The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the experiences of school counselors who implement yoga into a comprehensive school counseling program. Over the past decade, yoga has gained popularity as a prevention and intervention tool in public school settings. Prior to this study, the role of the school counselor in this process has not been explored. This study investigated the lived experiences of 10 school counselors who integrate yoga into a comprehensive school counseling program. Through data analysis, five significant themes and subsequent subthemes emerged: 1) intentionality (personal experiences with yoga impacts professional intentions, yoga intentionally tied with comprehensive school counseling goal); 2) yoga integration (organic commonalities between school counseling and yoga, methods of yoga delivery, overlap of yoga philosophies and ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors standards); 3) logistics of yoga integration (accessibility of yoga, managing yoga myths and stereotypes, program supports); 4) perception of yoga impact, (overall impact on school, impact on student, examples of students taking yoga “off the mat”); and 5) impact of yoga integration on school counselor (yoga as a self-care strategy, yoga is a meaningful aspect of school counselor role). Findings from this study suggest that yoga is a viable and valuable tool to include in a comprehensive school counseling program. Moreover, as the yoga in schools movement continues to grow, school counselors should be regarded as essential stakeholders in the development, implementation, and evaluation process. Results from this study provide a foundation for future research concerning school counselors and yoga.

In order to understand the intricate processes involved in second language teacher development, in the last decade studies in second language teacher education (SLTE) have addressed the need to explore pre-service teachers’ beliefs and emotions jointly as they occur in their contexts of teaching. SLTE researchers have referred to the importance of helping pre-service teachers verbalize their beliefs and try to understand and regulate their emotions as they can serve to explain what, how, and why pre-service teachers do what they do during their practicum experience. In addition, considering future teachers will be passing on their beliefs, values, and ways of behaving and feeling to future generations, SLTE should offer pre-service teachers with models of teaching that will help form ethical, reflective, and emotionally intelligent professionals capable of transforming society. The clamor for peace in today’s world and the globalized nature of the English language emphasize the need to embrace practices in SLTE intended to foster peace. In Argentina (the context of the present study) such practices carry particular relevance, as it is expected from the Ministry of Education that the teaching of foreign languages at primary and high school level serve as tools to promote societal peace. Given the importance of exploring pre-service teachers’ beliefs together with emotions, and on the importance of providing them with holistic approaches to teaching aimed at expanding peace, this study examines pre-service teachers’ beliefs and emotions about an innovative intervention involving the language of peace throughout their practicum semester in an Argentine setting. More specifically, through multiple case studies and narrative approaches, this study investigates four pre-service teachers’ beliefs and emotions regarding peace and the implementation of multidimensional peace language activities (MPLAs) before, during, and after their Practicum I course. In addition, it aims at comparing participants’ beliefs and emotions with their actions as reflected in their lesson plans and in-school teaching experience. Finally, it traces pre-service teachers’ transformation of beliefs and emotions throughout the course, and examines the ways in which reflection facilitates teacher development. Multiple sources were used for data collection, including semi-structured interviews, journal entries, field-notes from classroom observations, lesson plans, and narrative frames. The thematic and content analysis of the data revealed that in general participants believed the MPLA intervention in the practicum (a) gave participants meaningful English exposure, (b) changed their understanding of peace and enhanced their ability to teach peace in EFL classrooms, and (c) led to a more transformative practicum experience. By embodying multidimensional peace the participants were able to become conscious of their beliefs, emotions, and actions regarding the inclusion of MPLAs and understand their teaching practices better, thereby allowing themselves to develop as teachers and peacebuilders. However, it was noted that two pre-service teachers were not able to include as many MPLAs as they had desired, due to contextual factors and previous learning experiences, among other aspects. Limitations of the study are addressed, as well as research and pedagogical implications for the field of SLTE that relate to the need to incorporate holistic, experiential, and contemplative approaches intended to cultivate multidimensional peace.

