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Greetings friends and I hope that all finds you doing well. I wanted to share an opening dedication piece I was honored to present at the start of the Alliance for New Jersey's (ANJEE) 36th Annual Winter Conference. It was a humble piece to put together and I read this for the conference on the eve of the new inaugeration here in the United States. Here's to new days, more hard work, the making of good trouble, and better things!
The Dedication: Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education (ANJEE) 2021 Conference Opening Dedication by Dr. Michael Lees Good evening everyone and thank you for this honor and opportunity. I would like to open this dedication with a thought from our friend Carl Sagan: “Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. That’s educators and that’s students. On it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever heard of, every human being who ever has lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings; thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines; disciplines of schools of learning that include environmental sciences, ecology, chemistry, physics, and biology; every hunter and forager; every hero and coward; every creator and destroyer of civilizations; every king and peasant, every young couple in love; every mother and father; hopeful child; inventor and explorer; every teacher of morals; every corrupt politician; every supreme leader; every superstar; every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena” (p. 6)1. I’m here, you’re here, we’re here on that pale blue dot. You, with all of your seven thousand trillion trillion atoms and a hundred-billion-some odd neurons. Also here are the plants, trees, bugs, birds, rocks, others of the mammalian persuasion, rivers, lakes, and oceans. All of which are participating in a dynamically ecological interdependent dance. Amazingly, the pale blue dot is spinning at 1000 mph, around a star at 67,000 mph, within a galaxy moving at 1.3 million mph. To this, all I can humbly say is welcome everyone to what we call life in the linear-marked time of 2021. Wow. What a year 2020 was. Our world, as we have known and know it, continues to adapt, change, and remind us of impermanence and uncertainty as it has done for roughly 4.543 billion years. 2020 was marked by ups, downs, lefts, rights, sufferings, joys, successes, and failures. A pandemic is ripping through our society on local and global scales. Our society has been wrought with collapsing social contracts, constructs, a failed leadership that has fundamentally harmed and altered the way we live, learn, and do life. Meanwhile, the pale blue dot is constantly signaling warning and it’s other than human inhabitants a clarion call for help. A call for help that roars with quiet desperation2 in the background of anthropocentric human industry. Meteorological, biological, physical, geological, and oceanic forces in the form of hurricanes, fires, tornados, and climate change serve as stark reminders. As I read aloud the aforementioned statements and hear myself speak them, feelings of futility arise, but then I am reminded of Rainer Maria Rilke when he declared, “Here is the home and the time of the tellable! Speak out and testify. This is the time when the things we love are dying and the things we do not love are rushing to replace them, shadows cast by shadows: things willingly restrained by temporary confines but ready to spew forth as outer change of form decrees. Between its hammer blows the heart survives – as does, between the teeth, the tongue; in spite of all, the fount of praise.”3 In the mist of the great suffering, loss, chaos, and anarchy that encapsulated the year 2020 many people have been and continue to rise to the challenges at hand as we move into 2021. You, as educators, students, organizers, and advocates for the sciences and humanities are taking the hammer blows and in turn teaching from the heart with tooth and tongue. You have done more in 2020 than you may even know, or be aware of, in making a difference in the lives of many of the living beings on this pale blue dot. When we are in the throes of difficult times and spaces it can be hard to remember to be gentle. To be gentle on yourself and others and most of all in remembering gratitude and thankfulness. Doubt floods in when difficulty ensues. Doubt leads to futility, resignation, apathy, no care, and lack of purpose. Remembering