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1 – 10 of over 1000Oren Ergas and Karen Ragoonaden
In this chapter, we contribute to the conceptualization of self by engaging in a self-study of teacher education practices in which we distilled our perspectives on incorporating…
Abstract
In this chapter, we contribute to the conceptualization of self by engaging in a self-study of teacher education practices in which we distilled our perspectives on incorporating mindfulness in teacher education. Mindfulness is currently incorporated in teacher learning and education mostly toward stress-reduction and well-being, yet its ancestries stress its role as a path toward self-knowledge. Working in teacher education departments set in Israel, on the one hand, and Canada, on the other, we describe the place of the practice in our personal lives and articulate how we view its contribution to teacher education. Specifically, we focus on how “self” features in our endeavors, by examining “who it is” in the teacher that we seek to evoke/invoke by the application of mindfulness? We engaged in dialogue and reflective writing, in which each of us served as the other's critical friend in an attempt to clarify our different views. Oren emerges with a view of mindfulness as invoking “self as moment-to-moment experience” and the “teleological self,” both crucial for teachers. These senses of self mobilize us away from sociopolitical identities toward human-to-human relationships and reground teachers in the values they view as core to their call to teach. Conversely, Karen stresses the practice as a primer for situating the self in the sociopolitical. It enables deeper engagement in critical pedagogy, invoking teachers' “fluid self” situated in open-mindedness. Here mindfulness becomes a practice of social justice that allows us to acknowledge marginalized voices. Highlighting these different approaches, we contribute to the understanding of the role of mindfulness in teacher education. In particular, we extend the practice's main positioning within teacher well-being to its role within the discourse of teacher identity.
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The purpose of this paper is to clarify why and how leadership development programs should be used to foster post‐conventional consciousness in their participants.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify why and how leadership development programs should be used to foster post‐conventional consciousness in their participants.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting from the observation that current and future organizational challenges may be met with particular efficacy by leaders who operate in the post‐conventional stages of consciousness, this paper offers a comprehensive review of the work on consciousness development, the process by which it occurs, the distinctive abilities of leaders who have reached post‐conventional stages of consciousness and, finally, two practices which favour the emergence of these stages, namely mindfulness meditation and Bohm dialogue.
Findings
The paper shows how these two practices – little‐used in the management field – make it possible to reconcile the two main approaches to consciousness development: the recognition of one's cognitive, affective and operative patterns and their suspension in favour of a more direct contact with reality, in the here and now.
Practical implications
The paper highlights guiding principles for integrating such practices into leadership and management development programs.
Originality/value
Although the value of post‐conventional stages of consciousness in management and leadership roles is the subject of increasing discussion, to the authors' knowledge no work has yet thoroughly examined practices that foster post‐conventional development per se.
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Tracy Smith-Carrier, Theo Koffler, Faye Mishna, Anna Wallwork, Joanne Daciuk and Jasmin Zeger
The purpose of this paper is to gain understanding of the benefits and limitations of mindfulness training among secondary school students and teachers in Toronto, Ontario…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain understanding of the benefits and limitations of mindfulness training among secondary school students and teachers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a case study methodology, the authors analysed programme evaluation forms and conducted thematic analyses of focus groups with Catholic secondary school teachers and students that participated in the Mindfulness Ambassador Council programme.
Findings
The findings suggest that mindfulness training may provide participants with opportunities for personal growth, specifically in the areas of stress reduction, relaxation, social awareness, self-discovery and relationship building.
Research limitations/implications
This study confirms existing literature that training in mindfulness practice may be beneficial in strengthening relationships, reducing stress and anxiety and promoting inner well-being and social-emotional learning in youth. To test these findings empirically, future research should examine mindfulness training in schools using a robust randomised controlled trial design.
Practical implications
Given the current state of research on mindfulness-based interventions specifically with the adolescent population, the study provides useful and timely data on participants ' experiences with mindfulness training, and discusses how such training can be effectively harnessed within secondary school settings.
Originality/value
There is growing evidence that the regular practice of mindfulness has myriad psychological, therapeutic and health benefits, and contributes to heightened emotional intelligence and improved performance in a host of activities. Relatively little is known, however, about the effects of mindfulness interventions on child and adolescent populations. The study contributes to the emerging evidence on mindfulness practice with students in school settings.
