work in the field of contemplative education and teacher education. I mostly focus here on the philosophical foundations of my work which explores contemplative practice (e.g., mindfulness, yoga) at the intersection of wisdom traditions, science and education.
ספר זה מציע מבטים שונים על מיינדפולנס ולמידה חברתית-רגשית בהכשרת מורים. פרקי הספר השונים נכתבו על... more ספר זה מציע מבטים שונים על מיינדפולנס ולמידה חברתית-רגשית בהכשרת מורים. פרקי הספר השונים נכתבו על ידי חוקרים מהארץ ועל ידי סטודנטים בהכשרת מורים ומורים שעברו השתלמויות בתחומים הללו. הספר מספק תשתית תיאורטית ויישומית להבנה של המקום של מיינדפולנס ולמידה חברתית-בהכשרת מורים, וחלקו האחרון של הספר מציג עדויות מקורסים והשתלמויות בתחומים אלו בהשכלה הגבוהה.
להלן הכריכה ופרק המבוא מתוך הספר "מיינדפולנס והמהפכה השקטה בחינוך". הספר סוקר את הכניסה של מיינדפ... more להלן הכריכה ופרק המבוא מתוך הספר "מיינדפולנס והמהפכה השקטה בחינוך". הספר סוקר את הכניסה של מיינדפולנס ותרגולי התבוננות לחינוך במהלך העשורים האחרונים מנקודות מבט פסיכולוגיות, פילוסופיות וסוציולוגיות. הוא מספק רקע תיאורטי על תרגולי התבוננות לאור מקורותיהם ולאור המחקר המדעי סביבם ובונה תיאוריות חינוכיות המסבירות את מקומם של התרגולים בחינוך בן זמננו. כמו-כן הספר עוסק גם בביקורות על התרגולים ועל שילובם בחינוך.
This book positions the 'self' at the center of teaching, teacher education and their research. T... more This book positions the 'self' at the center of teaching, teacher education and their research. The various contributions to this edited volume open this concept from diverse perspectives and disciplines (e.g. psychology, philosophy), engaging various ontologies and epistemologies (e.g. dualism, non-dualism) and different practices and research methodologies (e.g., mindfulness, self-study). The overall claim of the volume is that studying ourselves as teachers and researchers of teaching is crucial both the development of life meaning and for the advancement of teaching practice and its study.
This book engages the reader in the inquiry of 'education' from the perspective of the mind. The ... more This book engages the reader in the inquiry of 'education' from the perspective of the mind. The book begins with attention as the foundation of experience and education and builds the 'matrix of mind' as a means for critiquing and reconstructing 'education'. It then turns to explore our inner lives as curriculum.
Philosophy East/West showcases new scholarship in the philosophy of education and contemplative s... more Philosophy East/West showcases new scholarship in the philosophy of education and contemplative studies, paying particular attention to the intersection of mindfulness, evidence-based science, and wisdom traditions. These readings shed light on the contemplative turn in contemporary education and its potentials, difficulties and implications for educational theory and practice.
The chapters in this edited volume move beyond simplistic explanations of “East” and “West” to explore the complexity and diversity of various wisdom traditions. The book includes:
• Explorations of mindfulness in contemporary education as it intersects with science and wisdom traditions. • Investigations of Buddhist, Taoist, and Vedantic traditions as they shed light on contemporary educational theory and practice. • Interpretations of contemplative education in light of philosophers such as Heidegger, Levinas and Foucault.
In recent years there has been a substantial rise in the incorporation of contemplative practices... more In recent years there has been a substantial rise in the incorporation of contemplative practices in higher education. Within this movement, mindfulness stands out as the most studied and implemented practice. However, most of its implementations have been confined to interventions associated with mental health. Notwithstanding the merit of this orientation, mindfulness may have a broader educational potential for higher education students’ growth as human beings. This study is based on the analysis of final assignments from a course focused on mindfulness and its educational potential, taught to 673 students at three Faculties of Education between 2011 and 2018 and on a retrospective questionnaire to which 143 of the students responded. Results show that in addition to common effects of mindfulness (e.g., stress-reduction, enhanced focus), many students recognized mindfulness as an educational practice that had transformed their view of the nature of education and sometimes of life itself. The questionnaire showed that few students continue to practice formally years after the course, nevertheless many view the course as a meaningful and educational experience. The paper grants support to the understanding and framing of mindfulness as a formative educational practice that accords with aims of higher education.
This article questions some of the premises undergirding the discourse of self-study, particularl... more This article questions some of the premises undergirding the discourse of self-study, particularly focusing on its treatment of "self". We examine the ontology, authority and ethics of self as they emerge from Oren's reading of self-study literature in light of his scholarship of and experience in contemplative education. Having focused on studying and teaching mindfulness in teacher education, Oren had been an insider to "the study of self" yet an outsider to "self-study" when he stumbled upon the S-STEP SIG during AERA 2018. His hopes of finally finding a SIG focused on the self were high; however, during the presentations he attended, he became perplexed and disappointed as "self" emerged as somewhat peripheral to the matter he had assumed to be at stake. Written as an autoethnography, this paper describes his search for the sources of his discontents aided by Jason, a self-study insider who shares some of his ideas. Responding to calls for self-study that advocate educational change in a broad sense, we point to some ontological, epistemological and ethical commitments centering around self that may have been limiting self-study. We suggest that some of them can be rethought and point to ways in which this can lead to new possibilities for self-study and its expanded impact.
Policy documents from OECD and UNESCO have been stressing the need to prepare students for what h... more Policy documents from OECD and UNESCO have been stressing the need to prepare students for what has been termed a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. They emphasise social-emotional competencies as necessary for coping with such conditions. This qualitative research frames the COVID-19 outbreak as an extreme case of VUCA that grants the opportunity to examine whether our teacher preparation curriculum provides teacher students with these social-emotional competencies that they are expected to model and are necessary for coping with such circumstances. Fifty-four student teachers and 24 teacher educators responded to open-ended questionnaires, and 16 semi-structured interviews with teacher educators were analysed based on grounded theory. Results demonstrate that our student teachers struggle substantially with VUCA circumstances and do not seem to receive sufficient preparation in the domain of social-emotional competencies. These troubling findings serve as a wake-up call to increase a social-emotional orientation in teacher education curriculum.
This paper locates the main challenge for education in cosmopolitanism within the nature of educa... more This paper locates the main challenge for education in cosmopolitanism within the nature of education when interpreted as a 'mind-making process'. Based on this interpretation, education is a process that shapes non-cosmopolitan minds, for the practices generally associated with it, habituate the human mind to see 'reality' through contingent social narratives. The aspiration of education in cosmopolitanism to cultivate 'a sense of feeling at home and caring for the world', requires practices that also liberate the mind from the contingencies of the social narratives into which it happens to be born. For such purpose, education requires an ethical meta-narrative, which applies to all human beings and appeals to a mutual human language. Following calls for embracing a pluralistic epistemology in policy making, the paper proposes the interdisciplinary field of contemplative studies that focuses on the understanding of the embodied mind, as a point of origin for considering education as such and education in cosmopolitanism in particular. Mindfulness is then interpreted as a practical pedagogy through which we can practice detachment from the contingency of social narratives by cultivating grounded-ness in the non-contingency of pre-conceptual embodied first-person experience.
Following the exponential rise in publications on mindfulness in education and the emergence of s... more Following the exponential rise in publications on mindfulness in education and the emergence of some critical perspectives on this field, this paper articulates three roles of mindfulness practice in education: Mindfulness in, as and of education. The three are developed based on an examination of the practice as it is shaped by two different socio-historical narratives, which in turn manifest in different modalities of implementation and aims in the contemporary educational field. While much of the field is governed by 'mindfulness in education' within economic-therapeutic interventions, equal attention is given to 'mindfulness as education' as reflected in a whole school approach and to 'mindfulness of education' in which the practice radicalises the ethos of critical pedagogy. Describing these three roles, the paper introduces readers to the practice itself, offers a framework for understanding its associations with a variety of educational aims, and critically discusses these associations as well as the diverse pedagogical possibilities that this practice brings to contemporary and future education.