purpose in times of difficulty finds propping up when you remember to say thank you. Thank you for ALL that is life and everyone living as we support one another amidst the vastness of it all. The act of thankfulness represents an attitude of gratitude. An attitude of gratitude redirects human self-centeredness towards openness, kindness, respect, altruism, and care. All of which constitute the efforts of educators eager to teach and students hungry to learn. It is in this shared process of learning, that like a flower whose seed and roots receives water and then proceeds to bloom, so too does the human mind and spirit. In the spirit and recognition of your efforts in trying times I would like to offer a few lines from a poem that I share with my students by Senri Yena: Thanks to lamenting over the pain in the world, I am able to become laughter when my life is happy. Due to being struck and trampled upon and biting my lips to control my temper, I fully realize how precious it is to be born. Even if I am intentionally tired of an ugly world… …I don't care so much about anything else, except love and sincerity, the sun, and a little amount of rain from time to time. If I have a healthy body and a little piece of bread, I want to walk with a smile in great spirits. I will do my best to work without complaining about anything at all. I always consider things by putting myself in another's place without flinching, no matter how hard and heartrending it is to live… …In the morning the sun rises. I greet it. I will do my best to live today. In the evening, the sun sets. Starting at the evening glow, I want to sit still... …Within silver tears like pearls and laughter like the sun, let's keep walking ahead each day. Certainly someday, as I look back over my past, I will quietly see my life with a smile.4 In closing I would like to ask everyone to raise your right hand over the top of your head right now. Stretch it out for as far as you can reach. Now take your right hand and drop it back behind your left shoulder. Hold that for one second, and now, pat. Pat yourself on the back a couple of times and give yourself kudos and thanks for the life you are living, the work you are doing, and the world you are seeking to prop up in uncertain times. Remember to thank the cosmos, the pale blue dot, or any creative forces you may believe in for the air you breathe, the water you drink, the Earth under your feet, and the fire of that star which supplies light and heat. Life is an amazing opportunity and as teachers, students, academics, researchers, organizers, and caretakers alike seize this day, this moment, and this brief spark of life, with our linear-marked time. Remember to thank yourself, everyone, and everything around you when you get out of bed, step out your door, and get humbly smacked in the face by life. That smack is actually a very beautiful thing. Our momentary lives are like a flash of lightening in the dark of night. That smack in the face is life letting you know that in this moment you have a pulse, and are indeed alive. The most important question for living then becomes: What are you going to do now? Thank you everyone for all the work you are doing and for sharing in this moment of existence with me as the 2021 ANJEE Conference gets underway. I wish you all good things for the upcoming seasons of learning about what it means to be who we are as we continue to learn how to let life live us. References: 1 Sagan, C. (1994). The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. 2 Thoreau, H. D. (2004). Walden. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. 3 Rilke, R. M. (Hunter, R. Trans). (1987). Duino Elegies. Eugene, OR: Hulogost. 4 Katagiri, D. (1988). Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life. Boston, MA: Shambhala. Hey Everyone here is a PDF download version:
Greetings friends from Mike here at Ecotone & Pedagogy! I recently completed a paper titled: Altruism as Antidote to Demagoguery: Shantideva’s Bodhicharyavatara Chapter 3 as Method for Countering Identity Divisions and wanted to share it here as altruism and compassion are a part of a heart’s work. It can be found at: https://www.academia.edu/37557121/Altruism_as_Antidote_to_Demagoguery_Shantideva_s_Bodhicharyavatara_Chapter_3_as_Method_for_Countering_Identity_Divisions_Michael_Lees Thank you for your time and the work you that you are doing out there friends. – Mike Lees *Picture taken on a hike in Vermont this summer...