This paper looks at the correlation between creativity and the spiritual path by comparing contemplative practices to creative ones. By looking at sitting meditation as it’s practiced in the Buddhist lineage and paralleling it with creative writing practices, we can see how each cultivates a similar mental space. This paper explores key factors that differentiate each practice and its desired goal, while also looking at things that make them similar. Each practice uses certain parts of the brain resulting in corresponding experiences happening at varying stages. I discuss the lead into meditative states by incorporating both ancient and modern perspectives. The discussion around meditative and creative states is further contextualized with an analysis of flow states, and cultural impacts. Both practices transmute experience into something else. In creativity this takes the full scope of human emotion and experience and turns it into art. In meditation this is done through assessing and releasing karmic accretions. I also discuss the creative impulse and how it mirrors the meditator’s desire for liberation. By contextualizing both practices I argue, creativity is a spiritual process and spirituality in turn requires a certain level of creativity.

Responding to the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was founded by Moderate Baptists seeking to reclaim the historic Baptist principle of soul freedom. While this effort was successful, such soul freedom made it difficult for Moderates to hold diverse viewpoints together in unity within the context of a covenant community. Borrowing from the Christian contemplative tradition, which offers a set of shared spiritual practices capable of constructing diverse covenant communities, it is the purpose of this project to offer a process for applying contemplative spiritual practices to the life of Moderate Baptist congregations to reframe Baptist soul freedom as that which allows for personal liberty within the context of a diverse covenant community. / 2025-01-25T00:00:00Z

In order for future sustainability leaders to stand a chance at tackling the sustainability challenge, they need to be skilled and capable enough to cope with them. Higher education for sustainable development (HESD) plays a crucial role in developing sustainability leaders. The intent of this research is to examine how contemplative practices (CPs) can be strategically used as a pedagogical tool to support the new leadership paradigm needed to move society towards sustainability. Through interviews, the study explored the current state of CPs in HESD by asking how and why they are used, and what barriers prevent them from being used more widely. Findings showed that: - CPs are not being used strategically as a tool in HESD - CPs can be used to support the development of sustainability leaders - HESD has a limited focus on inner transformation This study showed that the use of CPs as a pedagogical tool in HESD has significant impacts on individuals’ learning and inner transformation. At the same time, they support the development of individuals’ wellbeing and leadership skills towards sustainability. However, it was found that there are several barriers to overcome in order for this tool to be strategically used in HESD.

Some scholars have formed a more expansive view of knowledge that moves beyond the cognitive notion of intellect. For example, emotional intelligence (EI) theory posits that human intelligence encompasses both cognitive and emotional competencies, providing a framework for the concept of contemplative practices in an endeavor to support an eclectic understanding of cognition. Contemplative practices may benefit graduate student disposition and inform areas of educator preparation through the use of emotional adeptness in higher education. The purpose of this study was to: (a) develop a self-report measure: Scale of Contemplative Practice in Higher Education (SCOPE); (b) address the issues of validity and reliability related to the SCOPE; and (c) expand the understanding of contemplative practices in the literature. Data collected from an extensive review of the literature, reference to personal experiences, and consultation with an expert panel were used to generate scale items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the factor model. Analyses resulted in a 30-item factor model with strong reliabilities.

The primary objective of this research was to determine if a specific set of reflective practices enhance university undergraduate students’ abilities to: 1) reflect on their thinking processes to become more aware of their own intellectual habits and how they form; 2) inquire with open-minded curiosity, including suspension of assumptions long enough for them to be challenged; and 3) generate justifiable, contextual understandings and judgments, individually and in collaboration. “Reflective practices” refers to a specific set of reflective learning activities introduced to undergraduates in two courses: mindfulness practice extended into journal writing, listening, inquiry and dialogue. The purpose of the reflective practices in this research was to support independent, critical thinking: well-reasoned, evaluative judgments based on evidence, contextual understanding, and respect for others. Students were instructed in both individual, introspective activity as well as in paired and group interaction while preserving a degree of mindfulness. Indicators of the dispositions for critical thinking were developed using grounded theory methods to study students’ experiences, as well as those dispositions previously identified in the research literature. Qualitative results showed increased self-confidence, engagement with multiple points of view, and an unexpected sense of connectedness that was stronger between students who disagreed with each other than between students who found easy agreement in their interaction. Quantitative results showed statistically significant gains in the average number of indicators of critical thinking dispositions appearing in student journals comparing week 1 to week 11. There was also positive correlation between final essay exam scores graded for critical thinking skills and the total number of indicators found in students’ journals. / This thesis presents primary research on the impacts of mindfulness applied to introspective and interactive learning activities in undergraduate university courses.

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