Since the turn of the millennium there has been a clear rise in the implementation and research o... more Since the turn of the millennium there has been a clear rise in the implementation and research of mindfulness across primary, secondary and postsecondary education. These implementations, however, hardly constitute a uniform phenomenon. They reflect a variety of framings, modalities and educational aims, as documented in hundreds of peer-reviewed papers. To date no overarching review has provided an empirically-based mapping of this multifaceted and rapidly developing discourse. This paper offers a first-of-its-kind map of mindfulness in education based on the 447 peer-reviewed papers published between 2002 and 2017 that constitute this academic discourse, applying grounded theory methodology. The research reveals an exponential rise in the amount of publications over years, with a complex discourse that evolves from seven different framings of the practice, applied to nine different educational domains and through various types of implementation. It maps this complexity and outlines two main patterns that reflects this discourse to date: a) Mindfulness in education, which comprises mostly of outsourced, secularized interventions aimed at improved mental-physical health, social-emotional learning and cognitive functions. b) Mindfulness as education, which is a more transformative strand characterized by contemplative pedagogy in higher education and sporadic whole-school implementations. Overall, in the studied period mindfulness has been moving from near-anonymity toward the mainstream; however, this discourse reflects a nascent phase given that it is only beginning to critique itself. Furthermore, its two patterns reflect a split discourse that is challenged by the practice's psychological-secular framing and its Buddhist framing.
There is evidence of the growth in implementations and research of mindfulness practice in educat... more There is evidence of the growth in implementations and research of mindfulness practice in education, and of the practice's effects on various aspects of students' and teachers' lives. This conceptual paper, however, argues that the acceptance and understanding of mindfulness practice within education, does not depend only on evidence of its effectiveness. It also requires a broader conceptualization of the associations between mindfulness practice and education. The paper hence calls for forging a dialogical encounter between "education" and "mindfulness" parallel to the ongoing dialogue between Buddhism and science. It then develops one such dialogical encounter discussing education and mindfulness as two distinct traditions of practice that have a history of interpretations associated with their respective aims, conceptualizations, critiques and ways of practice. Based on a common typology of educational aims the paper explores how mindfulness practice features within three possible educational orientations: socialization, acculturation, and individuation. Though each orientation sets a different priority for education, assuming serious implementation, mindfulness practice can contribute to each. However, within each orientation the practice would be framed and implemented differently as the paper demonstrates by reviewing contemporary implementations. The paper thus provides a broader perspective on mindfulness and education and offers a historical context for debates concerning the implementation, justification and/or critique of mindfulness in education. From the perspective proposed, mindfulness in education is viewed as less "special" than it seems. It is a possible pedagogical practice that serves educational aims that have long been part of the tradition of education.
This paper addresses the problem of "the insufficiency of now" that stems from the entanglement o... more This paper addresses the problem of "the insufficiency of now" that stems from the entanglement of education with time. Namely, the embodied-lived present is always inferior compared to the hypothetical ideal future. Education and its promise hence carry the seed of inevitable disenchantment. This problem is examined based on two contrasting perspectives: Plato’s cave allegory and its application to contemporary schooling on the one hand and the Yogacara Buddhist "mind-moments" model on the other hand. The insufficiency of now emerges from both models in different ways; however, the latter model accentuates the mind's role in its formation. The paper then describes mindfulness practice in light of this model and suggests that it may be a necessary pedagogy for addressing a problem that is inherent in the concept of education and in the individual mind. However, the teaching of mindfulness itself has to overcome the present-future dualism that is the basis for the insufficiency of now.
In this paper we examine different ways in which "free will" emerges within mindfulness-based st... more In this paper we examine different ways in which "free will" emerges within mindfulness-based stress reduction courses. The concept of free will is non-trivial; especiall when starting to examine how it is assumed or refuted within meditational practice. As we argue, the therapeutic function of these courses has much to do with the variety of ways in which free will features in them in different ways.
This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlig... more This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlights accountability, standardization and performativity. This countermovement has become manifest in an exponential rise in the implementation and research of contemplative practices (e.g., mindfulness, yoga) across educational settings. The paper explores the unfolding of this curricular-pedagogical phenomenon, characterizes its core elements and explains why and how it can be viewed as a 'contemplative turn in education'. Based on a conceptual review of academic publications in the field, the paper demonstrates a progression from a pre-contemplative era to the current contemplative turn. As part of the review three curricular domains within this turn are described: mindfulness-based interventions, contemplative pedagogies and contemplative inquiry. Each domain offers a different perspective on the contemplative turn and contributes to epistemological changes in curricular-pedagogical practice. The paper also presents a critical discourse that challenges the contemplative turn's ethics, implementations and curricular orientations. The latter discourse has been developing alongside and as part of this turn.
A growing number of publications have been exploring the possible effects of mindfulness-based in... more A growing number of publications have been exploring the possible effects of mindfulness-based interventions on teachers' well-being and their professional lives. Notwithstanding promising results in this domain, this paper identifies some difficulties involved in introducing teachers to mindfulness and proposes that there may be a need to develop alternative routes by which to expose more teachers to experiences of mindfulness. We report on a mixed methods study of a 5-week teacher learning program implemented in an Israeli middle school with 30 teachers, 28 of which were females, with an age range of 29-55. The program was designed to invite teachers into initial experiences with mindfulness without formally engaging in mindfulness practice but rather based on studying education-relevant brain theory through a contemplative pedagogical approach. Outcomes were analyzed quantitatively by comparing collaborative concept maps created by the participants before and after undergoing in the program, and qualitatively by analyzing themes extracted from the participants’ discourse. Findings show that the program: (a) mobilized teachers from fixed to growth mindsets in regards to their role as educators as reflected in a significant increase in teachers’ beliefs that basic brain abilities are malleable (as extracted from the concept maps, p=0.004), (b) offered them initial experiences of mindfulness, and (c) possibly opened them to consider more direct approaches to mindfulness practice that are offered in mindfulness-based interventions.
Press the link above to read the paper (or try this http://rdcu.be/EoK2)
One of the most funda... more Press the link above to read the paper (or try this http://rdcu.be/EoK2)
One of the most fundamental concepts within Martin Buber’s philosophy concerns two modes of being: I–it, which reflects an egocentric instrumental existence, and I–thou, which reflects dialogical encounter and interrelatedness. At the face of it, technology seems to be the ultimate example of that which engenders and I–it consciousness. Indeed, a recurrent concern in contemporary times suggests that the increase in our technology use is slowly but surely depriving us of meaningful encounters with the other. In this paper we propose that technology can in fact be applied as an antidote to this predicament. To make this point we describe the teaching of mindfulness practice in higher education. We focus particularly on the use of cell phones to cultivate mindful attention as a precondition and characteristic of I–thou relationships. These cell phones, which have somewhat become extensions of our bodies, remind us to become present and hence more likely to acknowledge interrelatedness. Brief excerpts from student projects in these courses will be applied to demonstrate these transitions.
Against the pressures of standardization, some argue for the need to expand teachers' awareness o... more Against the pressures of standardization, some argue for the need to expand teachers' awareness of their ‘teaching self’ because teachers ‘teach who they are’. This paper acknowledges the importance of this orientation; however, it is suggested that its implementation requires overcoming social reproduction. Teachers may have to liberate themselves from the image of ‘education’ into which they were initiated as they themselves grew up in a system in which ‘self’ has mostly become a null curriculum. In order to reclaim ‘self’ in teaching and ‘education’ there may be a need for radical curricular-pedagogical approaches that address this problem directly. The paper describes and demonstrates the implementation of such approach in a teacher education course in which mindfulness was proposed as a way for investigating ‘self’ as an explicit curriculum. Based on interpreting students’ final projects, the paper depicts difficulties and insights evoked by this curricular-pedagogical approach and the course's possible contributions to the 'teaching self'.
Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a surge of interest in diverse forms of spontane... more Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a surge of interest in diverse forms of spontaneous thinking, such as mind-wandering, and their associated brain networks. Studies demonstrate the pervasiveness of these phenomena as well as their effects on education-relevant domains such as academic skills, well-being, creativity, executive functions, and socio-emotional competencies. Based on a neurophenomenological approach and drawing on cognitive and neuroscience research, the paper reviews this field and develops a framework for understanding deliberate and non-deliberate states of students' minds in the classroom and their associated brain circuitry. Different approaches to these states are examined from an educational perspective and ways in which this discourse can further be developed are suggested.
In this brief video I discuss my work in the field of contemplative education and teacher educati... more In this brief video I discuss my work in the field of contemplative education and teacher education. I mostly focus here on the philosophical foundations of my work which explores contemplative practice (e.g., mindfulness, yoga) at the intersection of wisdom traditions, science and education.
ספר זה מציע מבטים שונים על מיינדפולנס ולמידה חברתית-רגשית בהכשרת מורים. פרקי הספר השונים נכתבו על... more ספר זה מציע מבטים שונים על מיינדפולנס ולמידה חברתית-רגשית בהכשרת מורים. פרקי הספר השונים נכתבו על ידי חוקרים מהארץ ועל ידי סטודנטים בהכשרת מורים ומורים שעברו השתלמויות בתחומים הללו. הספר מספק תשתית תיאורטית ויישומית להבנה של המקום של מיינדפולנס ולמידה חברתית-בהכשרת מורים, וחלקו האחרון של הספר מציג עדויות מקורסים והשתלמויות בתחומים אלו בהשכלה הגבוהה.
להלן הכריכה ופרק המבוא מתוך הספר "מיינדפולנס והמהפכה השקטה בחינוך". הספר סוקר את הכניסה של מיינדפ... more להלן הכריכה ופרק המבוא מתוך הספר "מיינדפולנס והמהפכה השקטה בחינוך". הספר סוקר את הכניסה של מיינדפולנס ותרגולי התבוננות לחינוך במהלך העשורים האחרונים מנקודות מבט פסיכולוגיות, פילוסופיות וסוציולוגיות. הוא מספק רקע תיאורטי על תרגולי התבוננות לאור מקורותיהם ולאור המחקר המדעי סביבם ובונה תיאוריות חינוכיות המסבירות את מקומם של התרגולים בחינוך בן זמננו. כמו-כן הספר עוסק גם בביקורות על התרגולים ועל שילובם בחינוך.
This book positions the 'self' at the center of teaching, teacher education and their research. T... more This book positions the 'self' at the center of teaching, teacher education and their research. The various contributions to this edited volume open this concept from diverse perspectives and disciplines (e.g. psychology, philosophy), engaging various ontologies and epistemologies (e.g. dualism, non-dualism) and different practices and research methodologies (e.g., mindfulness, self-study). The overall claim of the volume is that studying ourselves as teachers and researchers of teaching is crucial both the development of life meaning and for the advancement of teaching practice and its study.
This book engages the reader in the inquiry of 'education' from the perspective of the mind. The ... more This book engages the reader in the inquiry of 'education' from the perspective of the mind. The book begins with attention as the foundation of experience and education and builds the 'matrix of mind' as a means for critiquing and reconstructing 'education'. It then turns to explore our inner lives as curriculum.
Philosophy East/West showcases new scholarship in the philosophy of education and contemplative s... more Philosophy East/West showcases new scholarship in the philosophy of education and contemplative studies, paying particular attention to the intersection of mindfulness, evidence-based science, and wisdom traditions. These readings shed light on the contemplative turn in contemporary education and its potentials, difficulties and implications for educational theory and practice.
The chapters in this edited volume move beyond simplistic explanations of “East” and “West” to explore the complexity and diversity of various wisdom traditions. The book includes:
• Explorations of mindfulness in contemporary education as it intersects with science and wisdom traditions. • Investigations of Buddhist, Taoist, and Vedantic traditions as they shed light on contemporary educational theory and practice. • Interpretations of contemplative education in light of philosophers such as Heidegger, Levinas and Foucault.
In recent years there has been a substantial rise in the incorporation of contemplative practices... more In recent years there has been a substantial rise in the incorporation of contemplative practices in higher education. Within this movement, mindfulness stands out as the most studied and implemented practice. However, most of its implementations have been confined to interventions associated with mental health. Notwithstanding the merit of this orientation, mindfulness may have a broader educational potential for higher education students’ growth as human beings. This study is based on the analysis of final assignments from a course focused on mindfulness and its educational potential, taught to 673 students at three Faculties of Education between 2011 and 2018 and on a retrospective questionnaire to which 143 of the students responded. Results show that in addition to common effects of mindfulness (e.g., stress-reduction, enhanced focus), many students recognized mindfulness as an educational practice that had transformed their view of the nature of education and sometimes of life itself. The questionnaire showed that few students continue to practice formally years after the course, nevertheless many view the course as a meaningful and educational experience. The paper grants support to the understanding and framing of mindfulness as a formative educational practice that accords with aims of higher education.
This article questions some of the premises undergirding the discourse of self-study, particularl... more This article questions some of the premises undergirding the discourse of self-study, particularly focusing on its treatment of "self". We examine the ontology, authority and ethics of self as they emerge from Oren's reading of self-study literature in light of his scholarship of and experience in contemplative education. Having focused on studying and teaching mindfulness in teacher education, Oren had been an insider to "the study of self" yet an outsider to "self-study" when he stumbled upon the S-STEP SIG during AERA 2018. His hopes of finally finding a SIG focused on the self were high; however, during the presentations he attended, he became perplexed and disappointed as "self" emerged as somewhat peripheral to the matter he had assumed to be at stake. Written as an autoethnography, this paper describes his search for the sources of his discontents aided by Jason, a self-study insider who shares some of his ideas. Responding to calls for self-study that advocate educational change in a broad sense, we point to some ontological, epistemological and ethical commitments centering around self that may have been limiting self-study. We suggest that some of them can be rethought and point to ways in which this can lead to new possibilities for self-study and its expanded impact.
Policy documents from OECD and UNESCO have been stressing the need to prepare students for what h... more Policy documents from OECD and UNESCO have been stressing the need to prepare students for what has been termed a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. They emphasise social-emotional competencies as necessary for coping with such conditions. This qualitative research frames the COVID-19 outbreak as an extreme case of VUCA that grants the opportunity to examine whether our teacher preparation curriculum provides teacher students with these social-emotional competencies that they are expected to model and are necessary for coping with such circumstances. Fifty-four student teachers and 24 teacher educators responded to open-ended questionnaires, and 16 semi-structured interviews with teacher educators were analysed based on grounded theory. Results demonstrate that our student teachers struggle substantially with VUCA circumstances and do not seem to receive sufficient preparation in the domain of social-emotional competencies. These troubling findings serve as a wake-up call to increase a social-emotional orientation in teacher education curriculum.