An Updated Version for 1/27/2017 Some Thoughts on Eco-Social Systems Thinking in Higher Education - Mike Lees
I have been teaching on the college level for a long time (20 Years). One of the places where I would like to see change exists in the development of transdisciplinary studies as it pertains to undergraduate student learning experience and ecologically sustainable living systems theories. Today’s world is fraught with tremendous changes. The forces of globalization are quickly consuming cultures and the environment at such rapid rates that it can be difficult to keep up with how strong an impact our industrialized world is having on the physical, psychological, and overall holistic health of our natural world. A natural world in which we are also an interdependent and reflective part. Today’s college curriculum finds its origination within an outdated, reductionist-oriented, Cartesian model that no longer works in our current world dynamic. University departmentalization directly influences the segregation of subject matter into specializations, thus breaking down the inherent foundation of systems into disconnected parts. This is evident in the splintering of social, political, religious, scientific, philosophical, spiritual, and environmental systems the world over. Especially as unchecked corporate and industrial entities create environmental degradation, religious warfare, cultural extinction, and Earth’s overall ecological dissolution. University programs have the ability and potentiality to foster a greater respect and understanding for the student’s journey throughout their college experience. The ability to educate students with ecologically systems-based theoretical paradigms can generate a curriculum that ties subject matter together as opposed to breaking it apart. In turn, this can develop a healthier global community oriented view of our world for the younger generations that participate in a world that does uniquely offer the opportunity to share in a wonderful life living paradigm. There is an important need to address these issues in the undergraduate student’s educational experience in efforts to illustrate how interdependent today’s world systems exist in mutually caused and connected activities. Systems thinking provides an opportunity for a better understanding of what it means to be eco-literate in our vastly interconnected socio-ecological world system (Capra, 2004). Fritjof Capra (2004) in addressing the importance of cultivating Ecoliteracy aptly states that, “cooperation is actually much more important than competition” (p. 8). Capra speaks to the importance of thinking in terms of sustainability, resilience, patterns, and flow within a system. Development of an ecoliterate-based curriculum illustrates the inherent diversity of a system and the systemic ability to nurture healthier feedback loops (Capra, 2004). The feedback loops ultimately benefit everything that is living and breathing in our world. An example of ecoliterate activity might include looking at a student who is an economics major. A healthy curriculum could show this student that one business-based decision in this part of the world has the ability to either bolster or destroy, a small village or the rain forest in another part of the world. This can be done by actually having someone from the sociology or environmental studies programs visit the classroom and serve as the instructor for the day. A visiting instructor participates in a shared instructional curriculum that at once begins to break down university specialization and segregation. The shared teaching curriculum provides a transdisciplinary communication between the students and educators, the particular topic, and the inherent interdependent connections between subjects as they exist inside and outside the classroom. There is a lack of sensitivity in the American education system that does not address effects and connectivity. Through the disconnected curriculum that is currently steering the educational system, the results of neglected awareness for effects and connectivity are showing not only in every ones’ home, neighborhood, town, city, state and country, but in the rest of the world as well. References: Capra, F. (2004). Ecology and community. Retrieved October 7, 2012, from http://www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/ecology-and-community All Grows Old... by Mike Lees
The fast pace and highly structured workplace is pushing the demands of intergenerational relationships and the infrastructure of familial dynamics. In American culture, there is a need for longer work hours in order to support the current lifestyles. This in turn places the “middle” generations in a difficult situation when it comes to supporting both the old and the young. Kalmijn and Saraceno (2008) pointed out assessing need in relationship to this situation when it comes to addressing what younger and older generations are working with. In this context, three ideas relating to the partner status, health status, and education of the parent stand as focal points in a study concerning varying European countries and their relationship to care giving. Within this, Kalmijn and Saraceno pointed out how nuclearization, culture, and institutions will play a role in what the “Sandwich Generation” is working with (p. 484). Between the aforementioned constructs addressed by Kalmijn and Saraceno (2008), the diversity that is