大发

Contemplative Pedagogy

Faculty Learning Community on Procrastination and Contemplative Pedagogy

2022-2023

FLC Facilitators: Jill Weigt and Ranjeeta Basu

Both faculty are members of the Center for Contemplative Practices. They have a deep commitment to contemplative practices. They have incorporated contemplative pedagogy into their courses. They have published articles and book chapters on mindfulness and presented their work at conferences. They have also facilitated workshops, FLCs, weekly sits and training sessions for our campus community. Dr. Ranjeeta Basu has completed a two-year Mindfulness Teacher Certification program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, internationally known leaders in the area of mindfulness.

Purpose and Learning Outcomes: As part of the National College Health Assessment Survey 2021, students were asked about problems or challenges that might have negatively impacted their academic performance or delayed progress towards their degree within the last 12 months. Procrastination was the issue that the highest percentage of our students (47.4%) reported as being a major impediment to their academic success. Two other most commonly reported factors were stress (39.2%) and anxiety (32.6%). Recognizing that these factors are inter-related and are often symptomatic of other underlying issues we would like to invite a group of ten to twelve faculty across different disciplines and colleges to meet monthly over two semesters to explore the underlying causes of procrastination, to develop and incorporate contemplative pedagogical strategies to address these issues and to assess the efficacy of using these techniques.

Studies have shown that procrastination is a pervasive problem among students and among older adults (Steel, 2007; Harriott & Ferrari, 1996). Procrastination can lead to several negative outcomes such as stress and anxiety, low self-esteem, poor health and financial outcomes and poor academic performance ((Howell et al, 2006) The interest in mindfulness and other contemplative practices has spurred a great deal of research and discussion in recent years. Several studies (Gautam et al, 2019; Flett et al, 2016) have found that mindfulness practices reduce procrastination directly and indirectly by reducing anxiety. Mindfulness practices that increase our ability to act with awareness, with non-judgment and with non-reactivity can have a significant impact on procrastination and anxiety. In this FLC, we will read and discuss current research studies. During the FLC sessions, we will do a variety of contemplative practices designed to help us reduce procrastination and anxiety. We will encourage participants to incorporate these practices in their own lives and in their classes. Finally, we will assess the efficacy of these strategies in reducing procrastination and improving academic success.