This paper locates the main challenge for education in cosmopolitanism within the nature of educa... more This paper locates the main challenge for education in cosmopolitanism within the nature of education when interpreted as a 'mind-making process'. Based on this interpretation, education is a process that shapes non-cosmopolitan minds, for the practices generally associated with it, habituate the human mind to see 'reality' through contingent social narratives. The aspiration of education in cosmopolitanism to cultivate 'a sense of feeling at home and caring for the world', requires practices that also liberate the mind from the contingencies of the social narratives into which it happens to be born. For such purpose, education requires an ethical meta-narrative, which applies to all human beings and appeals to a mutual human language. Following calls for embracing a pluralistic epistemology in policy making, the paper proposes the interdisciplinary field of contemplative studies that focuses on the understanding of the embodied mind, as a point of origin for considering education as such and education in cosmopolitanism in particular. Mindfulness is then interpreted as a practical pedagogy through which we can practice detachment from the contingency of social narratives by cultivating grounded-ness in the non-contingency of pre-conceptual embodied first-person experience.
Following the exponential rise in publications on mindfulness in education and the emergence of s... more Following the exponential rise in publications on mindfulness in education and the emergence of some critical perspectives on this field, this paper articulates three roles of mindfulness practice in education: Mindfulness in, as and of education. The three are developed based on an examination of the practice as it is shaped by two different socio-historical narratives, which in turn manifest in different modalities of implementation and aims in the contemporary educational field. While much of the field is governed by 'mindfulness in education' within economic-therapeutic interventions, equal attention is given to 'mindfulness as education' as reflected in a whole school approach and to 'mindfulness of education' in which the practice radicalises the ethos of critical pedagogy. Describing these three roles, the paper introduces readers to the practice itself, offers a framework for understanding its associations with a variety of educational aims, and critically discusses these associations as well as the diverse pedagogical possibilities that this practice brings to contemporary and future education.
Since the turn of the millennium there has been a clear rise in the implementation and research o... more Since the turn of the millennium there has been a clear rise in the implementation and research of mindfulness across primary, secondary and postsecondary education. These implementations, however, hardly constitute a uniform phenomenon. They reflect a variety of framings, modalities and educational aims, as documented in hundreds of peer-reviewed papers. To date no overarching review has provided an empirically-based mapping of this multifaceted and rapidly developing discourse. This paper offers a first-of-its-kind map of mindfulness in education based on the 447 peer-reviewed papers published between 2002 and 2017 that constitute this academic discourse, applying grounded theory methodology. The research reveals an exponential rise in the amount of publications over years, with a complex discourse that evolves from seven different framings of the practice, applied to nine different educational domains and through various types of implementation. It maps this complexity and outlines two main patterns that reflects this discourse to date: a) Mindfulness in education, which comprises mostly of outsourced, secularized interventions aimed at improved mental-physical health, social-emotional learning and cognitive functions. b) Mindfulness as education, which is a more transformative strand characterized by contemplative pedagogy in higher education and sporadic whole-school implementations. Overall, in the studied period mindfulness has been moving from near-anonymity toward the mainstream; however, this discourse reflects a nascent phase given that it is only beginning to critique itself. Furthermore, its two patterns reflect a split discourse that is challenged by the practice's psychological-secular framing and its Buddhist framing.
There is evidence of the growth in implementations and research of mindfulness practice in educat... more There is evidence of the growth in implementations and research of mindfulness practice in education, and of the practice's effects on various aspects of students' and teachers' lives. This conceptual paper, however, argues that the acceptance and understanding of mindfulness practice within education, does not depend only on evidence of its effectiveness. It also requires a broader conceptualization of the associations between mindfulness practice and education. The paper hence calls for forging a dialogical encounter between "education" and "mindfulness" parallel to the ongoing dialogue between Buddhism and science. It then develops one such dialogical encounter discussing education and mindfulness as two distinct traditions of practice that have a history of interpretations associated with their respective aims, conceptualizations, critiques and ways of practice. Based on a common typology of educational aims the paper explores how mindfulness practice features within three possible educational orientations: socialization, acculturation, and individuation. Though each orientation sets a different priority for education, assuming serious implementation, mindfulness practice can contribute to each. However, within each orientation the practice would be framed and implemented differently as the paper demonstrates by reviewing contemporary implementations. The paper thus provides a broader perspective on mindfulness and education and offers a historical context for debates concerning the implementation, justification and/or critique of mindfulness in education. From the perspective proposed, mindfulness in education is viewed as less "special" than it seems. It is a possible pedagogical practice that serves educational aims that have long been part of the tradition of education.
This paper addresses the problem of "the insufficiency of now" that stems from the entanglement o... more This paper addresses the problem of "the insufficiency of now" that stems from the entanglement of education with time. Namely, the embodied-lived present is always inferior compared to the hypothetical ideal future. Education and its promise hence carry the seed of inevitable disenchantment. This problem is examined based on two contrasting perspectives: Plato’s cave allegory and its application to contemporary schooling on the one hand and the Yogacara Buddhist "mind-moments" model on the other hand. The insufficiency of now emerges from both models in different ways; however, the latter model accentuates the mind's role in its formation. The paper then describes mindfulness practice in light of this model and suggests that it may be a necessary pedagogy for addressing a problem that is inherent in the concept of education and in the individual mind. However, the teaching of mindfulness itself has to overcome the present-future dualism that is the basis for the insufficiency of now.
In this paper we examine different ways in which "free will" emerges within mindfulness-based st... more In this paper we examine different ways in which "free will" emerges within mindfulness-based stress reduction courses. The concept of free will is non-trivial; especiall when starting to examine how it is assumed or refuted within meditational practice. As we argue, the therapeutic function of these courses has much to do with the variety of ways in which free will features in them in different ways.
This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlig... more This paper explores a countermovement that is emerging within an educational climate that highlights accountability, standardization and performativity. This countermovement has become manifest in an exponential rise in the implementation and research of contemplative practices (e.g., mindfulness, yoga) across educational settings. The paper explores the unfolding of this curricular-pedagogical phenomenon, characterizes its core elements and explains why and how it can be viewed as a 'contemplative turn in education'. Based on a conceptual review of academic publications in the field, the paper demonstrates a progression from a pre-contemplative era to the current contemplative turn. As part of the review three curricular domains within this turn are described: mindfulness-based interventions, contemplative pedagogies and contemplative inquiry. Each domain offers a different perspective on the contemplative turn and contributes to epistemological changes in curricular-pedagogical practice. The paper also presents a critical discourse that challenges the contemplative turn's ethics, implementations and curricular orientations. The latter discourse has been developing alongside and as part of this turn.
A growing number of publications have been exploring the possible effects of mindfulness-based in... more A growing number of publications have been exploring the possible effects of mindfulness-based interventions on teachers' well-being and their professional lives. Notwithstanding promising results in this domain, this paper identifies some difficulties involved in introducing teachers to mindfulness and proposes that there may be a need to develop alternative routes by which to expose more teachers to experiences of mindfulness. We report on a mixed methods study of a 5-week teacher learning program implemented in an Israeli middle school with 30 teachers, 28 of which were females, with an age range of 29-55. The program was designed to invite teachers into initial experiences with mindfulness without formally engaging in mindfulness practice but rather based on studying education-relevant brain theory through a contemplative pedagogical approach. Outcomes were analyzed quantitatively by comparing collaborative concept maps created by the participants before and after undergoing in the program, and qualitatively by analyzing themes extracted from the participants’ discourse. Findings show that the program: (a) mobilized teachers from fixed to growth mindsets in regards to their role as educators as reflected in a significant increase in teachers’ beliefs that basic brain abilities are malleable (as extracted from the concept maps, p=0.004), (b) offered them initial experiences of mindfulness, and (c) possibly opened them to consider more direct approaches to mindfulness practice that are offered in mindfulness-based interventions.
