{"id":10162,"date":"2016-09-20T14:10:34","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T19:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/?p=10162"},"modified":"2017-04-07T10:39:47","modified_gmt":"2017-04-07T15:39:47","slug":"conversation-48","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/conversation-48\/","title":{"rendered":"Conversation #48: Jane Compson on Contemplative Pedagogy in Online Course"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Download <a href=\"http:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/podcast\/audio\/tlee048.mp3\">Conversation #48<\/a><\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-10162-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/podcast\/audio\/tlee048.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/podcast\/audio\/tlee048.mp3\">http:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/podcast\/audio\/tlee048.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"Jane Compson\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/podcast\/images\/janecompson.jpg?resize=200%2C285\" alt=\"Jane Compson\" width=\"200\" height=\"285\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A conversation with Dr. Jane Compson of UW-Tacoma, on implementing a contemplative pedagogy in an online course.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Compson got her PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Bristol, and more recently got her second Masters in Philosophy, concentrating on bioethics, from Colorado State. She currently teaches classes in Comparative Religion; Philosophy, Religion and the Environment; Environmental Ethics; Biomedical Ethics and Introduction to Ethics. She\u2019s working on projects related to self-care and stress management for healthcare professionals as well as documenting local efforts for environmental justice, as well as mindfulness theory.<\/p>\n<p>Links for this episode:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/directory.tacoma.uw.edu\/employee\/jcompson\">Jane Compson at University of Washington-Tacoma<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Book: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sunypress.edu\/p-5251-meditation-and-the-classroom.aspx\">Meditation and the Classroom: Contemplative Pedagogy for Religious Studies<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Essay: <a href=\"http:\/\/jtd.sagepub.com\/content\/2\/1\/28.abstract\">Opening the Contemplative Mind in the Classroom<\/a> by Tobin Hart<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<strong>Transcript<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: Hi. I\u2019m Bart Everson and I\u2019m here with Jane Compson who is on the faculty of  the University of Washington Tacoma campus. Dr. Compson got her PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Bristol, and more recently got her second Masters in Philosophy, concentrating on bioethics, from Colorado State. She\u2019s working on projects related to self-care and stress management for healthcare professionals as well as documenting local efforts for environmental justice, as well as mindfulness theory. She also fulfills her responsibilities as a teaching faculty member. So Dr. Compson, thank you for speaking with me today. <\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Thank you for having me. It is my pleasure. <\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: You came to my attention recently as I came across a chapter that you had in a book called Meditation in the Classroom, and before we get into that, I was wondering if you could tell us more about the classes that you teach. I understand that your classes are relevant to teaching online as well as a contemplative approach.<\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Okay well I teach classes in sections really between religious studies and philosophy.  So I teach classes in environmental ethics, comparative religion, and introduction to ethics. But the one where I really use a lot of contemplative practices is a class that is ironically online. I say ironically because you don\u2019t typically think the online space is conducive to doing online practices but that was a challenge so I figured I\u2019d take it. And that class is called philosophy, religion and environment. So we look at different attitudes and worldviews that varies amongst different traditions, times, and culture.<\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: That sounds very interesting. We have been trying to promote contemplative in our podcast and in some of our faculty development efforts here at the center for advancement in teaching and faculty development. But there are still probably some listeners out there who don\u2019t quite understand what we are talking about, so I was wondering if you could kind of explain what this contemplative pedagogy means and what does it mean to you?<\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: I think that that is a great question and a complicated question because it could mean different things to different people. To me, it doesn\u2019t just focus on the rational part of learning which we are all familiar with and I\u2019m not criticizing that at all. But sometimes I feel that when you are studying something or reading something, part of me is not engaged in that.  The part of me that isn\u2019t engaged could be more effective I suppose or emotionally based or thinking about how I relate to the things I am learning about. So contemplative pedagogy opens the door to exploring subjective interactions with the things we are engaging with. So it\u2019s opening the door to not only your head but to your heart is another way of putting it. <\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: Oh yeah. All of the stuff you were saying I was kind of thinking this was a way of teaching from the heart or to the heart. The metaphorical heart matters more. And I do think you\u2019re right. The online experience sometimes seems more conducive to other modalities. And I\u2019m wondering how can you do that online?<\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Yeah that was a question I first asked myself when I was asked to teach online. I was a little bit skeptical about it especially teaching a class about environment and I thought it was so ironic. A lot of the writers we look at talk about the disconnection from the outside world, and here I was teaching this class from behind a computer screen to other humans that I never even see. A lot of my students I never actually met. And I was talking about the natural world. But I felt that at this part of my teaching career that this part was so important because you cannot leave out the effective emotional relationship part of it. So that was challenge to see if this would work online. And funny enough, I found that some of things about teaching online kind of made an advantage. For example,  sometimes when I do contemplative effects in person with students, they can be a little shy. It\u2019s an unusual thing they are being asked to do. I notice when students are online, they are usually by themselves. So they are more frank in their experiences. They spend more time thinking about what they are writing being online gives them the permission I believe the dig a little deeper. So once I realized that, I started playing a little more into contemplative practices. And i found it to be very fruitful and the student feedback has been very positive. And as a teacher, the things that they write about can be very moving and shows a development in their ideas and relationships and a shift in their attitudes. So it does work but you have to learn different ways so that it can become effective. <\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: The idea of solitude is associated a lot of times with the idea of contemplative traditions. And there is something about the online student that is solitary. One thing that you mentioned in the chapter of Mediating in the Classroom that really got my attention was the idea of being present when you are physically not present. Which is the irony of it. And you even mentioned how some students can\u2019t hear your british accent.