Previous research has indicated the efficacy of mindfulness practices for improving student focus, reducing stress, and regulating emotion in the classroom. However, this workshop demonstrates that optimal student learning involves more than mindfulness by exploring how the additional components of awareness and insight can cultivate emotional intelligence and meaning-making skills through study, contemplation, recognition, and discernment. This workshop addresses the shift from emotional regulation to emotional intelligence, which includes the ability to understand one’s own emotions, and to interpret, act, and respond appropriately. This is the basis for understanding the emotions of others and developing empathy. Drawing from detailed Tibetan Buddhist traditions of mindfulness-awareness, presenters make the case for contemplation-based pedagogy, and lead specific guided contemplations on painful emotions.
Peter Grossenbacher, PhD
Naropa University
Reviewer
After graduating from the University of California–Berkeley in mathematics and cognitive science, Peter Grossenbacher’s doctorate at the University of Oregon in experimental psychology focused on human electrophysiology and attention. His … MORE
Judith Simmer-Brown, PhD
Naropa University
Convening Faculty
Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., is distinguished professor of contemplative and religious studies at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where she is a founding faculty member. She is head of the Compassion … MORE
