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Exploring the potential of mindful compassion pedagogies for effective global citizenship education and education for sustainable development

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Abstract

Effective Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) benefit from three interrelated dimensions of learning identified by UNESCO: cognitive, social-emotional and behavioural. The latter two of these are especially relevant to mindful compassion pedagogies, and the purpose of the literature review presented here was to ascertain how well such pedagogies could cultivate GCED and ESD social and emotional behavioural competencies in preschool to secondary-level education, tertiary-level education and professional development programmes for educators. The research team analysed 37 relevant peer-reviewed research articles and reports published between 1956 and 2021. Their findings point to many possibilities for how mindful compassion practices could serve as building blocks for desired GCED and ESD competencies. However, this requires a great deal of intentionality on the part of those responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of mindful compassion-based programmes seeking to cultivate GCED- and ESD-related behavioural competencies. In essence, curriculum designers need to provide opportunities for students to practise mindful compassion as a microskill that leads to the attainment of behavioural competencies conducive to global citizenship and sustainable development. This article summarises the researchers’ findings and posits guiding questions for educators and researchers to consider as they design and evaluate social-emotional competencies of the kind needed for GCED and ESD to be effective.

Résumé

Explorer le potentiel des pédagogies de la compassion attentive pour une éducation à la citoyenneté mondiale et au développement durable efficace – L’éducation à la citoyenneté mondiale (ECM) et l’éducation au développement durable (EDD) bénéficient des trois dimensions interdépendantes de l’apprentissage établies par l’UNESCO : cognitive, socio-émotionnelle et comportementale. Les deux dernières dimensions sont particulièrement pertinentes pour les pédagogies de la compassion attentive, et l’analyse documentaire présentée ici avait pour objectif de déterminer dans quelle mesure ces pédagogies pouvaient cultiver les compétences comportementales sociales et émotionnelles de l’éducation à la citoyenneté mondiale et de l’éducation au développement durable dans les enseignements préscolaire, secondaire et supérieur ainsi que dans les programmes de développement professionnel des éducateurs. L’équipe de recherche a analysé 37 articles et rapports de recherche pertinents évalués par des pairs et publiés entre 1956 et 2021. Leurs conclusions désignent de nombreuses possibilités d’utiliser les pratiques de compassion attentive comme éléments de base pour les compétences souhaitées en matière d’ECM et d’EDD. Toutefois, cela nécessite une solide détermination de la part des responsables de la conception, de la mise en œuvre et de l’évaluation des programmes fondés sur la compassion attentive qui cherchent à cultiver les compétences comportementales liées à l’ECM et à l’EDD. En substance, les concepteurs de programmes doivent offrir aux étudiants la possibilité de pratiquer la compassion attentive en tant que micro-compétences permettant d’acquérir des compétences comportementales propices à la citoyenneté mondiale et au développement durable. Cet article résume les conclusions des chercheures et pose des questions directrices que les éducateurs et les chercheurs doivent prendre en compte lorsqu’ils conçoivent et évaluent les compétences socio-émotionnelles nécessaires à une ECM et une EDD efficaces.

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Notes

  1. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn 2011, p. 1).

  2. In the field of psychology, the term embodied behaviour refers to the body as a tool for healing through self-awareness, mindfulness, connection, self-regulation, finding balance and creating self-acceptance.

  3. Established in New Haven in 1994, CASEL is a non-profit organisation now headquartered in Chicago in the United States. According to its own website, “CASEL’s mission is to help make evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) an integral part of education from preschool through high school”; see https://casel.org/about-us/our-mission-work/ [accessed 24 April 2023].

  4. The Commission convened its first meeting in November 2016. Its mandate expired in 2019 with the publication of its final report (National SEAD Commission 2019).

  5. Neurodiversity refers to evidence that human beings have a wide variety of diverse environmental experiences and personal choices and that not all human beings have the same opportunities to learn and develop (Bresciani Ludvik 2019).

  6. The Five facet mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ) uses a self-report assessment method to explore facets of mindfulness. The Multidimensional compassion scale (MCS) measures workplace compassion. The other two measurement tools mentioned in Figure 3 are the Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), which is a self-report measure of anxiety, and the Perceived stress scale (PSS), which measures the perception of stress.

  7. Tables 1–4 (providing author name[s] & publication year; mindful compassion practices; frequency, duration, and time and location of engagement; facilitator(s); age group; research evaluation assessment and findings) are available at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eE39JdF17-FC0s5Crd7CNT4Mxa-ppTFZ/edit

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Marilee Bresciani Ludvik

  2. Department of Early Childhood & Childhood Education, Lehman College, The City University of New York (CUNY), Bronx, NY, USA

    Celestial Wills-Jackson

  3. University of Kansas School of Education, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Tonya Lea Eberhart

  4. Independent Philantropist, WFYI, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Shaila Mulholland

  5. Next River: An institute for practicing the future, New York, NY, USA

    Sonia Bhansali

  6. California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA, USA

    Shannon Nolan-Arañez

  7. Career Launch Academy, San Ramon, CA, USA

    Jenn Henline

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  1. Marilee Bresciani Ludvik
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Correspondence to Celestial Wills-Jackson.

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Ludvik, M.B., Wills-Jackson, C., Eberhart, T.L. et al. Exploring the potential of mindful compassion pedagogies for effective global citizenship education and education for sustainable development. Int Rev Educ 69, 275–297 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-023-10009-x

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