Teacher as Environment: The Embodiment of Heartfulness in Teaching Practice

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dc.contributor.advisorBohac Clarke, Veronika
dc.contributor.authorMansfield, Brenda Elizabeth
dc.contributor.committeememberDavis, Brent Eric
dc.contributor.committeememberTapp, Dianne M.
dc.date2018-11
dc.date.accessioned2018-06-11T18:52:35Z
dc.date.available2018-06-11T18:52:35Z
dc.date.issued2018-05-18
dc.description.abstractThis research is an attempt to expand the topic of “heart in pedagogy” by exploring how the cultivation of positive emotional states may affect the pedagogical relationality between teacher and student and, ultimately, classroom climate. After all, “we never educate directly, but indirectly through means of the environment” (Dewey, 1944, p. 19). A heartfulness approach in education complements the contemporary practice of mindfulness, which has been incorporated into various curricula as a component of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) initiatives (Schonert-Reichl & Hymel, 2007; Schonert-Reichl, 2017; Zakrzewski, 2014). This paper focuses on the possibility that connecting the concept of heart in pedagogy to its physiological, social and emotional, and contemplative roots may offer new insights into heartfulness in teaching practice. Teachers participated in a series of heartfulness workshops, which included contemplative practices such as loving-kindness, appreciation, and compassion meditations. In addition, a heart-based biofeedback stress-management program was implemented to help teachers learn to deliberately shift into positive emotional states, thereby complementing the contemplative aspect of the program with an embodied awareness of heartfulness. Although a contemporary appreciation of the heart’s intelligence has been achieved through the natural sciences, the interpretive approaches drawn upon for this research study go beyond the natural science perspective and return the question of the role of the heart to its roots in lived experience. There are many in-depth studies on mindfulness in education, but the subject of heartfulness has not yet been given a detailed phenomenological exploration on par with the depth of study of mindfulness research. With the hope of developing a new understanding of heartfulness in teaching practice, I posed the following questions: • How do teachers who practice HRV biofeedback understand heartfulness?• How might the embodiment of heartfulness practice influence teaching practice? This interdisciplinary study may provide new insight into the ways heartfulness informs mindfulness in pedagogy. Supporting teachers’ well-being is one way to foster positive teacher-student relationships, improve career satisfaction and longevity, and contribute to building healthy communities.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMansfield, B. E. (2018). Teacher as Environment: The Embodiment of Heartfulness in Teaching Practice (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/31984en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/31984
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/106756
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.facultyWerklund School of Education
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectteacher well-being
dc.subjectsocial and emotional learning
dc.subjectstudent-teacher relationships
dc.subjectclassroom climate
dc.subjectheart rate variability
dc.subjectphysiological coherence
dc.subject.classificationPsychobiologyen_US
dc.titleTeacher as Environment: The Embodiment of Heartfulness in Teaching Practice
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineEducational Research
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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