Press the link above to read the paper (or try this http://rdcu.be/EoK2)
One of the most funda... more Press the link above to read the paper (or try this http://rdcu.be/EoK2)
One of the most fundamental concepts within Martin Buber’s philosophy concerns two modes of being: I–it, which reflects an egocentric instrumental existence, and I–thou, which reflects dialogical encounter and interrelatedness. At the face of it, technology seems to be the ultimate example of that which engenders and I–it consciousness. Indeed, a recurrent concern in contemporary times suggests that the increase in our technology use is slowly but surely depriving us of meaningful encounters with the other. In this paper we propose that technology can in fact be applied as an antidote to this predicament. To make this point we describe the teaching of mindfulness practice in higher education. We focus particularly on the use of cell phones to cultivate mindful attention as a precondition and characteristic of I–thou relationships. These cell phones, which have somewhat become extensions of our bodies, remind us to become present and hence more likely to acknowledge interrelatedness. Brief excerpts from student projects in these courses will be applied to demonstrate these transitions.
Against the pressures of standardization, some argue for the need to expand teachers' awareness o... more Against the pressures of standardization, some argue for the need to expand teachers' awareness of their ‘teaching self’ because teachers ‘teach who they are’. This paper acknowledges the importance of this orientation; however, it is suggested that its implementation requires overcoming social reproduction. Teachers may have to liberate themselves from the image of ‘education’ into which they were initiated as they themselves grew up in a system in which ‘self’ has mostly become a null curriculum. In order to reclaim ‘self’ in teaching and ‘education’ there may be a need for radical curricular-pedagogical approaches that address this problem directly. The paper describes and demonstrates the implementation of such approach in a teacher education course in which mindfulness was proposed as a way for investigating ‘self’ as an explicit curriculum. Based on interpreting students’ final projects, the paper depicts difficulties and insights evoked by this curricular-pedagogical approach and the course's possible contributions to the 'teaching self'.
Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a surge of interest in diverse forms of spontane... more Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a surge of interest in diverse forms of spontaneous thinking, such as mind-wandering, and their associated brain networks. Studies demonstrate the pervasiveness of these phenomena as well as their effects on education-relevant domains such as academic skills, well-being, creativity, executive functions, and socio-emotional competencies. Based on a neurophenomenological approach and drawing on cognitive and neuroscience research, the paper reviews this field and develops a framework for understanding deliberate and non-deliberate states of students' minds in the classroom and their associated brain circuitry. Different approaches to these states are examined from an educational perspective and ways in which this discourse can further be developed are suggested.
Higher education institutions have been accused of losing their moral orientation and failing to ... more Higher education institutions have been accused of losing their moral orientation and failing to provide students with a meaningful educative experience. This paper exposes the roots of this problem within contradictions between two historical commitments of higher education: "serving science" and "know thyself". The paper then develops a conceptual model of teaching practice as such. The model demonstrates the predominance of "serving science", which leads to the compromising of ethics and meaning. The model is then developed to show how "self" can be explicitly reclaimed by integrating the two epistemologies-ethics in teaching practice. Contemporary pedagogical examples are presented to demonstrate this approach. We are cheating our students out of the opportunity to inquire deeply into their own meaning and find themselves in the center of their learning, thus providing them with a clear sense of the meaning of their studies. (Barbezat & Bush, 2014, p. xv).
Curriculum discourse focuses understandably, on the formal and enacted curriculum; however, studi... more Curriculum discourse focuses understandably, on the formal and enacted curriculum; however, studies demonstrate that much of individuals' waking hours are spent in task-unrelated thinking and mind-wandering. No less, this pervasive phenomenon has been shown to affect us in many ways that can be linked to education. This paper examines this null-hidden inner curriculum that is enacted within students' minds when they are not attentive to the formal/enacted curriculum. Drawing on a review of research in cognitive science, the paper develops a theory of 'the mind as a curriculum deliberator' and explains how the mind can be seen as 'schooling itself'. Different states of mind such as mind-wandering, rumination and mindfulness, are discussed in terms of their educational effects and a systematic framework that renders them in curricular terms is suggested. Based on this analysis, the paper aims to mobilize this inner curriculum from opaqueness and absence, to a more explicit presence in curricular discourse, in an attempt to broaden our understanding of how the mind can both enhance and hinder, education.
This paper, publishend in the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, describes why the way we think an... more This paper, publishend in the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, describes why the way we think and practice 'attention' in educational institutions works against the responsibility we hope to cultivate in students. Attention can be passive or active. Passive attention means no effort to attend is required. Active attention implies the student's/subject's wiilful returning of attention to an object of choice. The paper argues that our pedagogical approach appropriates attention and entrusts it in the hands of 'society' and the teachers based on passive attention (i.e. ensuring that the lesson is interesting enough so that students will not be required to reapply themselves to the learning through actvie attention). It is also guided by the false assumption that active attention can not be developed. Yet, attention is the foundation of life and education as well. Through our approach we deprive students from the last resort of agency over their lives. Mindfulness and other contemplative practices are explored as possible ways to ballance our curriculum with the cultivation of active attention.
Educational theory and practice have been focusing on educating students in ‘‘how to think’’ base... more Educational theory and practice have been focusing on educating students in ‘‘how to think’’ based on the premise that we can (be taught to) control our thinking. However, contemporary neuroscience and psychological research reveal that much of our waking hours are spent in a state of ‘‘mind wandering’’ characterized by uncontrolled thoughts that have little to do with our concrete present engagements. Research shows that mind wandering has mostly negative effects on our well-being and performance. This article explores the educational implications of this curricular blind spot for the phenomenon of mind wandering implies that a student’s mind internally produces content that presumably overrides the curriculum offered in the classroom. Based on Dewey’s philosophy of education and cognitive theory, mind wandering is depicted here as a two-layered habit (a root level of process and its derivative thought content) that may entrench us in our past and possibly create internal resistance to educational change. Nested within a contemporary discourse of mindfulness practice, this article explores pedagogical mechanisms of mindfulness as ways of addressing some of the negative effects of this tendency of the mind to lure us away from the present.
In this paper Chris Martin of University of British Columbia and I explain how mindfulness practi... more In this paper Chris Martin of University of British Columbia and I explain how mindfulness practice can be integrated into physical education lessons. Doing so will create a substantially more robust justification of physical education based on a clear articulation of the pedagogical power of embodiment.
While contemplative practices have emerged from wisdom-traditions, the rhetoric surrounding their... more While contemplative practices have emerged from wisdom-traditions, the rhetoric surrounding their justification in contemporary public educational settings has been substantially undergirded by the scientific evidence-based approach. This article finds the practice and construct of ‘attention’ to be the bridge between this peculiar encounter of science and wisdom traditions, and a vantage point from which we can re-examine the scope and practice of ‘education’. The article develops an educational typology based on ‘attention’ as a curricular deliberation point. Every pedagogical act rides over a meta-pedagogical injunction of where to attend to find that which society deems worthwhile. The deep curricular teachings thus begin in the question where knowledge of most worth exists (in here or out there) and precede content. It is at this hidden level in which our spatial-temporal disposition towards life-meaning can be shaped. Following this typology, the article will suggest that beyond what may be critiqued as instrumental mindfulness-based curricular ‘interventions’ that cater to an economic educational narrative, lurks the trajectory of a contemplative educational turn that may be outwitting over-instrumentalisation through wisdom-traditions.
This brief summarizes chapter 4 of the International Scientific and Evidence-Based Assessment (IS... more This brief summarizes chapter 4 of the International Scientific and Evidence-Based Assessment (ISEEA) - a large project undertaken by MGIEP - UNESCO's tier one research institute. The brief offers a glimpse at working group 1 of this endeavor which worked on conceptualizing and grounding education in and for flourishing.
