Lela Mosemghvlishvili, who has been working as lecturer and course coordinator for the PPLE programme since 2018, was granted an Education Research Fellowship in 2021 to conduct a two-year research project in educational sciences and teaching practices. Their research project is concerned with developing design principles of contemplative pedagogy. In the context of their research, Lela regularly gives workshops to teachers on the themes of improving students’ meta-cognitive skills such as reflection, about authenticity in teaching, and contemplative teaching methods. In that same year, Lela held a TED Talk on the latter topic.

Could you tell us a little bit about your TED Talk?

During the TED Talk, I shared a very personal story of my own burnout in academia and how I had to change my way of teaching in order to be more authentic and present in classrooms . Following this episode in my life, there was also an increasing passion to bring change through new teaching methods. The invitation for the TED Talk actually came from one of my former students. That was very special and rewarding.

I wanted to make the talk experiential, so I let the audience attend with compassion to their feelings and to their bodies. The atmosphere in the theatre changed while they were doing so. It turned into a serene and calm atmosphere. After my TED Talk, members from the audience approached me. Two students told me they wished to have such exercises in the classroom.

What is ‘contemplative pedagogy’ and how does it enrich teaching?

Contemplative pedagogy is a novel approach to teaching which emphasizes the need and the intrinsic value of bringing the students’ first-person view into the learning process to enrich, enhance, and not to substitute current teaching methods. Contemplation entails an introspective process where you become observer of your own thinking and ‘inner landscape’. Instead of interacting with others, it’s all about introspection.

In class, we tend to structure our classes hyperactively. We have two hours for each class at best, so it is usually all very fast-paced. Skills that require advanced thinking simply cannot be learned quickly. Deep learning requires one to slow down.

Contemplation is a way of making students explore learning material more deeply and become aware of their learning. It is connected with meta-cognitive skills and critical thinking. It requires students to turn their gaze to themselves. ‘How does my personal experience resonate with the material and what emotions does it trigger in me when I learn about this?’ A good example would be climate change. It can trigger apathy or negative emotions, such as fear. The topics have direct implication on the lives of students.

“By allowing room to contemplate, we leave room to connect with the teaching. Material can seem far away from students and by doing this we bring it closer to them. Through this, they realize it affects their lives and their community.”

Why did you decide to incorporate this approach into your teaching?

It was a reaction to observing what students found difficult. I asked myself: how can I support them in their learning? Exploring and integrating, slow faced, introspective and contemplative moments emerged as a response to seeing what my students struggled with and trying to address it in the classroom.

To give you an example, PPLE is honors programme, so students tend to be competitive in the classroom. During in–class discussions, I observed that the students were not truly hearing one another. Students were great at persuasion and structuring arguments, but there was no true exchange of ideas. They were mostly focused on providing counterarguments and the art of rhetoric. Through introducing empathetic listening and contemplation, I tried to stimulate a real exchange of views, ideas and knowledge.

Students were then told not to argue or interrupt, but to pose follow-up questions to understand why the opponent was saying something, to truly listen to each other, not for the sake of formulating a counterargument, but understanding I then noticed a great shift in the class.

“At the end of the Socratic circles, I received amazing feedback from students. I did not even need to mediate the discussion, even though teachers usually have to. When I encouraged them to really listen instead of debating, the moderation was no longer necessary. It truly shifts the atmosphere in the classroom. Some students wrote in the evaluation that this was the most valuable course and in-class discussion they had ever had.”

What does ‘embodiment’ indicate and what is its value in the classroom?

Embodied learning or embodiment is very much the idea that the mind and body are not separate. We tend to perceive them as separate. Embodied learning is a response to that challenge. It involves learning methods that allow the presence of bodies of students into the classroom, along with their feelings and emotions, rather than only catering to their minds.

Experiments have been done across disciplines, on how to teach abstract concepts by making them more tangible. This can be done through roleplay and games, for example. It also enriches the types of in-class activities. Embodiment creates a new way of deep learning. In one of my courses, we use movement as a way to express and communicate key concepts from the reading. You can compare it with a PowerPoint presentation but enacted by students through movement in space.

How would you implement this in the classroom?

Instead of asking students to explain a key concept through words, you could ask them to express it through bodily movement. Pick an analytical abstract concept, such as alienation, and then have students in small groups think about how to express it through body movement in space. Even ore, let one group show a concept and let other students guess what the students were trying to show. Students have to really delve deep into the concept to do so. You can memorize a definition as hard as you want, but in order to communicate a concept, you have to internalize it and truly grasp it.

What could be the first small step for teachers who want to try this?

First of all, there is a very good book on the topic. It’s called Contemplating Practices for Higher Education: Powerful Methods to Transform Teaching and Learning by Barbezat and Bush. It lists examples across faculties on how different contemplative exercises have been integrated into university teaching. The book also reviews different types of exercises such as contemplative reading, listening and writing.

Secondly, think of how you can disrupt the seating in the classroom. Move somewhere else or switch up the space you have.

Moreover, time is key. Think about the rhythm of the lessons. How can you enrich the structure of the class, by deliberately slowing down? For example, think of reading in your classroom. You could ask students to read an important extract out loud and ask them to take a one-minute pause after every sentence. After completing contemplative reading, ask them to write down their response to the reading. This might sound crazy, but if you experience it, it’s very powerful, and students deeply think about the text, something that they hardly ever have time for.

Another way is to allow silence in classrooms. We often perceive time as much faster than students, so we start filling in the gaps. Deliberately giving them time encourages contemplation in the classroom.

Lastly, there will be more workshops coming as the outcome of my two-year research. Next one, specifically about using contemplative reading in class, will take place during our next Education Day on October 6^th. The workshops will become more and more present once the research is completed. There will be a pilot study supporting teachers to implement contemplative exercises in own teaching as a part of my research. The implementation will start next year. I’m looking for volunteer teachers to take the developed material and to apply it in their own classes and to then evaluate. Teachers that are interested are welcome to reach out to me.