ROBERT PRYOR, ANTIOCHMATTIE CLARK, CIMBA ITALYJAMIE ROBINSON, CEA DENISE COPE, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

Mindfulness Training in Intercultural Education

STOP.BREATHE.

ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOU ARE FEELING.

Mindful of Judgments How We Help Our Students Adjust

by Jamie Robinson, CEA

How Do Students with Anxiety Communicate?

ImpatientJudgmentalTearfulRigidOver-zealous approval

seekingDemands for attention

which alienate others

Difficulty taking criticism

Inflexible IrritableAngry EdgyCatastrophic

thinking

ACTING OUT ACTING IN

Easily Frustrated Irritable Rigid

Extremely sensitive Assume you are at

fault Flat Affect

Overly Passive

Unable to focus

Forgetful

Assume they are at fault

Excessively worried

Flat Affect

How Do Students with Depression Communicate?

What Are Judgments?

Being judgmental can be defined as:

Assigning value good or bad to a person, object or situation.

Unconscious statement of preference: This living room is ugly

Comparing self/others to a “standard “ A canned tomato is not as good as a fresh tomato

Sarcasm + Entitled = Low Self Esteem?

“This student has been speaking and acting disrespectfully, to both students and onsite staff. She also has a strong attitude of entitlement, and was rude about aspects of her program.”

Sometimes the entitled and judgmental student is the most frightened and insecure.

The French are: Americans are:

Creepy Smelly Hairy Rude Metro-sexualSexually liberal

Friendly LoudFatStupidAmbitiousRich

Judgments in PARIS

Catastrophe Around Every Corner…..

“Locals should adapt to my American way of being”

“My housing sucks!”“ I don’t feel safe.”

“I have not seen a normal size truck” since I got here.

How Can We Help?

THOUGHTS AREN’T FACTS

IDENTIFY FACTS

MINDFULAWARENES

S

A BALANCE

D APPROAC

H

TURN JUDGMENTS INTO FACTS

Judgment: “This meat is bad.” Statement of Fact: “This meat is rotten.” “This meat is over-cooked.”

Judgment: “You are careless with your studies.”Fact: “You have been absent from class three times

this week.

Mindfulness Training in International Education

WHY in study abroad

Novel experience Natural tendency for heightened attention

Sensory overload of (cultural) transition Heightened awareness of values, strengths,

weaknesses --- self-awareness Embrace full richness Process culture shock

Intimate community Peer influence

HowIntegrating mindfulness on campus

Mindfulness Seminar Integrating neuroscience

Daily Mindful Breathing as full community Other opportunities

Yoga, Compassionate, Body scan, Mindful walking, Mindful eating Mindful Travel Suggestions*

Waiting, Color, Sounds, Smells, Gratitude Student Champions

Bloggers, projects: (photo competition, 1 second a day, testimonials)

Regular Communication– Emails, Facebook posts• Survey – current experience and post positive benefits

• Individual guidance via coaching and mentoring• Sharing personal and cultural insights with group

Mindfulness Tools and Technology

“Mindfulness is one of the best tools CIMBA has taught me. Personally, I have noticed an increased ability to focus on school-related activities and more calmness in stressful situations. I feel more able to embrace the local culture.”

John Villaire, University of Delaware – Spring 2014

Education Abroad Paradigms

Mindfulness is a vehicle and non-intrusive intervention for making

sense of the study abroad experience. It is a tool for making

study abroad intentional, constructing meaning and

integrating the experience into the identity of students.

Mindfulness Scientific Research Resources

Richard DavidsonDan SiegelJeffrey SchwartzEllen LangerKelly McGonigalElisha GoldsteinDaniel KahnemanRobert J. Thompson – Beyond Tolerance and

Reason (2014)

The Impact of Mindfulness in Study AbroadDenise CopeDirector, Office of International Education, University of Denver

From Spiritual to SecularFrom Island to Complexity

Naropa University

University of Denver

Key QuestionsDo mindfulness practices &

pedagogy positively impact the way a student experiences culture shock?

Can these tools lead to greater intercultural development?

What is Mindfulness? Anything that strengthens awareness of

our habitual thoughts. For purposes of my study:

Mindful breathing practice: The training of attentional skills and the development of an equanimous, non-judgmental attitude toward one’s own experiences, toward sensations, thoughts and feelings, where arising experiences are acknowledged without elaboration or reaction. (Kabot-Zinn)

Culture Shock Stages

Study – Before Students go.. Small group of students who will be

going abroad in Fall 2014 on year or semester-long programs.

Daily commitment: 10 minutes of mindfulness breathing, 5-7 days a week for 5 weeks the term before, plus exercises.

Weekly commitment: Group analysis. Also, a control group.

Once Abroad…. Students will be in various locations all

of the world (i.e. Science Po-Rennes, Koc University, Lille University, Waseda U, etc.)

Commitment to continue 10 minutes per day/ 5-7 days per week and reflective exercises. Do they notice their reactions?

Weekly group check-ins via online forum for 8 weeks.

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle: Mindfulness in Action

adapted from Lily Engle

Concrete Experience

Interaction with host culture & 10 min meditation

Reflective ObservationNoticing self in reaction to

difference

Abstract ConceptualizationWeekly guided group discussion & analysis

Active ExperimentationTrying new ways of

interactingDeveloping empathy

for self & others

Hypotheses: Based on personal & prior experience with students Will students be less reactive during

both the highs and lows of culture shock? A greater ability be uncomfortable without

needing to fix, change or externalize it. Will mindfulness allow students to reach

the adjustment phase faster than the control group? Not necessarily, but students are not as

“gripped” by the stress of culture shock.

Phase II:Intercultural Development & Mindfulness Do these practices positively affect their

intercultural learning & development? An increased ability to notice & transform

judgments of “other” An increased ability to hold multiple cultural

perspectives

Questions re: Applicability