Reclaiming the Educational Through Embodied Narratives of ‘Know Thyself’
By Oren Ergas, PhD
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Education
Beit Berl College
https://beitberl.academia.edu/OrenErgas
2020, Post-critical Perspectives on Higher Education
The past decades have been characterized by several accounts of a moral crisis in higher education. External forces, such as globalization and neoliberal trends are often highlighted as main causes for this crisis. This chapter suggests that these ought to be seen as the symptoms of the problem; not its cause.
Mindfulness in education at the intersection of science, religion, and healing
By Oren Ergas, PhD
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Education
Beit Berl College
https://beitberl.academia.edu/OrenErgas
This paper investigates mindfulness as a case study of a ‘subjective turn’ in education reflecting a postsecular age. The practice of mindfulness originates in an ancient Buddhist teaching prescribed as part of the path to enlightenment. In spite of its origins, it is becoming widespread within diverse secularly conceived social and educational settings. The paper offers a historical review of this phenomenon and analyzes why and how mindfulness has become the spearhead within a burgeoning ‘contemplative turn’ in education. The thesis suggested is that ‘normal education’ follows ‘normal science’, yet science itself is now being shaken by its own venturing into the ‘dangerous’ waters of the religious experience. The paper reflects critically on the prices and merits of mindfulness in education as a practice shaped by its becoming measurable. It locates these processes as depicting the postsecular age’s blurring of boundaries between religiosity/secularity/education, subject/object, and science/healing/education.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.