Contemplative Studies in Higher Education by Sanders Linda A.;

Author:Sanders, Linda A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Published: 2013-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

Challenges to Implementing the Cajita Project.

Professors should understand that there will be some students who will not embrace contemplative assignments such as the cajita project. Not every student will be comfortable or ready to participate in this kind of contemplative assignment because of personal reasons relating to faith issues, cultural anxiety, emotional discomfort, or unwillingness to share personal belief systems and life experiences. Consequently, the instructor should be open to providing an alternative assignment (such as creating another arts-based project, writing a book review, writing a paper related to the course content) in consultation with the concerned student(s).

Reflective assignments are quite in vogue these days and typically involve activities such as journaling and writing personal essays. We wish to emphasize that assignments involving contemplative activities should be very carefully designed and implemented. Employing a contemplative pedagogy requires that the instructors have: (1) done extensive background reading to thoroughly understand the nature of contemplative practice, its uses, potential, and challenges; and (2) adopted some form of contemplative practice in their own personal lives such as meditation, yoga, journaling, or poetry writing, among others. We cannot overemphasize that contemplative activities should be employed with great care and sensitivity. If poorly applied, reflective assignments can result in a less than positive classroom experience for both instructors and students.

Instructors should realize that more often than not students might have never engaged in contemplative activities during their educational experiences. As a result, the instructor needs to be keenly aware that several basic questions about the logistics of the assignment may arise. A variety of deeper philosophical questions tend to follow after students understand the project and are in the process of developing their cajitas. Therefore, we recommend that the instructor check in with the students as the semester progresses and revisit the cajita assignment to clarify questions about the project.

Finally, some students may view the cajita project as not relevant to their personal cultural experience, perhaps viewing it only as a Latino-specific activity or considering it to be an appropriation of a certain culture. However, in our opinion, the cajita project transcends a focus on only one culture. In our classrooms, students from diverse ethnic, racial, religious, and sexual orientation backgrounds have successfully worked on creating cajitas. Although we are personally comfortable employing the Spanish term, cajita, we also recognize that this kind of project can be conceptualized in a variety of ways. For example, one professor shared that she had employed a “shoe project” with her students. Her students were asked to select shoes that reflected their life journeys; and the shoes might also be filled with different artifacts. Similarly, another professor, who worked with immigrant students, had asked them to construct images of the homes they left behind. This home imagery assignment was designed to facilitate self-understanding and healing within the community of immigrant student learners. A faculty member teaching any course can come up with a wide array of creative ways to engage students in contemplative activities that deepen the learning experience.

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