American culture finds the need to juggle not only an American lifestyle, but also that of their own cultural make-up. More often than not, this presents as conflicting. As a leader in a work environment, tending to a multi-global populace is important if healthy human relationships are to continue. There is a need that exists right now to think less about money and more about human relationships. An and Cooney (2006) stress the importance of generativity in a study conducted concerning psychological well-being on the part of intergenerational relationships. In lieu of societal pressures, An and Cooney suggested increased activities concerning volunteerism and community service need to find implementation in order to alleviate stressors associated with the sandwich generation trying to juggle it all. An important point to consider is that everyone ages and everyone grows old, and the sandwich generation will be there some day. A sad sentiment often heard in American culture is that there is a fear of growing old. Growing old in American culture is often synonymous with no longer useful. If generativity is to be healthy, the sense of useless needs to be replaced with useful and supplemented with activities that will lead to healthier longevity for each of us. Important to remember is that no one is above the aging process and manifestation of impermanence in this amazing world and universe we live within. References: An, J. S. (2006). Psychological well-being in mid to late life: The role of generativity development and parent-child relationships across the lifespan. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30(5), 410-421. Doi: 10.1177/0165025406071489 Kalmijn, M., & Sarceno, C. (2008). A comparative perspective on intergenerational support: Responsiveness to parental needs in individualistic and familialistic countries. European Societies, 10(3), 479-508. Doi: 10.1080/14616690701744364 A Note on Water... By Mike Lees *This discussion was prompted by my doctoral Mentor recently and led to some interesting discussions so thought I would share it here... The current crisis situations concerning water shortages in areas of the United States, California, and Sao Paulo are indicative of greater systemic problems found within earth’s ecological systems (Fears, 2015; Gambino, 2015; Rigby, 2015). NASA researchers argued that the United States will face “megadrought” conditions thirty-five years from now that will last at least three decades long if current lack of sustainability concerns persist (Fears, 2015). In Sao Paulo Brazil, with a city population of 20 million, residents are finding that their taps are running dry and water only remains on for a few hours a day while others find themselves with no water for extended periods of time (Rigby, 2015). Each of these examples speaks to an endemic problem with far-reaching impacts into the future of human civilizations. Water is one crucial element amongst many in the living systems that constitute all of life on planet earth. Without addressing the multi-faceted negative effects that current human interactions are having with earths’ living systems, bigger problems concerning sustainability lie directly ahead for future generations. Universities, on a global scale, contain the ability to bring whole-system awareness and thinking to the foreground in the lives of future generations (Barnett, 2011). But, this will first require that universities shift current academic focuses on research-only and entrepreneurial outcomes towards the inclusion of what Barnett (2011) described as liquid, therapeutic, authentic, and ultimately ecological sensibilities in the development of global student-citizens. Barnett called for higher education to become an, “ecological university…a university that takes seriously both the world’s interconnectedness and the university’s interconnectedness with the world” (p. 451). The ecological university model seeks to yoke academic research, entrepreneurialism, and rigor together with individual, societal, and ultimately the natural world’s well-being (Barnett, 2011). I believe that until universities engage the importance of ecological literacy and integral dynamic systems thinking as an inherent part of student educational foundations, the current and future water problems are only the tip of quickly vanishing icebergs. References: Barnett, R. (2011). The coming of the ecological university. Oxford Review of Education, 37(4), 439-455. doi: 10.1080/03054985.2011.595550 Fears, D. (2015, February 12). A ‘megadrought’ will grip U.S. in the coming decades, NASA researchers say. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/todays-drought-in-the-west-is-nothing-compared-to-what-may-be-coming/2015/02/12/0041646a-b2d9-11e4-854b-a38d13486ba1_story.html Gambino, L. (2015, April 1). California restricts water as snowpack survey finds ‘no snow whatsoever’. Theguardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/01/california-governor-orders-mandatory-water-restrictions-drought Rigby, C. (2015, February 25). Sao Paulo – anatomy of a failing megacity: Residents struggle as water taps run dry. Theguardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/25/sao-paulo-brazil-failing-megacity-water-crisis-rationing Global Education Pedagogy: Challenges and Contemporary Education: By Mike Lees
