We are pleased to announce the release of our Special Issue of the Journal of Useful Investigations in Creative Education (JUICE): Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education: Growing Confidence, Creativity and Community.

Thank you to all our wonderful contributors, the attendees at the CPN Symposium in Dartington Hall, Devon, UK 4th- 6th September 2023, who made it such a special few days, and finally to JUICE editor Tony Reeves of Ding Learning without whom this Special Issue would not have taken shape in the way in which it has. We hope you enjoy it!

Chiara Cirillo, Rosie Holmes & Mike Wride (Editors)

Welcome to the Contemplative Pedagogy Special Issue

Hello and welcome to this special edition of JUICE! This issue showcases the themes, writings and challenges explored at the Contemplative Pedagogy Network’s 2023 symposium held in September at Dartington Hall in Devon, UK. This event was the fourth in a series of contemplative symposiums resulting from a handful of educators back in 2014, meeting to discuss how their own love of contemplative practice might actually support and enrich their educational practice, rather than being limited to an out of hours hobby or personal interest. There is now a steadily growing number of educators joining the Contemplative Pedagogy Network (CPN) and this quest for a more holistic and embodied approach to Higher Education.

Although Contemplative Pedagogy is a more established educational approach in the US, it is still lesser known in the UK’s higher education institutions (HEIs). Arguably, contemplative pedagogy deserves wider recognition and support since it offers creative educational possibilities at a time of rapidly decreasing morale and financial stability in HE. Hence the call for (and title of) our symposium: Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education: Growing Confidence, Creativity and Community.

Although cultivating ‘confidence and community’ in the UK’s HEIs (at what often feels like a time of crisis) felt crucial, creativity was also a fundamental theme. This striving to cultivate creativity for students and educators alike resulted in the CPN network very naturally finding kinship and support from JUICE journal, with its focus on ‘Useful Investigations into Creative Education’. We were delighted to be offered a platform among its varied and fascinating editions, to share some of the juices that flowed from our time together.