Contemplative Pedagogy: Fostering Transformative Learning in a Critical Service Learning Course

Abstract

Background: Research demonstrating the positive outcomes of service learning among university students is robust and some describe the impact as transformative. Purpose: To help me better understand how I can support transformative learning in my classroom, this study explored how an intergenerational critical service learning project fostered change among student participants. Methodology/Approach: Data consisted of reflection journals collected over 6 years from 228 students who participated in a course-based intergenerational service learning project and researcher field notes. Using a qualitative design and narrative methodology analysis took place over a 2-year period and consisted of a 3-stage process: deep reading, identifying stories, and re-storying to generate findings. Findings/Conclusions: Three mechanisms were found to foster transformation among students—writing as inquiry, embodied learning, and mindfulness. The two-pronged contemplative approach used in this course informs the way in which students experience the critical service learning project. Together, they provide a deep and transformative learning opportunity. Implications: Insights into course design and pedagogical approaches that support transformative learning.

Keywords

contemplative pedagogy mindfulness embodied learning writing as inquiry

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anderson

(2012). Reflective journals as a tool for auto-ethnographic learning: A case study of student experiences with individualized sustainability. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 36(4), 613–623. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2012.692157

Barbezat

Bush

(2014). Contemplative practices in higher education : Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning. Jossey-Bass.

Barner

(2011). Mindfulness, openness to experience, and transformational learning. In Hoare

(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of reciprocal adult development and learning (2nd ed., pp. 347–364). Oxford University Press.

Clandinin

Connelly

(2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. Jossey-Bass.

Coffield

Moseley

Hall

Ecclestone

(2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: A systematic and critical review. Learning and Skills Research Centre. http://www.leerbeleving.nl/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/learning-styles.pdf

Coleman

(2017, April 5). Mindfulness: An innate, trainable quality of mind. Mindful: Healthy Mind, Healthy Life. https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-innate-trainable-quality-mind/

Crandall

K. J.

(2014). Bingocize™: Successful integration of intergenerational service-learning into an exercise science practicum project. Journal of Community Engagement & Higher Education, 6(2), 12–18.

Dahl

Davidson

(2019). Mindfulness and the contemplative life: Pathways to connection, insight, and purpose. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 60–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.11.007

Daly

Farahani

Hollingsbee

Ocampo

(2016). Measuring human experiences of public spaces: A methodology in the making. Conscious Cities Journal, 1, 1–12.

10.

Davidson

(2019, February 14). A neuroscientist on love and learning [Audio podcast episode]. On Being With Krista Tippett. https://onbeing.org/programs/richard-davidson-a-neuroscientist-on-love-and-learning-feb2019/

11.

Deeley

(2014). Critical perspectives on service-learning in higher education. Palgrave Macmillan.

12.

Didion

(1976, December 5). Why I write. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/05/archives/why-i-write-why-i-write.html

13.

Dirkx

(2001). Images, transformative learning and the work of soul. Adult Learning, 12(3), 15–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/104515950101200306

14.

Ergas

Hadar

(2019). Mindfulness in and as education: A map of a developing academic discourse from 2002 to 2017. Review of Education, 7(3), 757–797. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3169

15.

Erickson

(2019). Contemplative pedagogy as a framework for education about ageism. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2019.1689357

16.

Findlay

Dempsey

Warren-Forward

(2010). Developing a qualitative framework for analysis of student journals. Radiographer, 57(2), 34–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2051-3909.2010.tb00126.x

17.

Forrest

(2004). Kolb’s learning cycle. Train the trainer (12 Vols). Fenman Professional Training Resources.

18.

Fusner

Staib

(2004). Students and senior citizens learning from each other. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 30(3), 40–45. https://doi.org/10.3928/0098-9134-20040301-12

19.

Gardner

Alegre

(2019). “Just like us”: Increasing awareness, prompting action and combating ageism through a critical intergenerational service learning project. Educational Gerontology, 45(2), 146–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2019.1584976

20.

Gardner

Kerridge

(2019). Everybody present: Exploring the use of an in-class meditation intervention to promote positive mental health among university students. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 37(4), 9–21. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2018-022

21.

Haave

(2015). Developing students’ thinking by writing. National Teaching & Learning Forum, 25(1), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/ntlf.30050

22.