Globalization processes in the 21st century require that educators inform their students of broadening interdisciplinary connections towards the development of global citizenship. Research showed that while educators expressed interest in the development of global education pedagogy (GEP), educators argued that basic knowledge, professional development, and curriculum implementation is lacking (Rapoport, 2010). Current development of GEP continues to emerge offering adaptable curriculum learning strategies for educators in the classroom (Brooks & Normore, 2010; Goodwin, 2010; Holand, 2010; Kumar & Parveen, 2013). GEP plays an important role in cultivating the whole student and his or her preparedness to be a global citizen. Educators who fail to address contemporary globalization issues in the classroom will not be adequately serving students’ needs. Globalization and Global Education Pedagogy The growth of human development and societies continues to rapidly expand with the forces of globalization in the 21st century. The forces of globalization include the movement of peoples, international employment, displacement of peoples, new and fast moving economies, competition for resources, and technological advances (Goodwin, 2010). Brooks and Normore (2010) argued that the forces of globalization create conscious and unconscious tensions in political and cultural contexts on individual, local, and global levels. Hovland and Schneider (2011) called the 21st century a “Global Century” that requires educators to reconsider education’s role in developing students who are ready to engage in challenging times (p. 2). The construction of global education pedagogy (GEP) continues to emerge in order to address educational and global citizenship concerns. Education provides the foundation for developing student awareness on individual, societal, and global levels. Kumar and Parveen (2013) stated that education supplies the opportunity to nurture “universal literacy” as a means to provide individual growth, social equality, and recognition for the interdependent nature of globalization’s effects (p. 8). Educators play a central role in the development of an education that responds to numerous forms of knowing, multicultural student bodies, and individual learners on all levels of academics (Kumar & Parveen, 2013). Brooks and Normore (2013) maintained that awareness of the multifaceted environments constituting contemporary academia requires generating a curriculum that addresses local and global learning. The development of GEP on a local and global level supports the construction of a curriculum that responds to contemporary student needs. GEP seeks to connect learning with an experiential context that serves to cultivate individual student awareness and integration into a larger worldview. Kumar and Parveen (2013) contended that educators need to develop a greater “holistic” curriculum to provide students with the necessary knowledge and life skills for 21st century challenges (p. 9). Goodwin (2010) promoted five learning domains that include a personal philosophy of teaching, contextual knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, sociological knowledge, and social knowledge. In addition, Brooks and Normore (2010) maintained that teacher attention to moral, organization, spiritual and religious, and temporal literacies supports the development of a well-rounded GEP curriculum. The implementation of the learning domains and literacies requires educational institutions to make a commitment to changing some of the structural foundations of education in the 21st century. Challenges of Global Education Pedagogy and Educator Responses While educators express interest in the use of GEP and the building of an adequate global learning curriculum, challenges present themselves that hinder the ability to use GEP in the classroom. A number of problematic issues that include a clear definition for GEP, failure to address GEP in curricula, looking beyond local concerns, standardization, and educator fears of undermining patriotism are shown to exist amongst educators (Rapoport, 2010). Educators stated that they are left to their own devices and motivations when deciding to address forms of GEP in instruction (Rapoport, 2010). Educators acknowledge the importance of GEP, yet do not feel like the support of administration, or effective pedagogical information exists for the development of GEP methodologies (Rapoport, 2010). The ability to find more exposure to current trends in GEP creates the opportunity to build a better informed administration and educator foundation. New directions and growth in developing GEP curriculum is currently taking place. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) conducted a conference entitled, “Shared Futures: Global Learning and Social Responsibility” in the year 2000 to bring attention to the importance of GEP (Hovland & Schneider, 2011, p. 3). GEP learning outcomes presented at the AACU conference included a deeper understanding of global contexts, the role of the United States in world affairs, the importance of addressing cultural diversity, and deepening intercultural competencies as crucial to GEP curriculum and global citizenship (Hovland & Schneider, 2011). Kumar and Parveen (2013) presented an outline that directly addressed the challenges of educator GEP awareness and argued that pre-service and professional development programs have the ability to address educator concerns and resistance to GEP. According to Rapoport (2010), educators felt that