An experiential reflection of a mindful lecturer: exploring enhancement of active learning in higher education

Abstract

The practice of mindfulness is described as an awareness that emerges through purposefully paying attention in the present moment, non-judgmentally (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Practice usually entails attentional training, which is executed through meditation. Mindfulness meditation involves actively observing the present moment by attending to the breath, moment-to-moment, and without adding any meaning to the feelings and thoughts that emerge. This process assists people who observe the constant flow of information unfolding in the present moment and to systematically develop an ability to accept (instead of judge) the experiences that are encountered. Working with mindfulness meditation practices has been shown to lead to other multi-layered indirect benefits, such as compassion, self-compassion, and equanimity, which are parts of advanced mindfulness practice (Kabat-Zinn, 2003; Grossman & Van Dam, 2011). Interestingly, while benefits of mindfulness have been explored within higher education contexts, and improvements in achievement and mental health across student populations have been reported (e.g. Bennett, Egan, Cook, & Mantzios, 2018), the potential for teacher development and enhancement of teaching and learning has not been explored. Researchers have primarily focused on the health benefits within student populations (Bowen & Marlatt, 2009), while similar benefits have been observed in teaching staff when appropriate population-specific practices are put into place (Braun, Roesner, Mashburn, & Skinner, 2018). From simple and quick interventions (Mantzios & Giannou, 2018a, 2018b) to longer mindfulness programs (Beshai, McAlpine, Weare, & Kuyken, 2016; Gold et al., 2010), the evidence of mindfulness practices for health and well-being has been considerable in the past decade. However, are there any direct benefits to teaching and learning of students with more mindful teachers in higher education? In the next section, we put forward one example of how a mindful teacher could enhance active learning during core lectures and big groups of learners. Within higher education settings, the usual teaching practice is to embed more interactive and engaging material (such as videos, multiple-choice questions, different scenarios or case studies) in between the slides that hold the essence and the key