Contemplative learning: Is there a place for it in higher education?
I have always been interested in new ways of learning; contemplative learning is one such concept. To summarize the definition in the article I located, contemplative learning includes the act of pondering thoughts and facts, poetry and even meditation to aid in the behaviors associated with the act of learning.
As you may perhaps imagine, finding articles about this subject is challenging. However, I recently ran across an article which does a wonderful job of not only describing what contemplative learning is, but how it can best be implemented in the university classroom.
As the article begins, “what we know, or should know, is just as important as how we know it”. Though western culture seems comfortable employing the concept of contemplation in other practices, we hesitate to do so in education because of our cultures concern for the separation of “church and state”. However, as the article points out, contemplation is not about religion.
Intrigued? Read more and share your thoughts!