Defined as an awareness of suffering coupled with a willingness to do something to relieve suffering, compassion has recently received an incredible amount of attention in popular culture, social media, and academic and scientific research (Jinpa, 2015). Qualitative research is needed to investigate the experiences of adults learning to cultivate compassion. The present study adds to the body of research on compassion by investigating compassion cultivation with first person accounts, and by providing examples of somatic learning, or learning through the body. In this qualitative study, I investigate individuals' perceptions of the course Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT), developed at Stanford University's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE). I explore three questions: 1) How do participants find CCT and why do they take the course? 2) How do participants describe the CCT course and their learning experiences? 3) How do participants describe the impact of CCT and integrate what they learned into their daily lives? I conducted 1-hour open-ended interviews with 18 CCT alumni and a qualitative analysis of interview transcripts to identify themes across the data. I identified four cases that exemplify elements of cultivating compassion, including: a case of depression relief, a case of increasing the capacity to stay, a case of dealing with self-criticism and a case of reducing empathy fatigue. I then organized findings across the entire data set into three categories according to my research questions; in each finding, I identified four themes and clustered participants' responses according to themes. Findings indicate that the 18 participants' reasons for taking CCT are diverse, including the desire to connect with others, curiosity about compassion and contemplative science, and the need for compassion in their personal and professional lives. All respondents reported CCT as a powerful and meaningful learning experience, describing the value of learning through the body, through meditation practices, and as a group. Participants attributed substantial positive changes to the course, citing improvements in their relationships to themselves and others, and increased awareness of their own mental and emotional states.

A compelling argument has been made which claims that institutions of higher education focus disproportionately on transmitting basic skills to their students at the expense of supporting issues of central importance to the development of emerging adults, including clarifying values and identity and defining individual purpose and meaning (Palmer & Zajonc, 2010). As a result, an increasing number of postsecondary teachers are considering how they can refashion education by using contemplative inquiry to deepen student learning and personal growth. This movement to reframe the teaching-learning paradigm has led to the development of teaching methods that seek to cultivate emotional, psychological and intellectual competencies including creativity, self-understanding, awareness and mental flexibility (Lief, 2007). Contemplative pedagogy, which can include mindfulness practices and contemplative or imaginative inquiry, provides such a framework for teaching and learning. Faculties at institutions of higher education across the U.S. are increasingly adapting this educational model for use in their classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand ways in which faculty members in higher education are developing mindfulness-based contemplative pedagogies and to identify critical variables that have informed how they have conceptualized and implemented this educational model. I employed a collective case study methodology to explore the experiences of faculty members who have embedded contemplative inquiry within the broader context of a traditional liberal arts curriculum. The study focused on why and how these instructors have developed contemplative teaching practices, their experiences integrating these practices into the classroom, and the potential outcomes they identified for themselves and their students. The findings suggest that, for these teachers, contemplative pedagogy provides a mechanism to deepen learning through a process of embodied inquiry in which both student and teacher are actively engaged. Through their teaching practices participants demonstrated a common goal: to foster in students qualities of mind that might help them engage more directly with learning as an experiential process of personal inquiry. This study informs the evolving landscape of contemplative education by exploring how teachers are developing and implementing contemplative models for learning in order to address issues of personal meaning and purpose in higher education.

It was the purpose of this study to identify the influences that contributed to bringing about curriculum change in selected educational agencies which employed consultants in the social sciences through NDEA Title III-B projects. The research attempted to find the ways districts planned, organized, and implemented curriculum change through the use of the NDEA consultants. It focused on the procedures, interrelationships, and interactions taking place within the structure of the projects and the agencies involved in accomplishing those projects. Neither the amount nor the direction of the changes was the intent of the study. NOTE: Both archival copies of this manuscript held within the University of the Pacific library were missing page 203.