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Alba Yela Aránega, Rafael Castaño Sánchez and Samuel Ribeiro-Navarrete
The purpose of this study is to increase the resilience capacity of residential health-care professionals to achieve intrapreneurial development in workers. Through training based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to increase the resilience capacity of residential health-care professionals to achieve intrapreneurial development in workers. Through training based on the development of emotional competencies and the application of mindfulness techniques, the aim is for the individual to become aware of his or her role, learn to manage emotions and reduce feelings of distress and anxiety.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed programme has a duration of eight weeks. Every four days of training, mindfulness sessions are integrated, and at the beginning and end of the working day, 10 min are spent with superiors to give feedback on what happened during the day and the setting of new objectives. A control group is also established where they do not undergo such training. After the delivery of the programme, the results obtained after the application of the methodology to a sample of 91 residential health-care professionals are presented. By means of a validated resilience questionnaire composed of 25 items, the aim is to measure the resilience capacity of the participants before and after training and to observe the impact of the programme.
Findings
The results of this study show that the training has led to an improvement in the overall resilience capacity by 3.93% and has been able to reduce the existing gap between those over 45 years of age and younger people, although the age-related variable still represents a significant difference.
Originality/value
This study provides an innovative way of fostering entrepreneurship. While participants work on resilience management through mindfulness techniques, organisational commitment is achieved.
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Sharad Gupta and Harsh V. Verma
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of mindfulness meditation sessions on students of higher education in terms of their mindfulness, mindful consumption…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of mindfulness meditation sessions on students of higher education in terms of their mindfulness, mindful consumption behavior and life satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants of research were higher education students. The research included two studies. The first (screener) study endorsed that mindfulness was higher in students with higher mindfulness meditation frequency. The second study used difference-in-differences experimental design using a treatment and a control group. These groups participated in pre and post-treatment surveys. The treatment was given as guided short mindfulness meditation sessions as suggested by mindfulness guru – Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn. The treatment group received these sessions at the end of regular subject classes for two months.
Findings
The experiment revealed that mindfulness, mindful consumption and life satisfaction change significantly in the treatment group after treatment as compared to the control group.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of the study included sample size and attrition. In total, 149 students participated in the screener study. In total, 94 students were given pre-treatment survey as per research design and 80 participated in post-treatment survey.
Practical implications
This experiment demonstrated that important traits and behavior like life satisfaction and mindful consumption behavior of higher education students can be improved significantly. The effectiveness of guided short mindfulness sessions, conducted in the classroom environment, was also confirmed.
Social implications
The inclusion of mindfulness in the regular curriculum by policy makers would benefit students, faculty members and overall quality of learning environment.
Originality/value
Though previous researches have separately investigated relationships of mindfulness with life satisfaction, there is a lack of research to show association of mindfulness, mindful consumption and life satisfaction.
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The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize resonant co-creation as a framework for cultivating strategic innovation and organizational change; to delineate worldview…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize resonant co-creation as a framework for cultivating strategic innovation and organizational change; to delineate worldview transformation as central to resonant co-creation and overview the theoretical and practical foundations of this approach; and to offer a model on the facilitation of resonant co-creation in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual development with case illustration.
Findings
Resonant co-creation fosters strategic innovation through coaching and facilitation techniques that cultivate awareness, empathy, and advanced communication skills. This results in a fundamental shift in the engagement and interactions of teams, creating a new space for innovation.
Research limitations/implications
The framework offered herein brings conceptual clarity to specific approaches to and applications of resonant co-creation to achieve strategic innovation. By providing perspective on processes leading to innovation, it possible to be more precise about the relationships between consulting practices and stated organizational change outcomes.
Practical implications
The presentation and clarification of the theoretical model (the underlying grammar of facilitation) and specific techniques that can be used to drive worldview transformation can benefit coaches, facilitators, and leaders who wish to implement a co-creative organizational culture or improve outcomes of co-creative programs. By linking theory to practice, this paper can help change makers and managers better justify and implement resonant co-creation within their organizational contexts.
Social implications
Resonant co-creation facilitates an expansion of awareness that can lead to more sustainable business practices and workplace well-being. This benefits society at large through fostering more socially conscious and innovative organizations.
