Contemplative pedagogy and practices spotlight: Joseph Siddiqi

Joseph Siddiqi, Part-time instructor in Studio Arts incorporates mindful practices in the classroom to enhance student’s artistic and creative process, develop lifelong skills, and deepen their engagement with course materials.

What motivated you to use contemplative and mindful practices in your teaching?

Joseph actively uses contemplative and mindfulness practices in his personal life and has witnessed firsthand its positive effects. Amid the challenges posed by the pandemic, particularly the emergency shift to online course delivery, he deliberately chose to integrate various contemplative methods into his teaching. This decision was motivated by a growing awareness of the heightened anxiety and stress levels experienced by his students. During this unprecedented time, he sought a supportive learning environment to address his students’ self-doubt and criticisms. Since then, Joseph has remained committed to using contemplative and mindfulness practices to empower his students and cultivate a compassionate learning environment and a positive mindset.

Practices

After establishing rapport with his students, Joseph introduces them to various contemplative and mindfulness techniques, including sitting and breathing practices, body scans and loving-kindness practices, integrating them into course content. For example, Joseph guides his class through sitting and breathing exercises before stressful activities, such as presenting their artwork to others. Seated in a circle, eyes closed, students focus on a chosen meditation object for a couple of minutes – the object could be internal, like their breath, or external, like a place of personal significance. This exercise doesn’t require students to be expert meditators. Instead, the exercise prompts students to anchor their attention to an object while allowing their minds to wander and return to it freely. Afterward, Joseph facilitates a discussion and invites his students to optionally share their experiences, fostering a reflective and open classroom atmosphere.

Benefits

Given that art is highly personal and subjective, these practices cultivate trust and acceptance in the classroom, enabling the students to comfortably share their work with the teacher and their peers. Routinely engaging in these practices can also foster non-judgmental support among students and reduce the competitiveness that is often felt in educational institutions. The mindfulness practices can foster a sense of ease with uncertainty for Joseph and his students. For instance, when a student shares the motivation behind their art – which could be rooted in a personal trauma – mindfulness techniques impart the valuable lesson of allowing a moment of reflection without the pressure to articulate a response immediately. This benefits the students and class as a whole by teaching them to be empathetic, reflective and accepting of themselves and others. Moreover, these techniques benefit the creative process by inspiring a state of flow that arises from countering the need to be a perfectionist. 

Challenges and limitations

Navigating the time constraints imposed by the necessity to cover a large amount of content within limited class and semester durations presents a challenge for Joseph. Finding moments to incorporate these practices into the busy syllabus amid this pressure is difficult. However, Joseph’s implementation of these practices never extended past class duration, as paradoxically, the skills acquired through these practices heightened student engagement with the course material and facilitated a more in-depth coverage of a broader range of topics. Given that Joseph’s courses are not meditation-based, there are limitations to how these practices can be used. Recognizing this, Joseph uses a simple and accessible approach, particularly for students without prior experience in these practices.

Advice on implementing these practices in your teaching

Joseph emphasizes the importance of personally developing and committing to a contemplative or mindfulness practice before incorporating it into your course. Mastery is not the goal – rather, it is crucial to sincerely commit to a simple practice that works best for you. To foster a non-judgmental class environment, instructors must exemplify openness and acceptance themselves. Joseph encourages instructors to share their backgrounds and motivations for adopting such practices while maintaining a secular approach to accommodate diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Acknowledging that these practices are not one-size-fits-all, Joseph recommends providing alternative modes of practice, recognizing that exercises centered on the body or breath may not be beneficial for everyone. Encouraging students to independently select objects of focus that align with their comfort enables instructors to foster personalized approaches for diverse needs. Joseph also finds its beneficial to invite student feedback to gain insight into the effectiveness of different practices in the classroom.

Spotlighting Contemplative Practices at Concordia 

This is part of a blog series celebrating Concordia’s teaching excellence and pedagogical innovation. This series highlights how educators from various disciplines are integrating contemplative pedagogy and practices into their courses to enhance student learning, foster compassionate classroom environments, and support the well-being of both students and educators.

By intentionally using the learner-centered approaches that characterize contemplative pedagogy, these educators encourage students to cultivate inner stillness, focused attention, self-reflection and self-acceptance while nurturing peer connections and cultivating lifelong skills that are beneficial within and beyond the classroom.

Curious to learn more? Join us at the Contemplative Pedagogy Faculty Interest Group to connect with colleagues from across disciplines, explore the work of contemplative pedagogy scholars, and re-energize your relationship to teaching and learning.