Jacelon

C. S.

Imperio

(2005). Participant diaries as a source of data in research with older adults. Qualitative Health Research, 15(7), 991–997. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305278603

23.

Janesick

V. J.

(1999). A journal about journal writing as a qualitative research technique: History, issues, and reflections. Qualitative Inquiry, 5(4), 505–524. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780049900500404

24.

Jordi

(2011). Reframing the concept of reflection: Consciousness, experiential learning, and reflective learning practices. Adult Education Quarterly, 61(2), 181–197. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713610380439

25.

Kiely

(2005). A transformative learning model for service-learning: A longitudinal case study. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 12(1), 5–22.

26.

King

J. T.

(2004). Service-learning as a site for critical pedagogy: A case of collaboration, caring, and defamiliarization across borders. Journal of Experiential Education, 26(3), 121–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/105382590402600304

27.

Kolb

D. A.

(1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall.

28.

Mezirow

(2000). Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. Jossey-Bass.

29.

Mezirow

Taylor

E. W.

(2009). Transformative learning in practice: Insights from community, workplace, and higher education. Jossey-Bass.

30.

Miettinen

(2000). The concept of experiential learning and John Dewey’s theory of reflective thought and action. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 19, 54–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/026013700293458

31.

Mitchell

T. D.

(2007). Critical service-learning as social justice education: A case study of the citizen scholars program. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40(2), 101–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665680701228797

32.

Mitchell

T. D.

(2008). Traditional vs. critical service-learning: Engaging the literature to differentiate two models. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 14(2), 50–65. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3239521.0014.205

33.

Morris

T. H.

(2019). Experiential learning—A systematic review and revision of Kolb’s model. Interactive Learning Environments, 28, 1064–1077. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2019.1570279

34.

Oakes

C. E.

Sheehan

N. W.

(2014). Students’ perceptions of a community-based service-learning project related to aging in place. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 35(3), 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2014.907158

35.

O’Connell

Dyment

(2011). The case of reflective journals: Is the jury still out? Reflective Practice, 12, 47–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2011.541093

36.

Osgood-Campbell

(2015). Investigating the educational implications of embodied cognition: A model interdisciplinary inquiry in mind, brain, and education curricula. Mind, Brain, and Education, 9(1), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12063

37.

Panitsides

(2014). Transformative learning: Advocating for a holistic approach. Review of European Studies, 6, 74–81. https://doi.org/10.5539/res.v6n4p74

38.

Polkinghorne

D. E.

(1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839950080103

39.

Richardson

(1994). Writing poetry and doing ethnography: Aesthetics and observation on the page and in the field. Anthropology and Humanism, 19(1), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1525/ahu.1994.19.1.77

40.

Rogers

Maytan

(2012). Mindfulness for the next generation. Oxford University Press.

41.

Salam

Awang Iskandar

D. N.

Ibrahim

D. H. A.

Farooq

M. S.

(2019). Service learning in higher education: A systematic literature review. Asia Pacific Education Review, 20, 573–593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09580-6

42.

Schreuder

van Erp

Toet

Kallen

V. L.

(2016). Emotional responses to multisensory environmental stimuli: A conceptual framework and literature review. SAGE Open, 6(1). Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016630591

43.

Segrist

(2005). Assessing impact of service-learning project on older, isolated adults in rural America. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 3(1), 101–115. https://doi.org/10.1300/J194v03n01_11

44.

Speedy

(2015). Staring at the park: A poetic autoethnographic inquiry. Left Coast Press.

45.

Tagoe

M. A.

(2014). Transforming teaching and learning at University of Ghana through community service-learning: Listening to the voices of students. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 2(4), 85–96. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v2i4.503

46.

Tam

(2014). Intergenerational service learning between the old and young: What, why and how. Educational Gerontology, 40(6), 401–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2013.822201

47.

Yeganeh

Kolb

(2009). Mindfulness and experiential learning. O D Practitioner, 41(3), 13–18.

48.

Zajonc

Sanders

(2013). Contemplative pedagogy: A quiet revolution in higher education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 134, 83–94. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.20057

49.

Zimmerman

D. H.

Wieder

D. L.

(1977). The diary: Diary-interview method. Urban Life, 5(4), 479–498. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124167700500406