<\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Right which is funny because that\u2019s always a feature that students in america associate with me. And it\u2019s sometimes irritating because for students teach evaluations they\u2019ll say I love your accent. But so much of my classroom work depends on the dynamics of the relationships between us. And that element has kind of been taken away.  So indeed that is different.<\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: Indeed I was going to say that was different and scares some faculty away because it\u2019s not something they are used to. And there\u2019s a certain competence in that. So perhaps maybe a contemplative approach may be a way a faculty member who has a lot of deep misgivings about teaching online, a contemplative approach might help that faculty member. <\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Yeah I think so. I think one thing about this approach is not online exploring the relationship on more of a subject matter but but also exploring one's own reactivity and emotions as a student and inquiry. I think that includes being a teacher , one\u2019s ability to teach. So I think all of those misgivings that you talk about are worries that you anticipate people may have. And I worry about all of those. But one of things I found that helps me and students is that you try to use those areas of discomforts as a teachable moment. You don;t ignore those moments, you acknowledge them. And for me too, I tend to self disclose about what it means to me as a teacher. And that kind of sincerity about how we are all in this together can ironically build up a sense of community because we\u2019re looking at our human reactions. It becomes more of a connective inquiry I guess.<\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: And maybe we can get specific then. Maybe you can share specific techniques you used or specific assignments. <\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Sure. I\u2019ll mention the four principles that I found really helpful and then kind of explain and give examples of them and the things that I do. So the four principles that I have are having grounding, so getting a foundation for these practices using a form where their weaved all the way through, integrating through every step of the class so their not just kind of an add on so that\u2019s the third thing, and fourth is assessments. So in terms of grounding, I think it is really important to start right at the beginning of class explaining to students that there is a contemplative element that will run throughout the class. So assume that they know absolutely nothing about that and they may be kind of suspicious about that.  And I give them a reading to do called Opening the Contemplative Mind in Classroom by Tobend Heart. And I think that\u2019s a really wonderful thing how Contemplative practices are used in a classroom. And he also gives little exercises that students can experiment with like deep listening, not doing, or mind control exercises. So I have students read that so they get the rationale. And then I have them try one of these exercises and reflect on that. Right from the beginning, they are with me in terms of  why we are doing this. What I often do is talk about the experience of previous students and a lot of them in the beginning say this is crazy and off the wall. And how by the end about 90% of them come around and say wow, this was really helpful. So I try to normalize the fact that in the beginning it is really unusual, look into that and see why they feel that way and explore. So I think the first part of that is more theoretical thing and a forum with which they can discuss it with me and with each other. My experience has been they are really willing to talk about and share that. So that\u2019s the first thing. Then in terms of form, I try to chose practices that match with the subject matter. This is a class about relationships with the environment and so the kind of inaugural exercise they do is plant a seed. And I guide them through the kind of mindfulness of the seed exercise and then encourage them to reflect and really feel what\u2019s it's like and then they plant it. And they do it and they say it\u2019s kind of interesting and it was really amazing to see how much potential this seed had and they get more space to talk about their emotions and feelings. And then as we go through each module of the class, I try to tie this experience back to the seed planting experience. So we try to tie everything back to the readings we do. So I guess the themes must be integrated with what you are studying. So integration is important. And the other thing is when you are studying structurally, I try to have consistency throughout the course. So for each course students will have the set readings, they do quizzes and conventional discussions on a prompt. But they always have a contemplative assignment that goes with that module so that they know each week, this theme will be reinforced. And at the end of the class, their final paper has a section where they are asked to integrate their own learning experiences into the body of the paper. So all the way through, the contemplatives aren\u2019t just kind of a add on but a substantial part of the inquiry. So that has been important to me. To run them all the way through, not just make them little extras. And then the last piece is assessment and that is what they do on their contemplative exercise, they basically free write or use other media. They write these reflection based on their experiences and although they get a pass or fail grade, for those assessments, its just pass fail because I don\u2019t want students to feel judged on their reflections but they have to do it. And most of the time they thrive in that sense of freedom. So often at times they will write very long and moving reflections. Even though they aren\u2019t getting formal grades, they don\u2019t tend to exploit that. They really write deeply and interestingly.<\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: Well grading is a whole can of worms that we should really do an episode about that sometime. But I\u2019m wondering, if you have encountered any pitfalls. You talked a little bit about how students may perceive this at first, although we find students are very receptive. Put I\u2019m wondering if you had experienced any challenges or pitfalls with students or colleagues or anything you feel like you learned along the way.<\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Yeah I feel kind of fortunate. I keep waiting for that to happen especial if people start to say that it\u2019s sort of quasi-religious or that it only has something to do with private emotions and it has nothing to do with what you are supposed to be learning. But I\u2019ve actually doing this for about 10 years and that has yet to happen and so that\u2019s really great. Sometimes i get students who just don't take it seriously, who just blow it off or don't really see the point. But you get that from whatever your teaching. Pitfalls, sometimes it hasn\u2019t worked as well when I didn\u2019t integrate it throughout the course, because then it seemed like more of a add on. I agree with you though that is was unthinkable during my undergraduate years.  