“Mindfulness” is a term that is used in a variety of forms in different philosophical and religious traditions. In the Mindful Teacher Project, Liz MacDonald and Dennis Shirley use the term to denote heightened awareness of the choices that teachers make and their consequences for pupil learning. In the following, we break the term down into three broad areas, and then present our own understanding and rationale for the term.

Cognitive Pluralism

Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer has written two books that influenced our thinking, entitled Mindfulness (1989) and The Power of Mindful Learning (1997). In those books, Langer offered a three-fold definition of mindfulness, entailing “the continuous creation of new categories; openness to new information; and an implicit awareness of more than one perspective.” She contrasted mindfulness with “mindlessness,” which she characterized as “entrapment in old categories; by automatic behavior that precludes attending to new signals; and by action that operates from a single perspective (Langer, 1997, p. 4).” Langer developed a variety of what she termed “mindfulness treatments” that she contended advanced especially powerful ways of thinking and acting. Her findings indicated that when research subjects knew why they were doing certain activities, had a certain amount of control and freedom in carrying out those activities, and knew that those activities had important consequences, that they learned better, were happier, and in one especially striking intervention set in a nursing home even lived longer.ioner Reflection

Although other researchers do not use the term “mindfulness” in as precise a version as Langer, they have developed analogous notions that bear mention here. Donald Schoen (1987) popularized the notion of the “reflective practitioner” who goes beyond a direct assimilation of information to conceptualize one's work in a creative manner that can circumvent established protocols to develop more powerful and efficacious ways of meeting one's goals. Patricia King and Karen Strohm Kitchener (1994) developed a model of “reflective judgment” that had more empirical foundations than Schoen's work and documented the development of critical thinking and informed professional autonomy. Much of the literature on teacher inquiry and teacher leadership incorporates notions of collaborative reflection, discussion, evaluation, and action, that bear similarities to Langer's definition of mindfulness. While there are valuable scholarly debates on the differences between Schoen's definitions of reflective practice and those of other thinkers concerned with teacher inquiry (Liston & Zeichner, 1990; Pugach & Johnson, 1990; Selman, 1988) there is in general a common appreciation of attentiveness to the here-and-now quality of classroom interaction and the readjustment of pre-established cognitive patterns in the light of new findings.

Separate from these recent developments in the social sciences, mindfulness is an especially salient concept in Buddhism. Classical Buddhist sutras or teachings from the fifth century B.C.E. emphasized mindfulness as full attendance to the present moment without materialistic cravings or self-centered ambitions. Sutras and dharma talks provided precepts to guide practitioners to avoid ideological rigidity and cultivate compassion.

One contemporary figure who has contributed strongly to the emergence of “western Buddhism” is Thich Nhat Hanh, who was nominated by Martin Luther King for the Nobel Peace Prize. In his writings and practices Nhat Hanh has elaborated fourteen different “mindfulness trainings” that are intended to encourage detachment from one's own views (so as to be open to others), moderation in one's consumption (so as to share prosperity with the less fortunate and preserve the earth's resources), and compassion (given the presence of widespread suffering) (Nhat Hanh, 1998). These notions bear some affinities with Ignatian principles of attentiveness, reverence, and devotion, as well as with recent research in the importance of gratitude for human flourishing (Emmons & McCulough, 2004). In education, Robert Tremmel (1993) has shown that selective aspects of the Buddhist understanding of mindfulness can be incorporated into teacher inquiry activities in ways that heighten teacher awareness of their pupils' learning dynamics and the pacing of their emotional responses to classroom events.

Generative Themes

We hope that it is clear from the foregoing that we are not interested in developing a dogma or a cult. We are educators who seek to find inner fulfillment in our vocation by enabling our pupils to reach their full potential. Some of us will be pro-testing or anti-testing, pro-whole language or pro-phonics, pro-constructivism or anti-constructivism. We value these differences of opinions because they reflect the diversity of philosophies of education that typify current education. Diverse perspectives provide us with important opportunities for continued learning and further professional growth.

Mindful Teacher seminars will be guided through a methodological structure of “generative themes” as articulated by Paolo Freire in many of his writings (1971, 1973, 1983) Generative themes, in this understanding, are topics identified by participants themselves as central to their work that entail contradictions or dilemmas that call for sustained investigation. Inquiry is intellectual and analytical but also engages the community of practice in the affective and cultural dimensions of learning. One generative theme leads to another and to deeper investigation of core problems that are experienced in the acts of teaching and learning.

Citations

Emmons, R.A., & McCullough , M.E. (2004) The psychology of gratitude. New York : Oxford University Press.

Freire, P. (1971) Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder & Herder.

Freire, P. (1982) Education for critical consciousness. New York: Continuum.

King, P.M, & Kitchener, K.S. (1994) Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

Langer, E.J. (1989) Mindfulness. Reading , MA : Addison-Wesley.

Langer, E.J. (1997) The art of mindful learning. Reading , MA : Addison-Wesley.

Nhat Hanh, T. (1998) Interbeing: Fourteen guidelines for engaged Buddhism. Berkeley : Parallax Press.

Schoen, D.A. (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

Selman, M. (1988) Schoen's gate is square: But is it art? In P.P. Grimmett & G.I. Erickson (Eds.) Reflection in teacher education . (pp. 177-192) New York : Teachers College Press.

Tremmel, R. (1993) Zen and the art of reflective practice in teacher education. Harvard Educational Review 63(4), 434-458.