Experiences of Mindful Education: Phenomenological Analysis of MBCT Exercises in a Graduate Class Context

Authors

  • Anton Sevilla-Liu Graduate School of Education, Kyushu University
  • Teruhiko Honda Kyushu University
  • Atsuko Mizokami Kurume Medical Association School of Nursing
  • Hiroaki Nakayama Kyushu University

Keywords:

MBCT, phenomenology, mindfulness, qualitative research

Abstract

This paper uses phenomenological psychology both as a qualitative inquiry and a pedagogic tool in order to understand how graduate students experience the exercises of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy program in a classroom setting. This understanding is necessary for both teachers and researchers of contemplative pedagogy to ensure that students are helped and not harmed by these practices, as well as to tailor teacher responses to the plurality of individual experience. Furthermore, it aids students in becoming aware of and articulating the changes they are undergoing through contemplative practices. This paper shares summaries of the autophenomenologies of three participants which are then interpreted by the research team. These idiographic descriptions are examined on four themes: 1) textures of attention, 2) “using” mindfulness to relax, 3) normative consciousness, and 4) pedagogical dangers and process. The analysis suggests that mindful education needs to take care in understanding the limits of our ability to express matters concerning the subtleties of how we pay attention, consider the complex interplay in non-clinical populations between “being mode” and “doing mode,” and how that connects to our interpretation of “non-judgment” in mindfulness.

Author Biographies

Anton Sevilla-Liu, Graduate School of Education, Kyushu University

Anton Sevilla-Liu is Associate Professor for Ethics of Education at the Graduate School of Education in Kyushu University. He conducts research on the philosophical, practical, and qualitative aspects of "education for self-awakening," which is a major thrust of the Kyoto School of Philosophy.

Teruhiko Honda, Kyushu University

Honda Teruhiko is a Master's student at Kyushu University.

Atsuko Mizokami, Kurume Medical Association School of Nursing

Mizokami Atsuko is an Adjunct Lecturer at Kurume Medical Association School of Nursing.

Hiroaki Nakayama, Kyushu University

Nakayama Hiroaki is a Doctoral student at Kyushu University.

References

Albrecht, N. J. (2016). Teachers teaching mindfulness with children: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. (Dissertation.) Adelaide: Flinders University.

Barbezat, D. P., & Bush, M. (2014). Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Baer, R. A., Walsh, E., & Lykins, E. L. B. (2009). Assessment of mindfulness. In F. Didonna (Ed.), Clinical handbook of mindfulness (pp. 153-170). New York: Springer.

Bentz, V. M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

Brown, K. W., & Cordon, S. (2009). Toward a phenomenology of mindfulness: subjective experience and emotional correlates. In F. Didonna (Ed.), Clinical handbook of mindfulness (pp. 59-81). New York: Springer.

Cotter-Lockard, D. (2008). Higher consciousness states through meditation: A phenomenological study. ReasearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305729795_Higher_Consciousness_States_Through_Meditation_-_A_Phenomenological_Study

Gilbert, P., & Tirch, D. (2009). Emotional memory, mindfulness and compassion. In: F. Didonna (Ed.), Clinical handbook of mindfulness (pp. 99-110). New York: Springer.

Grenard, J. L. (2008). The phenomenology of koan meditation in Zen Buddhism. Journal of phenomenological psychology 39(2): 151-188.

Gunnlaugson, O., Sarath, E. W., Scott, C., & Bai, H. (2014). Contemplative learning and inquiry across disciplines. Albany: State University of New York.

Howitt, D. (2016). Introduction to qualitative methods in psychology, 3rd edition. Harlow: Pearson.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. Revised edition. Bantam.

Langdridge, D. (2007). Phenomenological psychology: theory, research and method. Harlow, England: Pearson and Prentice Hall.

Lindahl, J. R., Fisher, N. E., Cooper, D. J., Rosen, R. K., & Britton, W. B. (2017). The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists, PLoS ONE 2017. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176239

Lyons, K. E., & DeLange, J. (2016). Mindfulness matters in the classroom: the effects of mindfulness training on brain development and behavior in children and adolescents. In K. A. Schonert-Reichl & R. W. Roeser (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness in education: Integrating theory and research into practice (pp. 271-284). New York: Springer.

Maloney, J.E., Lawlor, M. S., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., & Whitehead J. (2016). A mindfulness-based social and emotional learning curriculum for school-aged children: the MindUP program. In K. A. Schonert-Reichl & R. W. Roeser (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness in education: Integrating theory and research into practice (pp. 313-334). New York: Springer.

Nakagawa, Y. (2000). Education for awakening: An Eastern approach to holistic education. Brandon, VT: Foundation for Educational Renewal.

Nicholls, C. D. (2019). Innovating the craft of phenomenological research methods through mindfulness. Methodological innovations, 2019 (May-August), 1-13.

Nishihira, T. (2014). Mushin no dainamizumu: “shinayakasa” no keifu. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.

Nishihira, T. (2012). Zeami’s philosophy of exercise and expertise. In P. Standish & N. Saito (Eds.), Education and the Kyoto School of Philosophy: pedagogy for human transformation (pp. 147-156). Dordrecht: Springer.

Sevilla, A. L. (2016). Education and empty relationality: Thoughts on education and the Kyoto School of Philosophy. Journal of philosophy of education 50 (4): 639-654.

Sevilla, A. L. (2018). Mindful Education and the Kyoto School: Contemplative Pedagogy, Enactivism, and the Philosophy of Nothingness. In J. M. Delgado-García (Ed.), Advances in Cognitive Neurodynamics (VI). Springer.

Sevilla, A. L. (2020). Kyôiku ni okeru maindofurunesu to mushin. In Sakai Y. and Nishihira T. (Eds.), Mushin no kea. Kyoto: Kôyô Shobô.

Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: theory, method and research. Sage.

Williams, M., Teasdale, J., Segal, Z., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness. New York: The Guilford Press.

The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, Volume 7, No. 1

Downloads

Published

2020-12-31

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2020)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal sign a publishing agreement after their paper has been accepted. Through the agreement, authors transfer copyright to CMind, the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, the publisher of JOCI. Authors may enter into additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of their work (e.g., to publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are also permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website), with acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal and retaining the formatting as published in JOCI.