In this chapter we contribute to the conceptualization of self by engaging in a self-study of tea... more In this chapter we contribute to the conceptualization of self by engaging in a self-study of teacher education practices in which we distilled our perspectives on incorporating mindfulness in teacher education. Mindfulness is currently incorporated in teacher learning and education mostly toward stress-reduction and well-being, yet its ancestries stress its role as a path toward self-knowledge. Working in teacher education departments set in Israel on the one hand, and Canada on the other, we describe the place of the practice in our personal lives and articulate how we view its contribution to teacher education. Specifically, we focus on how 'self' features in our endeavors, by examining 'who it is' in the teacher that we seek to evoke/invoke by the application of mindfulness? We engaged in dialogue and reflective writing, in which each of us served as the other's critical friend in an attempt to clarify our different views. Oren emerges with a view of mindfulness as invoking 'self as moment-to-moment experience' and the 'teleological self', both crucial for teachers. They mobilize us away from socio-political identities toward human-to-human relationships and re-ground teachers in the values they view as core to their call to teach. Conversely, Karen stresses the practice as a primer for situating the self in the socio-political. It enables deeper engagement in critical pedagogy, invoking teachers' 'fluid self' situated in open-mindedness. Here mindfulness becomes a practice of social-justice that allows us to acknowledge marginalized voices. Highlighting these different approaches we contribute to the understanding of the role of mindfulness in teacher education. In particular, we extend the practice's main positioning within teacher well-being to its role within the discourse of teacher identity.
This chapter from the co-edited book "Exploring self toward expanding teaching, teacher education... more This chapter from the co-edited book "Exploring self toward expanding teaching, teacher education and practitioner research" brings the ancient dichotomy between vita activa and vita contemplativa-a traditional separation between lay life and religious life-to the realm of different states of mind that form the experience of self in contemporary times. Instead of seeing the above dichotomy necessarily within the secular-religious spectrum, I explore it as two pulls within self and, in particular, within a teacher's life. One pull concerns the gravity of day-today that William James described as a habitual, half-awake state, very much shaped by external conditions, such as schooling systems in contemporary times. In this half-awake state, self experiences a lack of agency, and is defined by external expectations and standards. The other pull is the elevation toward what Viktor Frankl called meaning and Paul Tillich viewed as ultimate concerns. This pull need not necessarily be conceptualized as religious. It can be secular and/or grounded in agnosticism and merely reflect a sincere wish to lead an agentic, authentic and meaningful life. This pull can appear in the most prosaic situations within a teacher's life, calling her/him to resist the gravity of half-asleep functioning and survival. Self, is essentially, a site of struggle and reconciliation between these two pulls, experienced as fluctuating states of the embodied mind. The paper comprises mostly of an existential-phenomenological description of 'what it is like to be a self' in the world exemplified in the case of being a teacher in contemporary times. After describing the two pulls I will make some suggestions as to the need for teacher education that explicitly caters to the latter orientation through contemplative practices.
This is the introduction to the co-edited volume Expanding self toward expanding teaching, teache... more This is the introduction to the co-edited volume Expanding self toward expanding teaching, teacher education and practitioner research. The book offers 14 chapters on the concept of self, its relevance to teaching and teacher education from multiple perspectives. These include psychology, mindfulness practice, self-study, philosophy East-West, aesthetics and several others.
Post-critical Perspectives on Higher Education, 2020
The past decades have been characterized by several accounts of a moral crisis in higher educatio... more The past decades have been characterized by several accounts of a moral crisis in higher education. External forces, such as globalization and neoliberal trends are often highlighted as main causes for this crisis. This chapter suggests that these ought to be seen as the symptoms of the problem; not its cause. It takes a mind that is lured by and complies with externals to create a moral crisis, hence a return to this mind is necessary if we hope to retrieve the educational. This chapter reflects such movement by a reclaiming of 'know thyself' through two post-critical perspectives, which will be presented based on first-person narratives: 1) Exploring 'know thyself' from East, West, ancient and contemporary perspectives. These will reflect post-criticality as a broadening of the sources from which to consider the educational and will also ground 'know thyself' in a more universal perspective. 2) Turning the critical mind upon itself by means of the body. This will reflect post-criticality in the treatment of embodiment as a way to inform the pedagogical paths of 'know thyself'. These two movements reflect the developing field of contemplative education, which is becoming more present within contemporary higher education as an acknowledgement of embodiment in education. At the end of this chapter I will demonstrate what contemplative education is by describing a course I have been teaching that focuses on mindfulness practice as a means for students to engage in the reconstruction of 'education' through 'self'.
International handbook of philosophy of education, 2018
It is not possible to provide a comprehensive account of the educational philosophies and theorie... more It is not possible to provide a comprehensive account of the educational philosophies and theories that fall within the wide-ranging rubric of 'Eastern philosophy of education'. This disclaimer acknowledges the need to be selective, and so in what follows we have chosen to focus on certain Eastern traditions that have seemed to provide the most enduring and substantive contributions to educational thinking. This inclusionary/exclusionary task should not be understood as disavowing other potentially important contributions and traditions (e.g. Shintoism, Sikhism, Jainism, Baha'i) nor that the categories 'Eastern' and 'tradition' can be offered without significant reservation. Furthermore, the reader would be faced with a bewildering array of ideas without a conceptual frame with which to interpret less familiar contexts. We employ Plato's allegory of the cave as the methodological and pedagogical vehicle to frame and to drive the discussion that follows because it allows us to explore certain key ontological,epistemological and ethical features within our selected Eastern pedagogies, providing the balance between meaningful encounter and coherent interpretation. If philosophy is concerned with what it means to be human, then philosophers of education are sometimes said to take up the question of what it means to become human: humanization. Our traditions define humanization through a set of practices and/or understandings. Thus, we will focus our attention both on the goal and the practices and processes by which the goal might be achieved. Our chapter includes three parts: the first part will briefly introduce key elements of Plato’s allegory of the cave. Part two will include four sections that examine Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism and Confucianism in turn. It is important to note however, that each of these traditions is more of a tree with several branches, reflecting diverse schools of thought. This general difficulty becomes severe when discussing Buddhism and Hinduism (the former more appropriately conceived as Buddhisms and the latter a broad term that includes several belief systems), requiring us to select specific teachings/aspects within each tradition. Part three will offer some brief statements that may be surmised from our analysis, pointing to shared features of an ‘Eastern philosophy of education’.
The whole book is available at: https://punctumbooks.com/titles/manifesto-for-a-post-critical-ped... more The whole book is available at: https://punctumbooks.com/titles/manifesto-for-a-post-critical-pedagogy/ The Manifesto for a Post-Critical Pedagogy was written in September 2016 and first presented at Liverpool Hope University on 17th October 2016. At that launch event, we heard a keynote response from Tyson Lewis and further invited responses from Geert Thyssen and Olga Ververi. From the outset, having made the Manifesto available online in open access, we were encouraged by the enthusiastic response and the genuine interest shown by colleagues internationally. We therefore chose to invite further responses, to broaden the conversation, but did so specifically from early- to mid-career scholars. Hence, we also include here responses from Oren Ergas, Norm Friesen, and Stefan Ramaekers. We provide no commentary here on the Manifesto itself, or the responses that follow it in this book, other than to say that, as a manifesto it is intended to be short and to contain no references. The responses are more academic in style but still adopt a more conversational tone than a regular text, and they vary in length. The conversation form is taken up more fully in the final chapter in which we seek to address some of the questions they raise in ways that, we hope, provide further provocation and keep the conversation open.
This chapter opens a special issue of the journal of philosophy of education that was published a... more This chapter opens a special issue of the journal of philosophy of education that was published as a book in 2016. It describes the emerging contemplative turn, which is explored in this volume based on diverse perspectives including: comparative philosophy, curriculum theory, and phenomenology. The scholars who participated in this project shed light on mindfulness and other contemplative practices as they are integrated in contemporary education affected by science and Western and East-Asian philosophies.