So so far I keep waiting for those push back potentials. But so far so good. <\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: Well that\u2019s great to hear. That\u2019s a confidence booster for people looking into this. We are nearing the end of our time on here so I am wondering if there are any final thought you would like to make?<\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: I think one of the things I found that was really important for me was to have a supportive community who are also interested in contemplative pedagogy. I can get such a charge of my battery by reading or going to conferences where other faculty are focusing on contemplative and also focusing on my own practice of contemplative, helps it become more organically for me without just going through the motions. But I think the more I do my own practice of contemplative, the more natural it comes to me and the better contemplative teacher I am. So I guess that\u2019s important but I don\u2019t always practice what I preach. So yeah, community and practice I think are two things that I aspire but don\u2019t always get. <\/p>\n<p>B. Everson: Great. Well thank you so much Dr. Compson for your time and for speaking with me today.<\/p>\n<p>J. Compson: Thank you it\u2019s been a pleasure speaking with you today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Download Conversation #48 A conversation with Dr. Jane Compson of UW-Tacoma, on implementing a contemplative pedagogy in an online course. Dr. Compson got her PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Bristol, and more recently got her second Masters in Philosophy, concentrating on bioethics, from Colorado State. She currently teaches classes in Comparative Religion; <a href=\"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/conversation-48\/\" class=\"more-link\">...continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \"Conversation #48: Jane Compson on Contemplative Pedagogy in Online Course\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[78,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-10162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-online","8":"category-podcast","9":"tag-contemplative-pedagogy","10":"tag-online-teaching","11":"h-entry","12":"hentry","13":"h-as-article"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/background-313415.jpg?fit=1920%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p82MQk-2DU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1464,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/conversation-17\/","url_meta":{"origin":10162,"position":0},"title":"Conversation #17: Contemplative Pedagogy","author":"Bart Everson","date":"November 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Conversation #17 A conversation with Daniel Barbezat of Amherst College, on teaching, learning and contemplative pedagogy. People ask, \"What does a liberal arts college do? What does a good education do? It teaches people how to think.\" It's kind of a ridiculous claim in a way, because people know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Old Podcast Archive (\u22642018)&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Old Podcast Archive (\u22642018)","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5959,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/pedagogy-for-self-and-planet\/","url_meta":{"origin":10162,"position":1},"title":"Pedagogy for Self and Planet","author":"Bart Everson","date":"March 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a workshop\/retreat for which combines two current CAT themes: contemplative pedagogy and the quest for sustainability. Contemplative Environmental Studies: Pedagogy for Self and Planet July 26 - August 1, 2015 Location: Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico How can higher education best address global environmental challenges? How can we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Teaching &amp; Learning Conferences&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Teaching &amp; Learning Conferences","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/teaching-learning-conferences\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":757,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/beginning-with-silence\/","url_meta":{"origin":10162,"position":2},"title":"Beginning with Silence","author":"Bart Everson","date":"September 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this semester, after eleven years working in faculty development, I led my first session that didn't have anything to do with technology. The subject? A moment of silence. We began the session with a brief moment of silence, then I asked some questions to prompt a short discussion. What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Transformative Banquet&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Transformative Banquet","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/integrative\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14711,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/a-webinar-by-some-folks-you-might-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":10162,"position":3},"title":"A Webinar by Some Folks You Might Know","author":"Bart Everson","date":"December 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The good people at D2L Brightspace are offering a webinar on the use of contemplative pedagogy in an online course. No cost. Details below. From Mitchell Deleplanque of D2L Brightspace: According to the\u00a0Contemplative Pedagogy Network, students can form deeper relationships with their peers, their communities, and the world around them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;CAT &amp; Mouse: E-Learning&quot;","block_context":{"text":"CAT &amp; Mouse: E-Learning","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/online\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Contemplation-Green.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6555,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/join-the-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":10162,"position":4},"title":"Join the Team","author":"Bart Everson","date":"April 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since 2010, CAT has actively promoted contemplative pedagogy through presentations, workshops, travel grants, meditation sessions, and other diverse means. The formation of a Contemplative Inquiry Team, supported by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, is the latest iteration of these ongoing efforts. We invite you to join the Contemplative\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Transformative Banquet&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Transformative Banquet","link":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/topic\/integrative\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9549,"url":"https:\/\/cat.xula.edu\/food\/join-xcit\/","url_meta":{"origin":10162,"position":5},"title":"Join the Team","author":"Bart Everson","date":"March 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Since 2010, CAT+FD has actively promoted contemplative pedagogy through presentations, workshops, travel grants, meditation sessions, and other diverse means, culminating most recently in the formation of the Xavier Contemplative Inquiry Team. 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