TThe selection of a pedagogical philosophy is and ought to be a matter of
individual instructor choice. This chapter has presented the major arguments
in support of making that choice. Chapter Two by Maria Lichtmann
extends that argument, and subsequent chapters amplify the rationale and applicability of contemplative pedagogy in various disciplines and programs.
I end this chapter with an observation from my favorite meditation
teacher, Ram Dass, who once said that a key benefi t of his lifetime practice
of meditation may be seen by its absence during those times he temporarily
lost the practice. He said he found himself at those times walking around
with a lot of what he referred to as undigested experiences. Our students
come to us with twelve or more years of undigested information and about
eighteen years of undigested consumerist media programming, if not undigested
traumas. They need time to digest and refl ect on what they know,
what they do not know, and what they need to know. So do most of the
rest of us.
Contemplative pedagogy need not involve esoteric practices. Almost
any classroom exercise may be transformed into a contemplative one simply
by treating it the way Ziegler treats a slide in her art classes: by slowing
down the activity long enough to behold—to facilitate deep attention to
and intimate familiarity with—the object of study, whether it is a slide,
textual passage, equation, claim, or argument. Beginning any class with a
simple exercise in mindfulness or pointedness, focused on anything, promises
to help sustain an attitude, in both students and faculty, of beholding
throughout what follows