Enaction, relevance realisation and wisdom: establishing a theoretical framework for contemplative education
Sāgaradevī Barratt
Frontiers in Education October 10, 2025 DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1613780 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Contemplation Transformative learning Autonomy Realisation Relevance law Conceptual framework Experiential learning Engineering ethics Pedagogy Epistemology Higher education Psychological intervention Openness to experience Competence human resources Educational research |
| Key points | Argues that a conceptual model based on enaction, relevance realisation, and wisdom can explain how contemplative practices take effect and support their integration into higher education. |
Abstract
Interest in contemplative education in higher education has grown significantly over the last two decades. Much of this work has focused on mindfulness interventions and their impact on the wellbeing and academic outcomes of students. However, there has been considerable diversification in how contemplative practice has been applied, particularly in university contexts where educators often have greater autonomy in the design and delivery of teaching. In this paper I argue that for contemplative education to develop, a theoretical framework is important, particularly if robust research is going to build an evidence base for informing practice. Useful links have started to be drawn to other educational theories such as social and emotional learning and transformative learning theory but they do not yet point to the depth of learning made possible through the integration of contemplative practice into teaching. This paper uses the lens of enaction to explore contemplative education and draws on the concepts of relevance realisation and wisdom to present a conceptual model of contemplative education that could support future research and pedagogical integration by explaining how contemplative practices may take effect. This paper offers fresh theoretical insights to stimulate discussion about how contemplation can support the development of wisdom and what this means for higher education.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding Complicity An International Journal of Complexity and Education July 1, 2007
- Research Review: The effects of mindfulness‐based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents – a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry October 22, 2018
- Defining Contemplative Science: The Metacognitive Self-Regulatory Capacity of the Mind, Context of Meditation Practice and Modes of Existential Awareness Frontiers in Psychology November 17, 2016
- Naturalizing relevance realization: why agency and cognition are fundamentally not computational. Frontiers in Psychology 2024
- Knowing the Knowing. Non-dual Meditative Practice From an Enactive Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology 2022
and 9 more in the library