Integrating Mindfulness into Anti-Oppression Pedagogy: Social Justice in Higher Education

199 Pages·2016·1.22 MB·English

by  Beth Berila

INTEGRATING MINDFULNESS
INTO ANTI-OPPRESSION
PEDAGOGY
Drawing from mindfulness education and social justice teaching, this book
explores an anti-oppressive pedagogy for university and college classrooms.
Authentic classroom discussions about oppression and diversity can be difficult;
a mindful approach allows students to explore their experiences with compas-
sion and to engage in critical inquiry to confront their deeply held beliefs and
value systems. This engaging book is full of practical tips for deepening learn-
ing, addressing challenging situations, and providing mindfulness practices in
anti-oppression classrooms. Integrating Mindfulness into Anti-Oppression Pedagogy is
for all higher education professionals interested in pedagogy that empowers and
engages students in the complex unlearning of oppression.
Beth Berila is the Director of the Women’s Studies Program and a Professor
in the Ethnic and Women’s Studies Department at St. Cloud State University,
USA.
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INTEGRATING
MINDFULNESS INTO
ANTI-OPPRESSION
PEDAGOGY
Social Justice in Higher Education
Beth Berila
First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of Beth Berila to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without
intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-85455-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-85456-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-72103-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
This book is dedicated to all of my Women’s Studies students over the
years. Y ou continue to inspire and teach me.
And to Amy Boland, who makes me laugh, helps me sparkle, and builds a
life with me full of joy and possibility.
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Permissions xv
1 Mindful Anti-Oppression Pedagogy 1
2 Bringing the Body Back In 33
3 Recognizing and Unlearning Internalized Oppression 63
4 Dismantling Privilege with Mindful Listening 90
5 Reframing Student Resistance as Mindful Dissonance 118
6 Critiques and Challenges of Mindful Anti-Oppression
Pedagogy 148
7 Building Empowered, Compassionate Communities 172
Index 177
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PREFACE
I delved into yoga and meditation deeply after I earned tenure and promotion
to Associate Professor. I had spent more than ten years teaching Women’s Studies
courses at various higher education institutions, working with hundreds of stu-
dents, and tackling one social issue of oppression after another, both on campus
and off. I was burned out, empty, and deeply in need of new sets of tools. I was
disillusioned at how many of my students had still so deeply internalized oppres-
sive ideologies into their sense of self even while being empowered by Women’s
Studies and other social justice curriculum. I wondered if those were simply les-
sons students had to “learn the hard way” or if there were tools missing that we
needed to offer them. I had a nagging hunch that the answer was both.
After tenure, I enrolled in a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Program and began
teaching yoga sporadically. That experience deepened my practice immensely and
allowed me to begin bringing the gifts of yoga to my community. Over the next
several years, the two realms of my work—yoga and Women’s Studies—continued
to gravitate toward one another like two parts of a magnet. However, because
I was still on the academic “treadmill” of always producing and doing more, the
synergy was never quite firing.
Then I found the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education
(ACMHE), which felt like coming home. Instead of always having to justify my
interest in yoga as something so much deeper than merely “exercise” (which
I so often had to do with many of my academic colleagues and administrators),
I settled amongst a group of supportive people who understood what contempla-
tive pedagogy offered collegiate learning. I participated in conferences that started
with a grounding and integrated reflection. The two parts of my world started
coming together even more closely.