they are left out and feel uncomfortable when attempting to use GEP in their classroom. Administrative support, professional development programs, and pre-service teaching programs contain the ability to address using GEP in the classroom. Rapoport (2010) argued that educators need more administrative support and awareness for a defined GEP curriculum in order to address why GEP is important. Educators contended that current educational curricular paradigms focus on standardization, testing, and local concerns (Rapoport, 2010). Brooks and Normore (2010) presented a “glocal” GEP curriculum approach that supports local learning with an ability to integrate the larger global concerns (p. 54). Brooks and Normore argued that the development of glocal learning creates the opportunity to show the educational system the importance of connecting local education to the global forces taking place in the world. Kumar and Parveen (2013) promoted a similar interdependent approach to a holistic GEP pedagogy that assists educators in their ability to “know and understand deeply” how local learning affects, and is affected by, global forces (p. 11). Connecting administration to the importance of GEP, addressing educator concerns, and developing a curriculum that addresses a deeper approach to global education is taking place. Conclusion The 21st century world presents numerous challenges to the educational system, educators, and students. The ability to address the forces of globalization requires a degree of risk taking and commitment on the part of administrators, educators, and communities in developing a GEP curriculum that provides students with what they need to be an informed global citizen (Hovland & Schneider, 2011; Kumar & Parveen, 2013; Rapoport, 2010). Brooks and Normore (2010) and Goodwin (2010) showed that educational strategies, literacies, and paradigms do exist in order to support the development of GEP. Deciding where to focus the attention of developing GEP plays an important role in seeing the educational system adapt pedagogical practice. Addressing educator concerns is tantamount to seeing GEP become a part of student education. Kumar and Parveen (2013) argued that a focus on the development of curriculum provides the strongest means of establishing GEP in education today. Curriculum exists as an integral part of classroom instruction and provides the ability to embed local and global connections with learning (Brooks & Normore, 2010; Kumar & Parveen 2013). Rapoport’s (2010) study presented valid educator concerns pertaining to acceptance and resistance with GEP. Unless administrators, educators, and local communities begin to address global learning concerns, students will not develop the ability to adequately navigate a rapidly changing world (Howard & Schneider, 2011; Kumar & Parveen, 2013). The opportunity to build a GEP curriculum is available, beginning to take root, and emerging as an important facet of human awareness and 21st century education. References Brooks, J. S., & Normore, A. H. (2010). Educational leadership and globalization: Literacy for a glocal perspective. Educational Policy, 24(52), 53-82. doi: 10.1177/0895904809354070 Goodwin, A. L. (2010). Globalization and the preparation of quality teachers: Rethinking knowledge domains for teaching. Teaching Education, 21(1). doi: 10.1080/10476210903466901 Hovland, K. & Schneider, C. G. (2011). Deepening connections: Liberal education in colleges. About Campus: American College Personnel Association and Wiley Periodicals. doi: 10.1002/abc.20074 Kumar, I. A., & Parveen, S. (2013). Teacher education in the age of globalization. Research Journal of Educational Sciences, 1(1), 8-12. Rapoport, A. (2010). We cannot teach what we don’t know: Indiana teachers talk about global citizenship education. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 5(3), 179-190. doi: 10.1177/1746197910382256 The following paper comes from a recent course that I have taken while pursuing my doctorate work surrounding the use of Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education...
Dynamics of Change: Contemplative Pedagogy and Higher Education - By Mike Lees Change within educational atmospheres requires attention to initiation, implementation, and continuation in order to produce measurable outcomes pertaining to success (Fullan, 2007). Fullan (2007) contended that a not too tight, not too loose mentality could assist in generating a middle ground approach to dynamic paradigmatic change orientations. Wagner (2011) described seven necessary skills in relationship to critical thinking, communication, and collaboration in order to address motivational responses to adapting a change within the educational systems. Wagner further offered that global achievement gaps and learning motivation gaps may find adequate bridge-building efforts as a result of attending to the motivation concerning the how’s and why’s surrounding change implementation, (Laureate Education, 2011). Zhao (2007) echoed these aforementioned sentiments by emphasizing that creativity play a role in addressing global mindsets and the pressures placed on educational systems, administrators, educators, and ultimately, the students. In order to achieve middle ground in this context, the cultivation of holistic mind-sets, knowledge concerning interdependent relationships, and attention to diverse talent structures can lend to avoiding the death of positive