Experiments with Buddhist Forms of Thought, Action and Practice to Promote Significant Learning
Julie Regan
Religions July 6, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/rel12070503 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Proposes that Buddhist pedagogical principles, together with Fink's model of significant learning, can be used to design an introductory course according to the Three Trainings in Wisdom, Ethics, and Meditation, framing the course as experiments in Buddhist thought, action, and practice. Argues this approach promotes transformative learning, highlights the critical perspective common to Buddhist and academic approaches, and maintains distinctions between Buddhist traditions and popular secular practices. |
Abstract
While scholars have considered the centrality of teaching in Buddhist traditions and the rich pedagogical resources Buddhism has to offer academic courses on the topic, less attention has been paid to the ways in which Buddhist pedagogy might be applied to the overall structure of course design. This article addresses the challenges of presenting the richness and complexity of Buddhist traditions while also encouraging students to experientially engage such traditions in ways that promote transformative learning. It proposes using Buddhist pedagogical principles, together with a model of significant learning (Fink 2013), to design a course according to the Three Trainings in Wisdom, Ethics and Meditation. Framing the course as a series of experiments in Buddhist forms of thought, action, and practice highlights the critical perspective common to both Buddhist and academic approaches and helps maintain important distinctions between Buddhist traditions and popular secular practices. This article describes specific experiments with Buddhist ways of reading and analyzing classic and contemporary texts, films and images, together with experiments in Buddhist methods of contemplative and ethical practice, in an introductory course in order to help students see how forms of suffering that concern them might arise and be stopped or prevented from a Buddhist point of view.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Implicit Age and Race Bias Social Psychological and Personality Science November 24, 2014
- Two Concepts of Meditation and Three Kinds of Wisdom in Kamalasila’s Bhavanakramas Buddhist Studies Review February 1, 2007
- Complementary teaching practices: Ignatian pedagogy and Buddhist‐inspired compassion meditation Teaching Theology & Religion June 1, 2020