Creating Space in the Classroom: Mindfulness and Contemplative Pedagogy

Prepared August 2017 by Adam Smith

I. Context

Mindfulness has become a cultural buzzword in the last decade. It has appeared in popular media and is
increasingly prevalent in the research literature, and it has been correlated with a number of a positive psychological
and physiological effects (see Relevant Literature). Yet, what exactly is mindfulness? Mindfulness has been defined
by researcher and author Jon Kabat-Zinn as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment,
and non-judgmentally” (1994, p. 4). Mindfulness is cultivated through practices such as meditation, though the terms
are sometimes used interchangeably.
Meditation is one of many contemplative practices that aim to cultivate awareness. Yet, contemplative practice
doesn’t need to be formal or traditional. Educator Rick Repetti defines contemplative practice as “metacognitive
exercises in which attention is focused on any element of conscious experience” (2010, p. 87). Building on the idea of
contemplative practice, Repetti defines contemplative pedagogy as a “philosophy of education that espouses the
academic use of contemplative practices” (2010, p. 87). Here, Repetti places contemplative pedagogy next to a handful
of other reflective philosophies of education. In his view:
… it may be useful to see it as an inclusive outgrowth of earlier philosophies valuing process over content, depth over
coverage, philosophies such as social-emotional learning, writing across the curriculum, and critical thinking. These
pedagogies share a fundamental valuing of what is already in the student… (2010, p. 87).

With this statement, we can see contemplative pedagogy as an approach that utilizes meditative reflection as a
technique that can complement any of our standard classroom practices: reading, writing, reasoning, observing. No
matter what pedagogies you utilize, contemplative practices are a way to bring the learner into the learning process.
Elsewhere, Arthur Zajonc asserts that the “…theory of education that underlies contemplative pedagogy is
one that presumes that the capacities of sustained attention, emotional balance, insight, and compassion are able to
be developed through practice” (2013, pp. 88 – 89). Taking this further, any argument for including contemplative
pedagogy in your classroom needs to make the case that these capacities are worthwhile both in themselves and in
relation to how students learn. Luckily, there is a growing body of research to suggest meditation and other
mindfulness practices can enhance any of these qualities, and, further, there is evidence that these practices can
produce improvements in academic performance.

II. Relevant Literature

In recent years, a growing body of research has suggested that meditation may provide unique physiological
and psychological benefits. Beginning with curiosity as to how meditation is different from rest/relaxation (Dillbeck
& Orme-Johnson, 1987) and how the brains of lifelong meditators may differ from non-meditators (Gelderloos,
Hermans, Ahlscröm, & Jacoby, 1990), current research is increasingly reporting positive effects from even small doses
of meditation. Zeidan and colleagues (2010) found that even short-term practice can result in positive changes in our
working memory. Over time, meditation practice can result in a reduced effort to maintain attention (Zanesco et al.,
2013). Meditation can have positive effects on our working memories, mediated by decreased mind wandering
(Mrazek et al., 2013). These attentional benefits may even help to explain how meditation helps alleviate dysphoric
moods: by interrupting rumination, meditation functions as a healthy distraction (Broderick, 2005). Yet, the potential
benefits of meditation extend beyond attention. See Table 1 for a Summary of Relevant Findings.

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 Table 1. Summary of Relevant Research
What evidence is there that meditation can benefit teaching and learning?
Attention In addition to the findings listed above, meditation can improve performance on attentional tasks (Moore
& Malinowski, 2009), suggesting it boosts focus even in the face of distractions.
Emotional Regulation Meditators in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program showed quicker return to baseline levels of
mental activity after undergoing emotional stress (Desbordes et al., 2015).
Insight/Creativity Open monitoring (OM) meditation resulted in a higher number of original ideas and categories on a test
of creative thinking (Colzato, Szapora, & Hommel, 2012).
Compassion Loving-kindness meditation (intentionally cultivating positive emotions towards self and others) can
result in a higher incidence of prosocial behaviors as well as high levels of what scientists call cognitive
empathy, reacting strongly to negative emotions in others (Winning & Boag, 2015).
Multi-Tasking In one study, meditators engaged in a multitasking environment exhibited longer time on task, fewer task
switches, and less negative emotion as compared to a control group that took part in relaxation training
(Levy, Wobbrock, Kaszniak, & Ostergren, 2012).

