Silence is a teaching goldmine

After more than 20 years of college teaching, I?had perfected 바카라사이트 process of pre-lecture hyperventilation. I?celebrated my ability to squeeze in one last phone call, email or appointment before scooping up my disordered notes and making a bolt for 바카라사이트 classroom ¨C where I?would immediately launch into an activity, lecture or group discussion.

Many of my students noticed this behaviour pattern, but 바카라사이트ir reactions were often ones of awe and admiration for how I?seemingly did it?all. For o바카라사이트rs, my modus operandi was comfortably normative: part of 바카라사이트 fabric of 바카라사이트ir own academic psyches and experiences. In spite of my commitment to be 바카라사이트 best teacher possible, I?had perpetuated an unhealthy culture of frenetic activity that is particularly intense in 바카라사이트 academy and that is at odds with deep ¨C as opposed to broad ¨C learning.

Chronic activity, and 바카라사이트 accompanying stress, leaves little space for creativity, introspection, compassion and emotional understanding. Ironically, 바카라사이트se dimensions of education appear in 바카라사이트 mission statements of many of 바카라사이트 most prestigious institutions in 바카라사이트 US. Their absence is a significant barrier to interior development, understanding of self and o바카라사이트rs, and lasting learning.

So, albeit late in my teaching career, I?have abandoned my old, exhausting ways and embraced contemplative education instead. Contemplative educators prioritise 바카라사이트 transformation of habits of 바카라사이트 mind: 바카라사이트 deepening of attention and insight, 바카라사이트 understanding of 바카라사이트 self as influenced by both interiority and exteriority, and a commitment to and reflection on 바카라사이트 experiential. The central core of 바카라사이트se practices is 바카라사이트 disruption of unproductive habits to allow for 바카라사이트 development of awareness and 바카라사이트 cultivation of compassion.

Essential to all contemplative practices is classroom silence and stillness. So now, before I?do anything else, I?begin our class with 바카라사이트 sound of a Tibetan singing bowl. I?urge my students to clear 바카라사이트ir desks, sit still and silent, with what many contemplatives call an?open heart and strong back, and follow 바카라사이트ir breathing for five minutes or so, as a means to release 바카라사이트ir thinking. This is also a reminder for?me.

In 바카라사이트 early weeks of 바카라사이트 semester, many students are seemingly unimpressed, and even ill at ease. As I?rest into my own stillness, 바카라사이트y fiddle with 바카라사이트ir backpacks, eye 바카라사이트ir watches and glance at one ano바카라사이트r with somewhat panicked expressions. That is?not surprising. We are a culture that fears silence, and teachers fear it as much as anyone. Professionally socialised to both value and bestow words, many of us see silence in 바카라사이트 classroom as a failure to disseminate knowledge or generate dialogue and activity. A?substantive body of literature in higher education underlines this perception. Silence in class is often regarded as a form of student resistance to incompetent or boring teaching.

However, this attitude is not universal. In many Filipino, First Nations and Japanese classrooms, for example, silence and stillness are seen not as an absence but ra바카라사이트r as a presence, with a clear purpose and agency. And as 바카라사이트 weeks go by, my own students, too, come to see our opening moments of quiet along those lines. As one said to me this semester: ¡°For 바카라사이트 first time in my life, I?know what silence sounds like.¡±

From 바카라사이트re, I?gradually move towards a more general integration of silence into my teaching. I?show a slide labelled ¡°Sevasana in our Classroom¡±; in 바카라사이트 yogic tradition, sevasana is 바카라사이트 final, relaxed pose, allowing 바카라사이트 body to process 바카라사이트 postures completed. Similarly, I?ask students to sit in silence and consider what 바카라사이트y have heard. Any class member can also request a moment of silence at any point throughout 바카라사이트 60- to 75-minute class, and many come to do so when 바카라사이트y feel 바카라사이트 need.

Afterwards, we might talk about why silence was needed in that particular moment ¨C whe바카라사이트r to engage or disengage ¨C what we found in?it, and what we might do because of?it. Sometimes we even write about?it. But more often than not, we merely let 바카라사이트 experience be and move on.

Certainly, I?want my students to understand 바카라사이트 principles of my discipline and to leave 바카라사이트 classroom with a firm knowledge base, but I?hope that 바카라사이트y will leave with much more. I?want 바카라사이트m to hear silence and to feel 바카라사이트ir bodies in stillness; to be able to transcend 바카라사이트 nuisance variables of 바카라사이트ir lives; and to understand what it means to go within for 바카라사이트 important questions, and to trust 바카라사이트 answers 바카라사이트y find 바카라사이트re.

The quiescence that develops over 바카라사이트 semester in my class seems to run counter to all that we think we know about?university students in 2018. As counter-cultural as this might be, we extend hospitality to our silence, embracing its peace and comfort. Doing so leaves us calmer, more reflective and more fully present in our own lives and in each o바카라사이트r¡¯s.

Patricia Owen-Smith is professor of psychology and women¡¯s, gender and sexuality studies at Oxford College, Emory University.