educational changes creative capacities (Zhao, 2007). This paper will explore how recent efforts to initiate contemplative pedagogy (CP) practices in an educational context meets with various successes and room for improvement in addressing the not too-tight, not too-loose approach as suggested by Fullan (2007). Attention to initiation, implementation, and continuation can illustrate how CP can find application in a higher education setting (Fullan, 2007). Working with change in an educational setting presents challenges pertaining to individual and collective capacities (Fullan, 2007). These challenges can lead to the emergence of meaning making on the part of all of the participants involved (Fullan, 2007). Meaning making then lends to the capacity to create long lasting changes that find a place within the dynamic atmosphere that constitutes the educational system as a whole (Fullan, 2007; Zhao, 2007). Initiating Contemplative Pedagogy- How’s and Why’s CP has emerged in the last 10-15 years as a curriculum offering in which mindfulness and meditation practices can find adaptation within higher education classroom settings (Rhem, 2012). CP seeks to offer learning dimensions within a classroom that attend to the holistic, ecological, social, and emotional well-being of educators and students (Byrnes, 2009; Davidson et al., 2012; Roeser & Peck, 2009). Research shows that CP practices affect cognitive, academic achievement, educator and student stress, anxiety, and depression, whole person creativity, interpersonal relationship skills, empathy, altruistic compassion, attention, metacognition, transformative learning, social, and emotional intelligence (Mrazek, Franklin, Phillps, Bird, & Schooler, 2013; Shapiro, Brown, & Astin, 2008; Zeidan, Johnson, Diamond, David, & Goolkasian, 2010). CP practices involve the use of mindfulness practices and non-denominational meditation exercises in order to settle the mind, gain a greater objective perspective, and orient one’s self to his or her present situation (Berard, Hallam, Geiwitz, & Kerzner, 2009). In an effort to address social and emotional learning (SEL), leadership skills, and the strengthening of educator and student engagement, efforts to introduce CP into the higher education classroom continue to ensue (Rhem, 2012; Jones, 2009). Jones (2009) offered that adaptability, compassion, contemplation, courage, honesty, initiative, optimism, perseverance, respect, and trustworthiness play a role in developing learner engagement in a classroom. Contemplative pedagogical practices seek to cultivate these characteristic traits within the learner in order for him or her to graduate with life and leadership skills adequate to meeting the 21st Century, post-modern, global community needs (Rhem, 2012). Successes in Contemplative Pedagogy CP seeks to find cultivation in a classroom environment. Fullan (2007) outlined the importance of paying attention to the restructuring and reculturing of a classroom when seeking to implement change. Attending to what the educator works with in a classroom in the form of day-to-day effects, isolation from peers, energy levels, and the limited opportunities for reflection will address change consistency and coherence (Fullan, 2007). Outlining dignity, motivation, reflective action, collaboration, and respect can lend to the creation of an environment that fosters lateral capacity building (Fullan, 2007). The fruition of direct experiences steeped in action-based results provides the necessary motivators on the part of an educator and an educational institution to engage in the further pursuit of such positive outcomes (Fullan, 2007). Educators and students in higher education continually face numerous stressors involving academic achievement, retention, test scores, and social and emotional learning-based (SEL) pressures (Rhem, 2012). Hall (as cited in Shapiro, Brown, & Astin, 2008) conducted a study in which undergraduate students found themselves split into two groups. One group of students worked with contemplative pedagogy while the other did not. Hall’s study showed that the group that did practice a mindfulness exercise presented an overall higher GPA by the end of a spring academic semester. A study by Shaprio, et al. (as cited in Shapiro, Brown, & Astin, 2008) in which medical students practiced mindfulness exercises presented with lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression concerning his or her overall mental health in the midst of rigorous studies and exam periods. In a study conducted by Tloczynski and Tantriella (as cited in Shapiro, Brown, & Astin, 2008) concerning social and interpersonal skills, results showed that 75 undergraduates experiencing anxiety found him or herself less anxious and depressed as having practiced a semester long contemplative practice. In a study conducted by Mrazek, Franklin, Phillips, Baird, and Schooler (2013), results quantitatively showed that undergraduate students gained greater memory capacity, attention, focus, and higher test scores in relationship to taking the GRE tests as a result of a two-week intensive mindfulness program. Zeidan, Johnson, Diamond, David, and Goolkasian (2010) reported that statistical significance existed as it pertains to student cognitive responses to tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, and confusion because of participating in brief contemplative training exercises. These findings illustrate