In addition to research focusing on the potential benefits of meditation, there exists a growing body of
scholarship addressing the potentials of contemplative pedagogy in the classroom. Universities are also beginning to
develop programming and even degree programs that focus on contemplative studies, practices, and pedagogy (see
Online Resources). This “… quiet revolution in higher education” (Zajonc, 2013) is riding a larger cultural wave of
mindfulness. Given the amount of research and popular literature that has flooded the market in recent years, it can
be difficult to sift through and find approaches that relate directly to our everyday teaching and learning contexts.
Though empirical classroom research is limited, there is a growing body of scholarship written by educators who have
experimented with contemplative approaches in their classrooms. These essays offer us multiple examples of what’s
possible, and they also confirm the basic idea that treating contemplative pedagogy as a philosophy allows us to apply
it to subjects as diverse as physics and art history (see p. 4 for examples).

III. Getting Started

In discussions about mindfulness, it is not uncommon to set the stage with a litany of reasons that modern
humans’ attention is diffuse and that we’re increasingly unable to focus for any meaningful amount of time. In one
study, researchers found that the average amount of time people spend looking at world-famous art in a world-famous
museum was underwhelming: 15 seconds (Smith & Smith, 2001). Elsewhere, researchers have found that our attention
spans may now be shorter than those of goldfish (McSpadden, 2015), thanks in no small part to our use of
smartphones. What does this have to do with contemplative pedagogy? The statistics listed above are not problematic
in themselves, but they present potential shortcomings when translated into the classroom. If most people can only
give Picasso and Matisse 15 seconds of their time in a museum, how do we get students to engage with these works
in the classroom? If people can’t go more than 10 seconds without thinking of their phones, how do we get them to
engage in deep, meaningful discussions, without constant distractions?
At their core, techniques and practices within contemplative pedagogy aim to create space. Viewed in this
way, some evidence-based classroom techniques you may be familiar with already fit under this umbrella. One of the
simplest techniques to integrate into our classrooms is wait-time. Research has found that while most teachers wait 1
- 2 seconds after asking a question, simply extending this time to 3 – 5 seconds can increase both the quantity and the
quality of questions (Rowe, 1986). There’s no reason that this time can’t be extended to 5 – 7 seconds, depending on
the cognitive demands of the question/request. Elsewhere, Stahl (1994) states that wait-time can occur in many places:
after an instructor question, after a student question, after a student answer. Additionally, this ‘pause’ can occur after
you’ve made a major point in your lecture. Though these 5 seconds can seem like an awkward silence, we can rest
assured that this small step is backed by research.

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 Extending this line of thought, meditative activities can be seen as a way for creating space for students to
prepare for class, take a mental break, or pause and process a significant activity, reading, or discussion. Meditative
exercises can be quite simple. They can last as little as a minute, or we can give them more time (in the context of a
class, maybe 5 minutes). As Repetti points out in his definition of contemplative practice, attention can be focused
on anything within our conscious awareness. This includes our breath, our physical sensations, even our thoughts.
Thus, using meditation in the classroom can be a way to get people settled at the beginning of class, or as a way to sit
still when things get heated. Many basic meditations start with the breath, something that has a natural rhythm that
we can follow. See Table 2 below for some ideas to consider when integrating meditative exercises into the
classroom. In the next section, we’ll look at ways to transform everyday classroom activities into contemplative ones.
Table 2. Considerations for Implementing Mindfulness Exercises
What things should I consider when using meditation/mindfulness in my classroom?
Try it yourself first Though you may be eager to introduce these ideas to students and see how they work in your
classroom, it can be helpful to engage in the technique you want to try a few times yourself. This
way, you can get a sense of what it’s like, and you have first-hand experience to draw from when
students inevitably have different reactions to it. Just as you might try a lecture or active learning
strategy outside of a class, we can prepare for the ‘live’ trial.
Call it what you will Whether you call it mindfulness, meditation, or focus/attention training is less important than being
clear about directions. People have called it by the name of ‘Mindful Minutes,’ ‘Focus Practice,’ and
even ‘Attention Strength Training.’ This way, you’re comfortable with what you’re offering to them.
Be clear on the directions Many protocols begin with Focused Attention (FA) meditation: choosing an object of focus like a
phrase or the breath. Some people count breaths, others don’t. You can simply repeat a phrase, like
in (with the in breath) and out (with the out breath). The important thing is that it’s a simple direction
that won’t take too much thought to maintain.

