Following the high level of interest in our contemplative evening for HE Educators entitled 'Finding stillness to take the next step' on Wednesday 16th December, I have made the practices available to everyone here. Many of you asked whether the event would be recorded. I decided not to record it but below I have provided … Continue reading Finding stillness: resources for reflection

A strange year It has been a strange year and as it's end approaches I am wondering what to make of it all. How to make sense of it and the impact COVID-19 has had on all our lives. We have each woven our own thread yet it has also been a collective experience. Having … Continue reading Finding stillness to take the next step

A huge thank you to everyone who supported and attended the Contemplative Pedagogy Symposium this year. It was certainly very different and in some ways less then ideal! But the connection was powerful, refreshing and restorative. That people could join us from all over the world resulted in greater diversity than we have had before … Continue reading Creating safe spaces online: reflections from the symposium

I was recently sent links to a series of videos by Karolyn Kinane an Associate Director at the Contemplative Sciences Center, University of Virginia. I have not yet had chance to watch them all but I wanted to share them with you. Karolyn has kindly given her permission for me to use them in this … Continue reading Applying contemplative pedagogy: integrating contemplation into teaching and learning

It has only been in the last few years that I have come see the need to engage in discussions about race and racism and understand the implications of my whiteness. I am thankful to colleagues, friends and writers, particularly people of colour, who have showed great patience in helping me, and others, finally acknowledge … Continue reading Addressing racism in higher education: some suggestions from contemplative pedagogy

How quickly the world has changed! I am finding it a very humbling experience. It is certainly making our interdependence and vulnerability abundantly clear. It has got me thinking about contemplative pedagogy in moments of profound change and insecurity. I hope that we can start to explore ideas collectively so please do feel free to … Continue reading Contemplation in the time of Corona

I was excited to realise that it wasn't only me writing about critical contemplative pedagogy in the most recent issue of The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry. Michelle Chatman, who so generously contributed to the 2018 Contemplative Pedagogy Symposium and on whose singing I reflected in my own article, had also contributed a paper on this … Continue reading Reflections on critical contemplative pedagogy – two perspectives

Looking back over this blog since its conception in 2014, a last minute pre-Christmas blog seems to have become something of a tradition. Having said that, even by my own standards, the 23rd is a little late so I expect many of you will come to this in January! Since the symposium I have felt … Continue reading Contemplating the future…

The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. hooks (1994: 298) When I first read Zajonc's ideas about an 'epistemology of love' in 2014 (Zajonc 2006), I decided … Continue reading What’s love got to do with it?

Hello everyone There are only 24 hours left to book for the Contemplative Pedagogy Symposium (bookings close at 5 pm on Friday 16th August). There are a couple of places left if you are interested. Please book and pay here. The last few hours have been very exciting as have confirmed part of the programme. … Continue reading Symposium programme taking shape