Descriptive Inquiry as Contemplative Practice.
Kathleen R. Kesson, Cecelia E. Traugh, Felix Perez
September 1, 2006 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00765.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Longitudinal |
|---|---|
| Population | Graduates of an urban teacher preparation program |
| Intervention | Descriptive Review |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Education |
| Key findings | The Descriptive Review method appears to help students overcome bias, become more mindful, and develop a moral framework, as evidenced in student narratives. However, the complex environments of new urban teachers may limit their capacity to develop contemplative practice. |
Abstract
This article draws upon and integrates a number of distinct but overlapping areas of inquiry in the literature on teaching: teacher inquiry, reflective practice, spirituality and education, and contemplative practice. In it, we examine the implementation of a particular phenomenological form of teacher inquiry, the Descriptive Review, in an urban teacher preparation program. The authors participated in a longitudinal study of graduates of the program and are engaged in the continual examination of student work to assess the efficacy of the inquiry process in helping students overcome bias and habitual thinking, become more mindful of the basis of their professional judgments, and develop a moral framework that might help them resist dehumanizing and ineffective policies and imposed practices. The article includes the authors’ autobiographical reflections about what brought them to this form of practice, a description of the theory and practice of the Descriptive Review as it is carried out in their teacher preparation graduate programs, a description of the urban context in which the work takes place, and a student narrative of practice, which is analyzed in relation to the theory of phenomenological inquiry. The conclusions are tentative; although the efficacy of the method is clearly demonstrated in the narratives that students produce about their inquiries into practice, the complex and challenging environments that new urban teachers are facing are problematic in terms of the capacity to develop contemplative practice.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.