Cogenerating insights into the dialectics of contemplative practices in educational and lifeworld settings.
Cultural Studies of Science Education January 1, 2021 Grant Zouch, Joanna Higgins, Suskya Goodall et al.
Contemplative practices are increasingly used in education to promote wellness. This paper analyzes qualitative data from primary students' experiences of meditative breathing to generate insights. Framed within an authentic inquiry and contemplative inquiry dialectic, the research team situates themselves in the contemplative process to make a difference for stakeholders. Insights coalesce around four emergent dialectics: relaxed | stressed, attentive | distracted, still | energized, and unbounded | constrained. The co-constructed narrative argues that within complex unbounded fields, contemplative practices can transform physical, mental, emotional, and social lifeworlds through a contagious individual and collective ripple effect.