It’s normal to get off track With any practice, anyone will come to see how easily the mind goes in different directions. The
point of training our focus is to bring it back when it wanders. This act of bringing our attention
back is what strengthens it.
Allow students to opt out Though we want to be clear that meditation need not be religious or spiritual, we may still want to
consider allowing students to opt out, as long as they respect the experience of others by remaining
silent during the allotted time for meditation. They may enjoy the silence anyways!
Debrief As with any classroom activity, taking time to reflect and debrief allows students to share their
experiences. Moreover, as you’ve hopefully tried the meditation yourself first, you’ll be able to help
students make sense of their experiences.

IV. Transforming Classroom Activities into Contemplative Practices

While we can create space by having students take time to meditate, we can also create space for our students to do
many of the things that we’d like them to do anyways: read, write, listen, or even just look. Simply by expanding the
time we afford for observing, we create opportunities for our students to engage in contemplative classroom activities:

 Look – If you’ve ever taken an art history class, you may remember lectures full of slides with artists, dates, titles.
Yet, how much time were you able to spend just looking at, observing art? If a questions takes time to process,
how much time does it take to observe and process and image? Taking time to observe is an idea that needn’t be
limited to visual art. Images can function in any class, including the sciences. Though students may come across
diagrams in a book, they may be scanned as information to study for a test. Looking intentionally can change that:

o Take an image or graphic. Set a time: 15 seconds, 30 seconds, maybe 2 minutes. Just as with a meditation, tell students that the
goal is not to think about anything particular. We want to pay attention to both what we see as well as our responses to it.

 Listen – Listening can apply to a recording, reading a text out loud, or the practice of listening to other students
in class. Again, what’s important is that it’s approached intentionally (listening rather than ‘waiting to talk’):

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 o With others, we can engage in dialogue where one person talks, uninterrupted, while the other listens, and then switch. This
practice can be used to facilitate active listening, where the listener paraphrases what they heard back to their partner.

 Read – Though we may assign reading to our students, it may never occur to us that the word ‘reading’ may mean
different things to us than it does to them. For us, reading may consist of studying the text closely, writing notes
in the margins, pausing at particular salient points and letting them sink in. For us, reading may be an experience
(Read, ponder, repeat). For students, ‘read pages 55 – 65’ may mean simply getting through them. By approaching
reading contemplatively, we may be able to give students a small dose of reading as an experience:

o Isolate a key passage. Is there a particularly poignant point? A complicated argument that turns on a series of ‘moves’? Project
that on the board. Better yet, have students read the passage aloud. Give it some time. Pause. Read it again. After a few minutes
have passed, you can debrief the experience: What was it like? Were there things you noticed on repeated readings that
didn’t make sense or emerge on your initial reading?

 Write – Freewriting has been championed by educators before, especially Peter Elbow (2000), as a way of
bypassing premature editing and self-criticism in the writing process. Yet, it can also be seen as a contemplative
practice. While meditation involves simply observing our thoughts and feelings with the intent of not evaluating
them, freewriting can be seen as transcribing those thoughts/observations. This can be done in response to
something in class (or a reading/activity outside of class). It brings the learner into the learning process by putting
the focus on his/her thoughts and reactions to whatever is being observed or discussed:

o Students can engage in free writing as a warm-up or response activity. As a warm-up, have students just start writing (the only
rule being to keep the pen moving). As a response, we can tell students to write whatever comes to mind after a discussion or
activity. This writing can be kept private or shared, but either way it helps get whatever is on their minds out onto the paper!

