ROBERT PRYOR, ANTIOCHMATTIE CLARK, CIMBA ITALYJAMIE ROBINSON, CEA DENISE COPE, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
Mindfulness Training in Intercultural Education
STOP.BREATHE.
ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOU ARE FEELING.
Mindful of Judgments How We Help Our Students Adjust
by Jamie Robinson, CEA
How Do Students with Anxiety Communicate?
ImpatientJudgmentalTearfulRigidOver-zealous approval
seekingDemands for attention
which alienate others
Difficulty taking criticism
Inflexible IrritableAngry EdgyCatastrophic
thinking
ACTING OUT ACTING IN
Easily Frustrated Irritable Rigid
Extremely sensitive Assume you are at
fault Flat Affect
Overly Passive
Unable to focus
Forgetful
Assume they are at fault
Excessively worried
Flat Affect
How Do Students with Depression Communicate?
What Are Judgments?
Being judgmental can be defined as:
Assigning value good or bad to a person, object or situation.
Unconscious statement of preference: This living room is ugly
Comparing self/others to a “standard “ A canned tomato is not as good as a fresh tomato
Sarcasm + Entitled = Low Self Esteem?
“This student has been speaking and acting disrespectfully, to both students and onsite staff. She also has a strong attitude of entitlement, and was rude about aspects of her program.”
Sometimes the entitled and judgmental student is the most frightened and insecure.
The French are: Americans are:
Creepy Smelly Hairy Rude Metro-sexualSexually liberal
Friendly LoudFatStupidAmbitiousRich
Judgments in PARIS
Catastrophe Around Every Corner…..
“Locals should adapt to my American way of being”
“My housing sucks!”“ I don’t feel safe.”
“I have not seen a normal size truck” since I got here.
How Can We Help?
THOUGHTS AREN’T FACTS
IDENTIFY FACTS
MINDFULAWARENES
S
A BALANCE
D APPROAC
H
TURN JUDGMENTS INTO FACTS
Judgment: “This meat is bad.” Statement of Fact: “This meat is rotten.” “This meat is over-cooked.”
Judgment: “You are careless with your studies.”Fact: “You have been absent from class three times
this week.
Mindfulness Training in International Education
WHY in study abroad
Novel experience Natural tendency for heightened attention
Sensory overload of (cultural) transition Heightened awareness of values, strengths,
weaknesses --- self-awareness Embrace full richness Process culture shock
Intimate community Peer influence
HowIntegrating mindfulness on campus
Mindfulness Seminar Integrating neuroscience
Daily Mindful Breathing as full community Other opportunities
Yoga, Compassionate, Body scan, Mindful walking, Mindful eating Mindful Travel Suggestions*
Waiting, Color, Sounds, Smells, Gratitude Student Champions
Bloggers, projects: (photo competition, 1 second a day, testimonials)
Regular Communication– Emails, Facebook posts• Survey – current experience and post positive benefits
• Individual guidance via coaching and mentoring• Sharing personal and cultural insights with group
Mindfulness Tools and Technology
“Mindfulness is one of the best tools CIMBA has taught me. Personally, I have noticed an increased ability to focus on school-related activities and more calmness in stressful situations. I feel more able to embrace the local culture.”
John Villaire, University of Delaware – Spring 2014
Education Abroad Paradigms
Mindfulness is a vehicle and non-intrusive intervention for making
sense of the study abroad experience. It is a tool for making
study abroad intentional, constructing meaning and
integrating the experience into the identity of students.
Mindfulness Scientific Research Resources
Richard DavidsonDan SiegelJeffrey SchwartzEllen LangerKelly McGonigalElisha GoldsteinDaniel KahnemanRobert J. Thompson – Beyond Tolerance and
Reason (2014)
The Impact of Mindfulness in Study AbroadDenise CopeDirector, Office of International Education, University of Denver
From Spiritual to SecularFrom Island to Complexity
Naropa University
University of Denver
Key QuestionsDo mindfulness practices &
pedagogy positively impact the way a student experiences culture shock?
Can these tools lead to greater intercultural development?
What is Mindfulness? Anything that strengthens awareness of
our habitual thoughts. For purposes of my study:
Mindful breathing practice: The training of attentional skills and the development of an equanimous, non-judgmental attitude toward one’s own experiences, toward sensations, thoughts and feelings, where arising experiences are acknowledged without elaboration or reaction. (Kabot-Zinn)
Culture Shock Stages
Study – Before Students go.. Small group of students who will be
going abroad in Fall 2014 on year or semester-long programs.
Daily commitment: 10 minutes of mindfulness breathing, 5-7 days a week for 5 weeks the term before, plus exercises.
Weekly commitment: Group analysis. Also, a control group.
Once Abroad…. Students will be in various locations all
of the world (i.e. Science Po-Rennes, Koc University, Lille University, Waseda U, etc.)
Commitment to continue 10 minutes per day/ 5-7 days per week and reflective exercises. Do they notice their reactions?
Weekly group check-ins via online forum for 8 weeks.
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle: Mindfulness in Action
adapted from Lily Engle
Concrete Experience
Interaction with host culture & 10 min meditation
Reflective ObservationNoticing self in reaction to
difference
Abstract ConceptualizationWeekly guided group discussion & analysis
Active ExperimentationTrying new ways of
interactingDeveloping empathy
for self & others
Hypotheses: Based on personal & prior experience with students Will students be less reactive during
both the highs and lows of culture shock? A greater ability be uncomfortable without
needing to fix, change or externalize it. Will mindfulness allow students to reach
the adjustment phase faster than the control group? Not necessarily, but students are not as
“gripped” by the stress of culture shock.
Phase II:Intercultural Development & Mindfulness Do these practices positively affect their
intercultural learning & development? An increased ability to notice & transform
judgments of “other” An increased ability to hold multiple cultural
perspectives
Questions re: Applicability