As a pathway, our education is a means to an end. But as a field, it is an open space where we cultivate meaning.
It's easy to look at education like a pathway. The path can be a way in (to a profession, for example), or even a way out (in the case of hardship and adversity). Sometimes the path is clear. Sometimes it's not. Regardless of which it is, we often search for the most direct way and the shortest route, coming to the end without a clear sense of purpose -- without an understanding of how we'll make an impact.
It is no coincidence that galleries are full of open space. Space invites us to move our attention around the objects that are there and to cultivate curiosity about things we may have only momentarily glanced at. It is not so different when it comes to the content of our education. Even within the constraints of a fast-paced workflow in a crammed curriculum, there is room to deeply consider what we think we have already seen.
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’
doesn’t make any sense."
​
-Rumi
Opening the Field
From our earliest moments as students, it is demanded of us that we "pay attention," that we narrow our focus. It's critical actually. But how often are were asked to open our attention? And let's say we do open it, and we probably do -- a lot. But are we taught how to do it? Is it scaffolded? Is it modeled? Knowing how and when to switch between attention opened and attention "paid" is a useful and learnable capacity. It is too often assumed that we will know what to do when our minds are free to open, as if all that our outcomes expect of us is a focused attention punctuated by "free" time. We know that this time of thought, of play, of wondering, is important to memory, to learning, to problem-solving. The problem is that social media and information technology are laying claim to that open attention. Imagine an open field where you have gone to be free, to take recess, and instead all you find there are billboards blocking your view.
​
We attend to all the parts of our experience with openness, curiosity, and creativity. "Where am I? What am I doing? What's else is here? Who else is here?"
The ability to focus our attention sharply on a task, filtering out our surroundings. "Narrow my focus sharply on this one space and moment to the exclusion of surrounding distractions."
​
​
"Whoever reflects recognizes that there are empty and lonely spaces between one's experiences."
​
- Jerome Bruner
Bug's-Eye View
Our bug's-eye view helps us attend to all the little things -- the details of our work here and now, where we crawl through all the tasks we have to complete to get a job done. This is where we feel like we work.
Bird's-Eye View
Our bird's-eye view gives us the opportunity to see where we are now, how we got there, and where we're going. From this place, we can see that what we're doing fits into a bigger picture. From here we can see our signature projects or capstones, the relationships between stakeholders, the impact our work has in our profession, or the impact our profession has in our community.
Make learning transformational.
Our learning experiences are often transformational, but not always intentionally so, and not always in ways that serve us the way we'd like them to. By creating space to inquire into how an experience impacted our thinking, we gain more control over the way future experiences impact us and the way we can make an impact on others.
Practice, practice, and practice.
There are well-established methods for going about mindfulness and reflection as practices. But with the insights we gain through our personal application of these methods, we can put the theories behind them into practice in ways that best suite our own unique circumstances.
Reflection is not about looking back, being more present, or even about looking ahead. It's about enlarging our sense of self to include all of this.
Through reflection we examine pivotal life moments (and the stories we’ve told ourselves about them), becoming more authentically open to both present opportunities and future possibilities. This recursive process enlarges our sense of our experience, making old moments teachable again, creating the space to see the continuity of past, present, and future. We are greater than any one story we have come to see about ourselves.
Unmediated: time away from devices helps us upgrade our inner tech.
Our constant connection to media challenges our most fundamental capacity to direct our thoughts. When we walk away from our devices, we create the conditions that are conducive to mindfulness, reflection, and contemplation even if we haven't strategically bought into these practices.
Interested in participating?
​Reflective Practice - Contemplative Pedagogy - Mindfulness in Education
​
Reach out if you are interested in creating or developing a course at your school, hosting a workshop for faculty and/or students, getting personalized coaching, or if you are simply curious and want to learn more.