V. Developing Contemplative Practices for Your Classroom

In developing contemplative practices for your classroom, it helps to consider your goals. Contemplative pedagogy
asks us to let go of pedagogies of content coverage and experiment with a learning process that privileges depth over
content. In a class for majors, especially one that might serve as a prerequisite for other courses taught by other
instructors, it may be wise to stick with smaller doses of contemplation, such as utilizing wait-time, pausing, etc. In a
class where efficient ‘pedagogies of information acquisition’ (Repetti, 2010) are necessary to set students up for future
coursework, contemplative practices might serve as methods for increasing depth of knowledge for essential material:
 A physics professor asks students to observe a diagram for an extended period of time. Then, he removes the image from the
overhead and asks students to draw it out from memory. He then alternates between viewing the image and reproducing it.
This careful study is not uncommon in a field like visual art, but he finds that it asks students to consider the relationships
between parts of a system. Moreover, this approach completely fits in with what research tells us about practicing recall:
students get as much, if not more, out of trying to recall new material as they do in studying it over and over again (Brown,
Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014). Cultivating this habit of observation and reflection may take 10 – 15 minutes of a class period,
but it socializes them in an effective study habit (Francl, 2016).

However, in an elective class, we may consider experimenting with contemplative practice as a foundational approach
for appreciating art, literature, music, etc. We can focus on observation skills and worry less about accumulating a
body of knowledge such as facts, dates, etc.
 For example, one art history professor focuses on fewer slides, approaching art appreciation for non-majors as a class about
the process of looking and analyzing a work of art. The skills they take from repeatedly viewing a limited number of works,
discussing their observations, and reflecting on this experience can be transferred to any works of art (Repetti, 2010). Thus, the
focus becomes just as much on how we observe as what we observe, a learning outcome they can apply to any future classes.

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 In developing a contemplative activity for your classroom, here are questions to consider:

 What is one image or graphic that you think students could observe more closely?
 What is one quote or passage you want students to consider more thoroughly?
 When/where would your students benefit from time to decompress and refocus?

VI. Conclusion

In considering applying these ideas to your classroom, you may find yourself wrestling with an age-old conflict:
how am I going to cover all of my content if I engage in this? The same question has been asked about active learning
strategies, service learning, and other pedagogies that have found their way into the classroom. There is research to
support any of these ideas, and they offer different ways of helping students engage in meaningful learning experiences
that can last beyond the semester students spend in your class. Future considerations aside, there are plenty of
potential benefits that can happen even with a few minutes spent here or there, as a growing body of research suggests.
What if we give ourselves and our students just a little more time to consider whatever we’re discussing today?
Ultimately, contemplative pedagogy involves adopting the attitude that there is something to be found in
approaching teaching and learning with a contemplative attitude, a process orientation. Nelson (2006) states this
directly: “I strive to teach not technique, but attitude” (p. 1). This shift in perspective doesn’t need to replace our
current approaches, but it can complement them: “I am advocating for a contemplative as well as a critical intellectual
education, one that seeks a comprehensive and deep understanding of self and world” (Zajonc, 2013, p. 91). The
commitment to a more contemplative attitude is applicable to most any activity in or out of the classroom, as popular
titles like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Zen and the Art of Archery would imply (in fact, the latter title makes
no explicit mention of meditation as we know it). Though contemplative pedagogy opens the door to many
applications, it can help to start simple: “All I try to do is help my students understand that there is something valuable,
something important, to be found in silence” (Nelson, 2006, p. 1).
Increasingly, it appears that faculty too could benefit from a reminder of the values of silence. In their book,
The Slow Professor, a pair of academics write a manifesto against what they call ‘the corporate university’ (Berg & Seeber,
2016). They address the issue of speed as it relates to faculty work satisfaction and health. In addition to considerations
of student learning, contemplative approaches ask us to consider our own personal philosophies of work and learning.
Viewed in this light, taking a few moments to sit and breathe is not just a matter of student performance:
We need, then, to protect a time and a place for timeless time, and to remind ourselves continually that this is not self-
indulgent but rather crucial to intellectual work. If we don’t find timeless time, there is evidence that not only our work
but also our brains will suffer (Berg & Seeber, 2016, p. 28).

Though this paper has focused on how we might integrate contemplative approaches into our classrooms, it might
be just as well to consider how contemplative approaches could benefit us personally and professionally.

