Mindfulness in Multicultural Education


Book Description

Grounded in critical race feminism, this book explores mindfulness as an empowering approach in multicultural education. The author explores how learners of multicultural education—by (re)centering the body through mindfulness with concrete strategies and scaffolded practice—can be empowered to handle the activated emotions and deep self-inquiry that come with the work of social justice, liberation, and anti-racism. This book includes counter stories of students of colors and offers both an epistemological and a curricular approach to mindfulness in multicultural education, including discussion of theory and key principles in addition to ten modules with practices to engage learners. These modules can be directly applied as the basis for curricular changes in teacher education and university-wide social justice courses, or they can be independently read by learners interested in enhancing their wellbeing and social justice. Written for teacher preparation and university social justice courses, this book encourages educators to contextualize their mindfulness practice within a critique of systems of oppression and ask questions about how mindfulness can empower action towards a more just society.




Culturally Competent Engagement


Book Description

This book encourages mindfulness as a tool for personal growth and for intentional action for the purpose of social change. Learning exercises focus on: examining privilege, oppression, and difference; intersectional identity mapping; historical racism against marginalized groups; social dominance theory; sociological mindfulness; cultural humility; appreciative inquiry; and more. Culturally Competent Engagement: A Mindful Approach embraces a fresh approach to cultivating self, other, and systems awareness for a linguistically rich and culturally diverse world. The confluence of people and cultures requires habits of mind, dispositions, skills, and values that promote diversity affirmation while simultaneously honoring one’s own cultural integrity and limitations. The benefits of being culturally competent are numerous and include healthy, holistic relationships and connection with people across differences. This book provides conceptual context for tried and true learning exercises that promote deeper self-understanding, ways to connect with people who are culturally different, and an understanding of the systems (socio-cultural, economic, political, and environmental) that circumscribe our lives. Written for organizational leaders, university instructors, students, and practitioners, this book includes typical approaches to enhancing culturally competent engagement, yet has several special features that differentiate it from approaches in other books and articles on the topic. Typical approaches to developing cultural competence focus on acquisition of communicative skills, behaviors, and dispositions needed to effectively navigate cross-cultural relationships and function effectively in multicultural environments. We include and build on these approaches by adding a layer of critical and complex systems understanding as a necessary foundation for effective cross-cultural engagement. The Self-Other-Systems approach challenges readers via concrete learning exercises that nudge one along the life-long path of culturally competent engagement. Perhaps the most unique feature of this book is the explicit and implicit mindful approach. A total of eleven learning exercises are offered, foregrounded by theory and completed with reflection questions or activities. All learning exercises encourage mindfulness, or awareness of oneself in the present moment, awareness of others, and awareness of broader contexts and forces at work in multicultural contexts. In specific, three learning exercises are meditations that can be read or listened to via free download from the book’s website.




Mindfulness and Acceptance in Multicultural Competency


Book Description

In recent years, mindfulness and acceptances-based therapies have gained immense popularity in the field of behavioral health. And as these therapeutic models have proliferated, their teachings and practices have been introduced to a wide range of diverse applications. Cognitive behavioral approaches often rely on a client’s values as a catalyst for treatment. But because values are often culturally biased, it can be difficult to apply the same techniques to clients from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. That’s why multicultural competency training for mental health professionals is so important. Mindfulness and Acceptance in Multicultural Competency presents a contextual approach to sociocultural diversity in both theory and practice. In this book, author Akihiko Masuda examines the cultural competency and cultural adaptation of three major therapeutic models based in mindfulness and acceptance: dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Readers will learn how to translate these treatment models to other language communities, and how to tailor therapeutic approaches to address a number of cultural factors, including religion and spirituality, social stigma, and prejudice. Written for professionals, students, and practitioners, this book offers solid data and research that shows how innovations in acceptance and mindfulness therapies can be directed for the health and wellness of all people, no matter their race, creed, or cultural background. The book includes contributions by Lynn McFarr, PhD, Holly Hazlett-Stevens, PhD, Michael P. Twohig, PhD, Jason Lillis, PhD, Michael Levin, MA, and Jason Luoma, PhD. The Mindfulness and Acceptance Practica Series As mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies gain momentum in the field of mental health, it is increasingly important for professionals to understand the full range of their applications. To keep up with the growing demand for authoritative resources on these treatments, The Mindfulness and Acceptance Practica Series was created. These edited books cover a range of evidence-based treatments, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), compassion-focused therapy (CFT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) therapy. Incorporating new research in the field of psychology, these books are powerful tools for mental health clinicians, researchers, advanced students, and anyone interested in the growth of mindfulness and acceptance strategies.




Mindfulness in Multicultural Education


Book Description

Grounded in critical race feminism, this book explores mindfulness as an empowering approach in multicultural education. The author explores how learners of multicultural education—by (re)centering the body through mindfulness with concrete strategies and scaffolded practice—can be empowered to handle the activated emotions and deep self-inquiry that come with the work of social justice, liberation, and anti-racism. This book includes counter stories of students of colors and offers both an epistemological and a curricular approach to mindfulness in multicultural education, including discussion of theory and key principles in addition to ten modules with practices to engage learners. These modules can be directly applied as the basis for curricular changes in teacher education and university-wide social justice courses, or they can be independently read by learners interested in enhancing their wellbeing and social justice. Written for teacher preparation and university social justice courses, this book encourages educators to contextualize their mindfulness practice within a critique of systems of oppression and ask questions about how mindfulness can empower action towards a more just society.




Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Adolescents


Book Description

Copublished with Mindful Schools “Effectively sharing mindfulness with teenagers depends on distinct skill sets . . . done well, it is incredibly joyous.” Matthew Brensilver, JoAnna Hardy and Oren Jay Sofer provide a powerful guide to help teachers master the essential competencies needed to successfully share mindfulness practices with teens and adolescents. Incorporating anecdotes from actual teaching, they blend the latest scientific research with innovative, original techniques for making the practices accessible and interesting to this age group. This text is an indispensable handbook for mindfulness instruction in its own right, and a robust companion volume for teachers using The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents. Also available as a two-book set.




Contemplative Pedagogies for Transformative Teaching, Learning, and Being


Book Description

In our current systems of education, there is a trend toward compartmentalizing knowledge, standardizing assessments of learning, and focusing primarily on quantifiable and positivist forms of inquiry. Contemplative inquiry, on the other hand, takes us on a transformative pathway toward wisdom, morality, integrity, equanimity, and joy (Zajonc, 2009). These holistic learning practices are needed as a counterbalance to the over-emphasis on positivism that we see today. In addition to learning quantifiable information, we also need to learn to be calmer, wiser, kinder, and happier. This book aims to find and share various pathways leading to these ends. This book will describe educational endeavors in various settings that use contemplative pedagogies to enable students to achieve deep learning, peace, tranquility, equanimity, and wisdom to gain new understanding about self and life, and to grow holistically. Embodiment is a central concept in this book. We hope to highlight strategies for exploring internal wisdoms through engaging ourselves beyond simply the rational mind. Contemplative pedagogies such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, dance, arts, poetry, reflective writing and movements, can help students embody what they learn by integrating their body, heart, mind, and spirit.




Mindful Practice for Social Justice


Book Description

This book is designed to help you bring mindfulness and social justice to the forefront of your education practice, so you can work toward self-actualization and social transformation. Author Raquel Ríos offers instructional practices, coaching strategies and implementation tools to help you activate mind, body and spirit on your journey to making real changes toward equity in your school or classroom. What's Inside: Chapter 1 explains the importance of realizing one’s powers and how power increases when we discover its purpose and utility in society. Chapter 2 introduces you to the three domains of Peak Learning Experience (Personal, Social and Transpersonal) that lead to the targeted practices of Authentic Presence, Freedom and Emergence and discusses how bias can limit our ability to see the truth in people and situations. Chapters 3–5 delve into each domain, offering strategies, activities, reflection questions and application to practice tools. Chapter 6 discusses the importance of building the right team and the need to change how we recruit talent if we want to innovate our profession. With the powerful reflection tools and activities in this book, you and your teams will feel more equipped and supported on your path toward mindfulness, social justice and change in education.




Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning


Book Description

Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning is the first comprehensive survey text exploring the history, research, theory, and best practices of secular-scientific mindfulness. With a focus on how mindfulness is taught and learned, this book is an invaluable resource for aspiring or expert mindfulness specialists. Integrating and defining the emerging field of MBTL within a common purpose, evidence-base, and set of transprofessional—and transformational—practices, the book provides both a visionary agenda and highly practical techniques and tools. Chapters provide curriculum design and teaching tips, explore the expert-validated MBTL-TCF competency framework, and reveal insights into the ways self-awareness can evolve into ecological awareness through intensive retreats.




Learning and Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education in Oceania


Book Description

The mission of higher education in the 21st century must address the reconciliation of student learning and experiences through the lens of indigenous education and frameworks. Higher learning institutions throughout the oceanic countries have established frameworks for addressing indigeneity through the infusion of an indigenous perspectives curriculum. The incorporation of island indigenous frameworks into their respective curriculums, colleges, and universities in the oceanic countries has seen positive impact results on student learning, leading to the creation of authentic experiences in higher education landscapes. Learning and Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education in Oceania discusses ways of promoting active student learning and unique experiences through indigenous scholarship and studies among contemporary college students. It seeks to provide an understanding of the essential link between practices for incorporating island indigenous curriculum, strategies for effective student learning, and course designs which are aligned with frameworks that address indigeneity, and that place college teachers in the role of leaders for lifelong learning through indigenous scholarship and studies in Oceania. It is ideal for professors, practitioners, researchers, scholars, academicians, students, administrators, curriculum developers, and classroom designers.




Humanistic Approaches to Multiculturalism and Diversity


Book Description

Providing an overview of essential topics in multicultural psychology, Humanistic Approaches to Multiculturalism and Diversity focuses on the intersection of humanistic psychology and multiculturalism, including history, theory, research, and practice. The authors examine the unique contributions of humanistic psychology to multicultural psychology on topics often ignored, such as cultural empathy and indigenous psychology and diversity. The book critiques and rectifies previous failures to adequately engage multicultural issues by providing methods for integrating multicultural psychology and humanistic therapy. Readers will find that each chapter advances scholarship through a dialogue with multicultural perspectives and builds a foundation for future scholarship and clinical practice. This book will be of great interest to mental health professionals interested in humanistic and existential psychology.