Originality/value
Resonant co-creation is a needed nuance to the very generalized notion of co-creation spread throughout organizations today. Clarifying this approach is useful to both practitioners and researchers who seek to understand or facilitate innovation and organizational change. The originality of this paper lies in the combination of the idea of co-creation with the psychological concept of worldview transformation. By creating shifts in individual and collective (organizational) worldview, resonant co-creation transforms the way people interact and ideate. This paper introduces a grammar of facilitation and specific techniques that shift worldview and create a space for strategic innovation.
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Anja Roemer, Anna Sutton and Oleg N. Medvedev
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced organisations to change the way they work to maintain viability, even though change is not always successfully…
Abstract
Purpose
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced organisations to change the way they work to maintain viability, even though change is not always successfully implemented. Multiple scholars have identified employees' readiness for change as an important factor of successful organisational change, but research focussed on psychological factors that facilitate change readiness is scarce. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether employee dispositional mindfulness contributes to readiness for change.
Design/methodology/approach
Employees (n = 301) from various industries in New Zealand participated in an online survey shortly after the local COVID-19 lockdown ended. The employees' levels of mindfulness, readiness for change, well-being and distress were assessed using well-validated psychometric scales. Multiple regression analyses tested the effect of mindfulness on readiness for change, with well-being and distress as moderating variables.
Findings
The results show that the effect of mindfulness on readiness for change is moderated by both well-being and distress. Mindfulness has a positive, significant effect on readiness for change when levels of well-being are high and levels of distress are low.
Practical implications
These findings have important implications for organisations who aim to promote readiness for change in their employees. Even though mindfulness has been shown to be beneficial, organisations also have to consider the mental states of their employees when managing change.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical evidence that dispositional mindfulness may facilitate the employees' readiness for change, but only when levels of well-being are high and distress are low.
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Cheng-Kar Phang, Firdaus Mukhtar, Normala Ibrahim and Sherina Mohd. Sidik
The principles of mindfulness have been increasingly applied in medical education for stress reduction. One of the most often used measures for mindfulness research is the Mindful…
Abstract
Purpose
The principles of mindfulness have been increasingly applied in medical education for stress reduction. One of the most often used measures for mindfulness research is the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). The purpose of this paper is to determine the factor structure, and investigate its reliability and validity in a sample of multi-ethnic medical students in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 590 medical students were involved in the study. After minor modification of the MAAS, a test battery including sociodemographic information, the MAAS, Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Five-facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was administered to the participants.
Findings
Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a one-dimensional factor structure of the MAAS. Cronbach’s α coefficient of the scale was 0.92 and in a sub-sample (n=118), it showed satisfactory temporal stability in two weeks period. There were significant positive correlations with SHS, SWLS, and four subscales of FFMQ scores (convergent validity); and negative correlations (discriminant validity) with the DASS and PSS scores (p<0.05). In another sub-sample (n=52) who participated in a four-week mindfulness-based intervention, the scale showed significant change in scores (p=0.002).
Originality/value
The study provided preliminary results supporting the use of the MAAS as a valid, reliable and stable factor structure of mindfulness measure among medical students in Malaysia.
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The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise two ostensibly disparate approaches to school-based mental health promotion and offer a conceptual foundation for considering possible…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise two ostensibly disparate approaches to school-based mental health promotion and offer a conceptual foundation for considering possible synergies between them.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines current conceptualisations of child and youth mental health and explores how these inform school-based prevention and intervention approaches. The dominance of discrete, “expert-driven” psychosocial programmes as well as the potential of critical pedagogy is explored using frameworks provided by contemporary dynamic systems theories. These theories call for a situated and holistic understanding of children’s development; and they look beyond static characteristics within individuals, to view well-being in relation to the dynamic social and historical contexts in which children develop.
Findings
Psychosocial interventions and critical pedagogies have strengths but also a number of limitations. Traditional psychosocial interventions teach important skill sets, but they take little account of children’s dynamic socio-cultural contexts, nor acknowledge the broader inequalities that are frequently a root cause of children’s distress. Critical pedagogies, in turn, are committed to social justice goals, but these goals can be elusive or seem unworkable in practice. By bringing these seemingly disparate approaches into conversation, it may be possible to harness their respective strengths, in ways that are faithful to the complex, emergent nature of children’s development, as well as committed to correcting inequalities.
Originality/value
The current paper is unique in bringing together contemporary psychological theory with critical pedagogy perspectives to explore the future of school-based mental health promotion.
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