Online Resources:

The Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2017, from
http://www.contemplativemind.org/programs/acmhe

Brown University. (n.d.). Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning: Contemplative Pedagogy. Retrieved August 14, 2017, from
https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/sheridan-center/teaching-learning/effective-classroom-practices/contemplative-pedagogy

Shapiro, S. L., Brown, K. W., & Astin, J. A. (2008). Toward the integration of meditation into higher education: A review of research. The
Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. Retrieved August 14, 2017, from http://www.contemplativemind.org/admin/wp-
content/uploads/2012/09/MedandHigherEd.pdf

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Citations and Related Literature:

Barbezat, D. P., & Bush, M. (2013). Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning. John Wiley & Sons.

Berg, M., & Seeber, B. (2016). Slow professor: challenging the culture of speed in the Academy. University of Toronto Press.

Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick. Harvard University Press.

Colzato, L. S., Szapora, A., & Hommel, B. (2012). Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on
convergent and divergent thinking. Frontiers in psychology, 3, 116.

Desbordes, G., Gard, T., Hoge, E. A., Hölzel, B. K., Kerr, C., Lazar, S. W., ... & Vago, D. R. (2015). Moving beyond mindfulness: defining
equanimity as an outcome measure in meditation and contemplative research. Mindfulness, 6(2), 356-372.

Dillbeck, M. C., & Orme-Johnson, D. W. (1987). Physiological differences between transcendental meditation and rest.

Ding, X., Tang, Y. Y., Tang, R., & Posner, M. I. (2014). Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation. Behavioral and Brain
Functions, 10(1), 9.

Elbow, P. (2000). Everyone Can Write: Essays toward a Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching Writing. Oxford University Press.

Francl, M. M. (2016). Practically Impractical: Contemplative Practices in Science. The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, 3(1).

Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety
disorder. Emotion, 10(1), 83.

Hart, T. (2004). Opening the contemplative mind in the classroom. Journal of transformative education, 2(1), 28-46.
Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing
mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on psychological science, 6(6), 537-559.

Kabat-Zin, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are. Hyperion Press.
Levy, D. M. (2007). No time to think: Reflections on information technology and contemplative scholarship. Ethics and information
technology, 9(4), 237-249.
Levy, D. M., Wobbrock, J. O., Kaszniak, A. W., & Ostergren, M. (2012, May). The effects of mindfulness meditation training on multitasking
in a high-stress information environment. In Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2012 (pp. 45-52). Canadian Information Processing Society.

Lutz, A., Slagter, H. A., Dunne, J. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2008). Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation. Trends in cognitive
sciences, 12(4), 163-169.

McSpadden, K. (2015). You now have a shorter attention span than a goldfish. Time Online Magazine. Retrieved May, 7, 2016.

Moore, A., & Malinowski, P. (2009). Meditation, mindfulness and cognitive flexibility. Consciousness and cognition, 18(1), 176-186.

Mrazek, M. D., Franklin, M. S., Phillips, D. T., Baird, B., & Schooler, J. W. (2013). Mindfulness training improves working memory capacity
and GRE performance while reducing mind wandering. Psychological Science, 0956797612459659.

Nelson, M. (2006). The fruit of silence. Teachers College Record, 108(9), 1733.
Repetti, R. (2010). The case for a contemplative philosophy of education. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2010(151), 5-15.
Rowe, M.B. (1986). Wait time: Slowing down may be a way of speeding up. Journal of Teacher Education, 37, 43-50.

Sarath, E. (2003). Meditation in higher education: the next wave? Innovative Higher Education, 27(4), 215-233.
Smith, J. K., & Smith, L. F. (2001). Spending time on art. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 19(2), 229-236.

Stahl, R.J. (1994). Using “think-time” and “wait-time” skillfully in the classroom. ERIC Digest. Retrieved June 18, 2012, from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED370885.pdf

Winning, A. P., & Boag, S. (2015). Does brief mindfulness training increase empathy? The role of personality. Personality and Individual
Differences, 86, 492-498.

Zajonc, A. (2013). Contemplative pedagogy: A quiet revolution in higher education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2013(134), 83-94.
Zeidan, F., Johnson, S. K., Diamond, B. J., David, Z., & Goolkasian, P. (2010). Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of
brief mental training. Consciousness and cognition, 19(2), 597-605.

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