This chapter presents the contours of a " spiritual research paradigm " as a project that dissolv... more This chapter presents the contours of a " spiritual research paradigm " as a project that dissolves boundaries between knowing and being, education and science, science/academia and life. In light of Thomas Kuhn and Neil Postman I analyze how scientific paradigms are socially constructed " god's " into which we are educated. They live in our minds and shape our actions in the world. High and above these paradigms hovers the " Kantian Paradigm " that has confined us socially and individually to an understanding of " knowledge " as bound by reason and senses, and limited to phenomena. A " spiritual research paradigm " challenges such fundamentals and poses that spirit is. The chapter discusses what this implies in terms of " knowledge " and research methodology. Contemplative inquiry is discussed as a primary method in a spiritual research paradigm. It is located as pushing the envelope of qualitative research methods by moving beyond a mind that is confined to reason and senses to witness consciousness such as cultivated by contemplative practices. Examples of the current contemplative turn in science are provided-to show that Academia is moving in these directions. Still, it is proposed that a spiritual research paradigm ought to remain a non-paradigm that resists becoming " normal science ". Bio: Oren Ergas lectures at the Hebrew University's school of education and in teaching education colleges in Israel. His research focuses on curricular and pedagogical aspects of contemplative education. His work is published in diverse educational peer-reviewed journals and books including, The Journal
Wisdom traditions and evidence based science constitute two justificatory strands for the incorpo... more Wisdom traditions and evidence based science constitute two justificatory strands for the incorporation of contemplative practice in the curriculum. Each of these strands is developing its own rhetorics in order to make a case for its agenda. In this chapter I analyze a number of examples representative of each strand, and show how contemplative practices constitute a post-secular discursive locus within curriculum theory.
Why meditate? Toward a possible life-pedagogy. , 2013
This chapter attempts to explain why sitting still and "doing nothing" might be a good idea despi... more This chapter attempts to explain why sitting still and "doing nothing" might be a good idea despite the fact that this seems to be quite alien to a laypersons idea of life. This is explained based on some of the Buddhist teachings underlying meditational practice with an attempt to draw clear connections between education and meditation.
This chapter explores how standing meditation can become a way of cultivating integrity. It speak... more This chapter explores how standing meditation can become a way of cultivating integrity. It speaks to the moral crisis of higher education, and ends with a description of a higher-education course in which standing meditation is practices, studied and explored as a pedagogy.
במאמר זה אנחנו מפרטים כיצד מיינדפולנס תומך בלמידה חברתית רגשית ואת תוכנית בית ספר סגול - תוכנית ת... more במאמר זה אנחנו מפרטים כיצד מיינדפולנס תומך בלמידה חברתית רגשית ואת תוכנית בית ספר סגול - תוכנית תלת-שנתית בגישת "בית הספר השלם" שמטרתה שינוי אקלימי, קוריקולארי ופדגוגי המייצרים תרבות בית ספר בריאה ומשרתים צמיחה של מורים ותלמידים. כל זאת, בהתבסס על מדע עכשווי בתחומי חקר המוח, הפסיכולוגיה החברתית, תרבות ארגונית ופילוסופיה של החינוך המעוגנת בהם ומספקת חזון ערכי.
מאמר זה מציג את פעולת המוח על בסיס מודל שפיתח חוקר המוח ריצ'ארד דייוידסון בהקשרים של למידה יומיומ... more מאמר זה מציג את פעולת המוח על בסיס מודל שפיתח חוקר המוח ריצ'ארד דייוידסון בהקשרים של למידה יומיומית בכיתה. המאמר פותח צוהר להבנה של תהליכים שמתחוללים במוחו של תלמיד ו/או מורה מרגע לרגע בכיתה. תהליכים אלו הם תמיד שילוב של תחושות גופניות, רגשות, נורמות חברתיות המתווכים על ידי מוח חברתי-רגשי. הצגת המודל מוביל לדיון בתוכנית לימודים המשלבת תרגולים כמו מיינדפולנס שניגשים באופן ישיר לטיפוח תשתיות מוחיות-תודעתיות רגשיות-חברתיות שהן בסיס לכל למידה ולכל פעולה אחרת בחיים.
מאמר זה מציע מודל שעל פיו חינוך צריך לשרת צרכים הישרדותיים מן העבר האחד, אבל גם כמיהה למשמעות מן ... more מאמר זה מציע מודל שעל פיו חינוך צריך לשרת צרכים הישרדותיים מן העבר האחד, אבל גם כמיהה למשמעות מן העבר השני. לצורך כך חינוך צריך להכיל "איים של חיפוש משמעות". פדגוגיה מתבוננת היא דרך אחת לעשות זאת.
מאמר זה מהווה מבוא לתחום החינוך הקונטמפלטיבי כפי שהוא מתפתח בארץ ובעולם. בכלל זה תיאור של עקרונות... more מאמר זה מהווה מבוא לתחום החינוך הקונטמפלטיבי כפי שהוא מתפתח בארץ ובעולם. בכלל זה תיאור של עקרונותיו הפדגוגיים המכוננים, המחשתם באמצעות דוגמאות מן הארץ ומן העולם, ודיון באופנים בהם הוא שיח זה מתכתב עם שיח החינוך הציבורי בן-זמננו.
מאמר זה עוסק מציע פרוש רחב למושג 'קונטמפלציה' כרעיון שנטוע בהיסטוריה ובתרבות האנושית ומעמיד פרשנו... more מאמר זה עוסק מציע פרוש רחב למושג 'קונטמפלציה' כרעיון שנטוע בהיסטוריה ובתרבות האנושית ומעמיד פרשנות רחבה זו כתשתית להבנת פדגוגיות התבוננות המופיעות כיום בחינוך.
במאמר זה אני בונה את רעיון החינוך מתוך המושגים תשומת לב, זמן ומרחב. לאור בניה זו אני מבקר את התפי... more במאמר זה אני בונה את רעיון החינוך מתוך המושגים תשומת לב, זמן ומרחב. לאור בניה זו אני מבקר את התפיסה ההגמונית שלפיה מושג ה'חינוך' והמעשה הנגזר ממנו קובעים כי יש להפנות את תשומת הלב החוצה ול'מרחב פנים האדם' אין הרבה מה להציע. כנגד זאת אני מתאר את החינוך הקונטמפלטיבי ככיוון חינוכי נוסף, שמעגן את האדם לא רק במטרות עתידיות, אלא גם ברגע בו הוא חי ונושם.
במאמר קצר זה נאוה לויט בן-נון ואני סוקרים את התחום של מיינדפולנס בחינוך ומתוכו אנחנו מציגים הבטים... more במאמר קצר זה נאוה לויט בן-נון ואני סוקרים את התחום של מיינדפולנס בחינוך ומתוכו אנחנו מציגים הבטים הקושרים בין הפלסטיות של המוח לבין חינוך.
בפרק זה בספר שערכו ישעיהו תדמור ועמיר פריימן "חינוך-שאלות האדם", אני כותב בקצרה על מסע ההתחנכות ש... more בפרק זה בספר שערכו ישעיהו תדמור ועמיר פריימן "חינוך-שאלות האדם", אני כותב בקצרה על מסע ההתחנכות שלי שהוביל אותי מילדות לבגרות, מקריירה מוזיקאלית, לקריירה אקדמאית בחינוך, מהילד, לנגן אל האדם שלפני הצלילים. כל זאת אני מתאר דרך האופנים בהם המחנך במסע זה היה הגוף ומכאוביו, שאט אט הובילו את התודעה הבורחת להכרה במקום מגוריה כאן ועכשיו. המסע עודו נמשך.
Following Parker Palmer's statement "we teach who we are", this paper proposes that teacher educa... more Following Parker Palmer's statement "we teach who we are", this paper proposes that teacher education is primarily about getting to know the self that teaches. I describe a process of reflective questions I apply towards bringing forth teacher's familiarity with the "self" that they teach. I then describe a mindful standing practice with which I open courses at the university in teacher education programs.
