Deeper Teaching, Deeper Learning

     Our consciousness is flooded with data, a great deal of which can be categorized as distraction or outright spam. Anxiety keeps us focused on the future; depression on the past. Mindfulness - our natural wisdom - rarely has a chance to manifest.
     "Ellen Langer writes that perhaps one of the reasons that we become 'mindless' is the form of our early education. 'From kindergarten on' she writes 'the focus of schooling is usually goals rather than on the process by which they are achieved. This single-minded pursuit of one outcome or another, from tying shoelaces to getting into college, makes it difficult to have a mindful attitude toward life. Questions of "Can I?" or "What if I can't do it?" are likely to predominate, creating an anxious preoccupation with success or failure rather than on drawing on the child's natural, exuberant desire to explore.'"
     Fortunately, contemplative practices are increasingly being introduced into all levels of the education system. It is possible, indeed foolish not to, intentionally cultivate our inherent natural wisdom.
     "The (contemplative) exercises are relatively simple and mainly conducted in (students') own minds, relating directly to their personal experience discovered through attention and awareness, yet these private investigations yield increased empathy with others and a deeper sense of connection around them.
     Formally legitimizing their experiences changes students' relationship to the material being covered. In much of formal education, students are actively dissuaded from finding themselves in what they are studying. All too often, students nervously ask whether they may use 'I' in their papers. A direct inquiry brought about through their introspection validates and deepens their understanding of both themselves and the material covered. In this way, students not only more richly understand the material, but they retain it more effectively since they have a personal context in which to frame it."

       Barbezat, Daniel & Allison Pingree. (2012). Contemplative Pedagogy: The Special Role of Teaching and Learning Centers.  In James E. Groccia and Laura Cruz (Eds.), To Improve the Academy, 31, 177-191. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Am I Strong or Weak, a Success or a Failure?

     Don't we feel that our family, friends, and society in general expect us to work very hard, be very busy, very successful, wealthy, famous (at the very least locally), and acquire as soon as possible, most but preferably all the signs of success: million+ dollar MacMansion home, prestige cars, designer clothes, prestigious club memberships, private schools for the kids, prestigious summer home, large sail boat, fine wine cellar, regular exotic vacations, etc? The need to be seen as knowledgeable, to be seen as competent are very much part of our personalities - to be seen as successful is almost certainly also part of our makeup.
     And if we never acquire most of the (above) obvious external trappings of wealth, will we be perceived - by others & even ourselves - as weak, lazy and perhaps even a bit dull - a failure? How do we deal with this? Can we allow it?
     Not long ago, showing off one's wealth was considered to be in bad taste, uncouth, crass, "nouveau riche."
     What proportion of health-care professionals can - from practicing good medicine - earn the money required to pay for all that "bling" above? And of the tiny proportion who do, how hard do they have to work to do so? What must they give up in the process?

     If one's top priority is to be seen as "very successful" by material standards, many things can, and do go wrong.
     Constant dissatisfaction with our possessions, is a nightmare created intentionally by big business through advertising. One would hope that health-care professionals are wise enough to realize that "the one who dies with the most toys wins" is a joke, not our true calling.

     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/12/250-presents-presence.html
     and: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/11/220-hows-work-working-for.html

 

Photo: UncleFai   www.dpreview.com

Critical Role of Beliefs re One's Own Abilities to Change & Overcome Adversity

     Which is preferable, a mastery- or a helpless-oriented self-regulation strategy? Every parent, health-care professional, and all other educators need to become skilled at fostering an unshakable belief in each individual's ability to help themselves rise above the many & varied adversities that are a natural part of life.
     "Belief in one's efficacy to exercise control is a common pathway through which psychosocial influences affect health functioning. This core belief affects each of the basic processes of personal change - whether people even consider changing their health habits, whether they mobilize the motivation and perseverance needed to succeed should they do so, their ability to recover from setbacks and relapses, and how well they maintain the habit changes they have achieved."             Bandura A. Health promotion by social cognitive means. Health Educ Behav 2004; 31(2): 143-64.
 
     People who assume that fundamental attributes (such as intelligence or personality) are static traits that are relatively fixed & not subject to personal development are said to be "entity theorists." Those who hold that these human attributes are, instead, dynamic qualities that can be cultivated & can be developed & changed incrementally through personal efforts are referred to as "incremental theorists."
     Research shows that belief in one or the other of these theories has a major impact "on immediate self-regulatory responses to setbacks, including a) responding to failure, b) coping with dysphoria, c) overcoming negative stereotypes, & d) managing personal conflict in intimate relationships. 
     If attributes are seen as fixed, then success or failure provides diagnostic information about how much of these fixed attributes one possesses (& will ever possess). Therefore, for entity theorists, failure often signifies that abilities are permanently lacking in some way. Following failure, any self-regulation in which these individuals are engaged is thus likely to focus primarily on suppressing the importance of this failure or on coping as best they can with the negative emotional impact. 
     In contrast, if attributes are seen as malleable, then success or failure provides diagnostic information about the level to which these attributes have thus far developed. Therefore, for incremental theorists, failure may signify that their abilities require improvement through further attention and effort. Following failure, any self-regulation in which these individuals are engaged is thus more likely to focus on determining how to bring about this improvement." 

       Molden DC, Dweck CS. Finding "meaning" in psychology: a lay theories approach to self-regulation, social perception, and social development. Am Psychol 2006; 61(3): 192-203.