that contemplative pedagogy does affect student learning outcomes and educator relationships. Attention to the cognitive and SEL responses in the case of these studies offers higher education in America an opportunity to investigate how contemplative pedagogy affects the leaders of tomorrow (Davidson et al., 2012). While these studies show that CP works, has found initiation and implementation, the institutionalization of such practices has yet to find a strong foothold in higher education (Fullan, 2007). Addressing Issues for Further Implementation Fullan (2007) addressed initiation, implementation, and institutionalization as three broad phases of change processes. By placing an emphasis on change as a process, Fullan recommends that attention to outcomes involving student learning and an organization’s capacity to work with the particular kind of change looking to be achieved can lend to the continuity concerning the external responses to innovative strategies. Initiative directions on the part of CP need to address access to such practices, advocacy from the administration and educators, external change agents, and community support in order to further implementation on a larger academic scale (Fullan, 2007). Fullan stated that attention to bureaucratic safety plays an important role in considerations of educational change paradigms. Bureaucratic safety presents as an issue that needs to find further address in how CP defines itself in practice. Of particular concern, religious versus secular issues present as an obstacle to the full institutionalization of contemplative pedagogy practices (Davidson et al., 2012; Rhem, 2012). CP involves meditation exercises as a central part of the paradigmatic structure of practice (Davidson et al., 2012; Rhem, 2012). Davidson et al. (2012) emphasize the importance of addressing the design of strictly secular practices when speaking to the institution of CP in American education. Further research needs to show that non-denominational practices are abundant within CP that do not cross cultural and religious boundary lines (Davidson et al., 2012; Rhem, 2012). Proper training and greater availability of information pertaining to secular practices of mindfulness can assist in exposing stakeholders to the positive outcomes of CP for educators and students (Fullan, 2007; Rhem, 2012). Conclusion - Learning and Leadership for Contemplative Pedagogy Practices In order to implement further institutionalization of such an educational change paradigm in higher education, Fullan (2007) identifies factors relating to the adequate address of innovation characteristics. These factors include need, clarity, complexity, quality and practicality concerning the program (Fullan, 2007). In terms of need and clarity, the global community of today presents learners with an overwhelmingly abundant amount of expectations both individually and collectively as globalization progresses (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008; Ervin & Smith, 2008; Reimers, 2009). Itinerant characteristics imbedded in the practices of contemplative pedagogy lend to cultivating SEL within an individual (Rhem, 2012). The cultivation of holistic intrinsic and extrinsic responses on the part of an individual engaging in contemplative pedagogcial practices lend to the development of leadership traits and skills via social, emotional, cognitive, and sustainable qualities (Davidson et al., 2012; Laureate Education Inc., 2011; Rhem, 2012). Fullan (2007) further argued that change agents need to also be aware of how the planning, doing, and coping with creating changes in a classroom will affect the environment. By focusing on capacity building, results, continuous action, attention to interactions, and the need for evidence-based decision-making, change can begin to take root (Fullan, 2007). In order to account for not seeing failure in the face of a newly emergent paradigm like that of CP, adaptability, feedback, and system thinking approaches need to become a part of bringing these practices further into the public sphere (Fullan, 2007). Along with recommending a willingness to jump-right-in to creating change, Fullan presents an important do’s and don’ts list when it comes to working with institutional changes (pp. 122-125). Fullan’s list speaks to flexibility, adaptability, and being able to show-and-do versus just saying in order to see changes as being effective. Leadership in ushering forth the institutionalization of CP in higher education would do well to think upon the do and don’t list in order to further implement such practices. The Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education presented a list of 2,000 plus faculty that are currently involved in looking to further these pedagogical practices (Rhem, 2012). The halls of higher education are beginning to take notice of CP practices in the light of the current changing global paradigms (Rhem, 2012). Recent studies and research also show that secondary and primary educational systems are also beginning to work with these contemplative practices (Davidson et al., 2012; Wisner, Jones, & Gwin, 2010). Further initiation, implementation, and pursuit on the part of the greater educational system’s awareness for contemplative pedagogical methodologies can lend to movement towards solidifying these beneficial practices in an educational environment. 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