מצגת זו מלווה את הרצאה ביוטיוב https://youtu.be/BAkW4bAmWy8 שהיא חלק מקורסים על מיינדפולנס בחינוך... more מצגת זו מלווה את הרצאה ביוטיוב https://youtu.be/BAkW4bAmWy8 שהיא חלק מקורסים על מיינדפולנס בחינוך. היא עוסקת בהבטים ביולוגיים ופסיכולוגיים של סטרס ובאופן בו מיינדפולנס יכול להפחית סטרס.
מצגת זו הוצגה בהרצאה ביום למידה מקוון על למידה חברתית-רגשית במכון מופ"ת. הקלטת ההרצאה נמצאת כאן
... more מצגת זו הוצגה בהרצאה ביום למידה מקוון על למידה חברתית-רגשית במכון מופ"ת. הקלטת ההרצאה נמצאת כאן https://youtu.be/7smR_SVHYzI
מצגת זו ליוותה הרצאה שניתנה במסגרת שבוע אקדמיה-קהילה שאורגן על ידי מכון מופ"ת באפריל 2020 (תקופת... more מצגת זו ליוותה הרצאה שניתנה במסגרת שבוע אקדמיה-קהילה שאורגן על ידי מכון מופ"ת באפריל 2020 (תקופת הקורונה).
This is a slide presentation on conteamplative pedagogies in higher education that was given to f... more This is a slide presentation on conteamplative pedagogies in higher education that was given to faculty at Maynooth University (Ireland). It offers some theoretical background from the literature in this field, as well as a curricular-pedagogical model for developing these pedagogies. These ideas are developed at length in my book "Reconstructing 'education' through mindful attention".
These are some slides from a presentation for Teacher Education students at Maynooth University (... more These are some slides from a presentation for Teacher Education students at Maynooth University (Ireland) on contemplative education. This includes some definitions of contemplative practices and on the developing discourse in this field.
מצגת זו נותנת מבט כללי על שיח החינוך הקונטמפלטיבי כפי שהוא צומח כיום ממסורות החכמה מחד ומן המחקר ... more מצגת זו נותנת מבט כללי על שיח החינוך הקונטמפלטיבי כפי שהוא צומח כיום ממסורות החכמה מחד ומן המחקר המדעי מאידך. שיח זה מייצר מנעד מטרות חינוכיות שתחילתו בפרגמאטי והיומיומי וסופו בתכליות עליונות כמו משמעות, חיים מוסריים, חמלה ועוד. מהלך זה לטענתי הוא ראשית כל מהלך פדגוגי של הפניית תשומת הלב פנימה כפי שאני מרחיב במאמר שיצא בקרוב ב Journal of Philosophy of Education ובמאמר אחר שיתפרסם ב"דפים".
כתבה זו שהתפרסמה בישראל היום מתעדת חלק ממה שקורה היום בארץ בתחום המדיטציה והחינוך. בין היתר יש כא... more כתבה זו שהתפרסמה בישראל היום מתעדת חלק ממה שקורה היום בארץ בתחום המדיטציה והחינוך. בין היתר יש כאן אזכורים של הקורסים בבית ברל ובאוניברסיטה העברית וסיפור של סטודנט שהלך עם התרגול רחוק.
David Lewin’s Educational Philosophy for a Post-Secular Age is a book that fulfills the promise t... more David Lewin’s Educational Philosophy for a Post-Secular Age is a book that fulfills the promise that is conveyed in its title. In a post 9/11 world, stricken by religious fundamentalism, there is a temptation to think education in purely ‘secular’ terms, and associate it with critical reason as sanity, almost continuing the project of modernism within a (post) postmodern world. Such temptation reflects what some have referred to as ‘the narrative of secularization;’ namely, the thesis that despite fundamentalism, religion is in decline, and perhaps it is a phase from which we are emerging or even ‘advancing.’ Lewin’s book poses a stark challenge to the various assumptions involved in such temptations and ideas, or following his path, ought I say – such sentiments.
Karlheinz Valtl and Dominik Weghaupt of the University of Vienna interview Oren Ergas on various ... more Karlheinz Valtl and Dominik Weghaupt of the University of Vienna interview Oren Ergas on various aspects developed in his book and their application to education.
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The chapters in this edited volume move beyond simplistic explanations of “East” and “West” to explore the complexity and diversity of various wisdom traditions. The book includes:
• Explorations of mindfulness in contemporary education as it intersects with science and wisdom traditions.
• Investigations of Buddhist, Taoist, and Vedantic traditions as they shed light on contemporary educational theory and practice.
• Interpretations of contemplative education in light of philosophers such as Heidegger, Levinas and Foucault.
Papers by Oren Ergas
One of the most fundamental concepts within Martin Buber’s philosophy concerns two modes of being: I–it, which reflects an egocentric instrumental existence, and I–thou, which reflects dialogical encounter and interrelatedness. At the face of it, technology seems to be the ultimate example of that which engenders and I–it consciousness. Indeed, a recurrent concern in contemporary times suggests that the increase in our technology use is slowly but surely depriving us of meaningful encounters with the other. In this paper we propose that technology can in fact be applied as an antidote to this predicament. To make this point we describe the teaching of mindfulness practice in higher education. We focus particularly on the use of cell phones to cultivate mindful attention as a precondition and characteristic of I–thou relationships. These cell phones, which have somewhat become extensions of our bodies, remind us to become present and hence more likely to acknowledge interrelatedness. Brief excerpts from student projects in these courses will be applied to demonstrate these transitions.
The chapters in this edited volume move beyond simplistic explanations of “East” and “West” to explore the complexity and diversity of various wisdom traditions. The book includes:
• Explorations of mindfulness in contemporary education as it intersects with science and wisdom traditions.
• Investigations of Buddhist, Taoist, and Vedantic traditions as they shed light on contemporary educational theory and practice.
• Interpretations of contemplative education in light of philosophers such as Heidegger, Levinas and Foucault.
One of the most fundamental concepts within Martin Buber’s philosophy concerns two modes of being: I–it, which reflects an egocentric instrumental existence, and I–thou, which reflects dialogical encounter and interrelatedness. At the face of it, technology seems to be the ultimate example of that which engenders and I–it consciousness. Indeed, a recurrent concern in contemporary times suggests that the increase in our technology use is slowly but surely depriving us of meaningful encounters with the other. In this paper we propose that technology can in fact be applied as an antidote to this predicament. To make this point we describe the teaching of mindfulness practice in higher education. We focus particularly on the use of cell phones to cultivate mindful attention as a precondition and characteristic of I–thou relationships. These cell phones, which have somewhat become extensions of our bodies, remind us to become present and hence more likely to acknowledge interrelatedness. Brief excerpts from student projects in these courses will be applied to demonstrate these transitions.
The Manifesto for a Post-Critical Pedagogy was written in September 2016 and first presented at Liverpool Hope University on 17th October 2016. At that launch event, we heard a keynote response from Tyson Lewis and further invited responses from Geert Thyssen and Olga Ververi. From the outset, having made the Manifesto available online in open access, we were encouraged by the enthusiastic response and the genuine interest shown by colleagues internationally. We therefore chose to invite further responses, to broaden the conversation, but did so specifically from early- to mid-career scholars. Hence, we also include here responses from Oren Ergas, Norm Friesen, and Stefan Ramaekers.
We provide no commentary here on the Manifesto itself, or the responses that follow it in this book, other than to say that, as a manifesto it is intended to be short and to contain no references. The responses are more academic in style but still adopt a more conversational tone than a regular text, and they vary in length. The conversation form is taken up more fully in the final chapter in which we seek to address some of the questions they raise in ways that, we hope, provide further provocation and keep the conversation open.
https://youtu.be/7smR_SVHYzI