Contemplative Inquiry as a Service Design and Training Technique

Laurel Whisler – lwhisler@columbiasc.edu

Director, Edens Library

Columbia College (Columbia, SC)

Overview

• Explore use of contemplative inquiry with undergraduate peer mentors involved in developing a new service model and providing peer support in that program.
• Consider how this example can be used in a library setting.
• Engage in a brief contemplative activity to explore a new library service design and training program.

The Context:�Developing a “LearningLab”

• Clemson University, Academic Success Center, Spring 2020.
• LearningLab was a reconceptualization of a service to provide an academic environment for self-directed individual or collaborative learning.
• The LearningLab provided:
• a template as metacognitive structure for effective self-directed learning,
• handouts to promote research-based learning practices, and
• peer mentors to support individual or collaborative learning and to refer out to other services as appropriate.
• Goal: develop students’ learning capabilities within a peer-supported social learning environment.

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The Scenario:�Shape Training to Model the Service Mode

• Because the idea was for self-directed social learning, the peer mentor training needed to be self-directed and social to model modes of learning.
• Training also followed a “backwards design” process (Wiggins & McTighe) that started with the end in mind and built support to achieve the outcome.
• As a self-directed service, the peer mentors held an important role in developing a vision for the new service.
• The peer mentors engaged in contemplation as a vehicle for developing a vision of the service.

The Training:�Using Contemplation as a Way of Knowing

• (Link to the full training schedule)
• The contemplative inquiry component lasted 20 minutes.
• It involved an introduction to discursive meditation and contemplating the service from three perspectives.

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The Training:�Introduction to Contemplative Inquiry:�Pencil Contemplation Activity*

• Take a pencil in hand and study it, noticing and memorizing the details.
• Let your mind move through aspects of manufacturing, exploring what systems were necessary to bring together each component of the pencil.
• For example, consider the wood. What kind is it? Where is it grown? How might it be harvested? How would it be transported to the pencil factory?
• Contemplate the graphite.
• Contemplate the eraser.
• Contemplate the paint and the marketing.

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• * Discursive meditation activity adapted from Greer, J. M. (2012) Mystery Teachings from the Living Earth. San Francisco, CA: Weiser Books, 24-26

The Training:�Envisioning from Three Perspectives

• The peer mentors contemplated what the new service would look like from the perspective of:
• Students who participated in learning in that space
• The peer mentors themselves as they supported the students
• Their supervisor
• The goal was to imagine what each group of people would expect and how each group might feel when engaging from their perspective.
• The contemplation was done individually, in silence, while seated together in the room.

The Training:�Peer Mentor Responses

• Excerpt from my journal entry reflecting on the day:

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• “… One is at a 2 out of 5 (i.e. low) on enthusiasm and comfort with contemplation. Someone said contemplating the pencil felt uncomfortable. Others really liked the contemplation on perspectives on LearningLab - what a participants' experience might be like, a peer consultant's, and my expectations. It was a powerful experience of another way of knowing. One PLC said he thought about things in ways he never would have before.”

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• PLC=Peer Learning Consultant (i.e. peer mentors)

Let’s try it!

Application for Libraries:�Contemplative Inquiry for Program Design

• Gather in your mind a new service for your library. Imagine it is in place and running.
• What does the service point or program look like?
• What are the intended outcomes?
• What does the service look like in action? Who is present?
• What resources are they using?
• What conversations are happening?
• Where does the service have bumps or stuck places?
• How do people feel when providing or using the service?

Application for Libraries:�Contemplative Inquiry for Training

• Using that same program or service, contemplate the service from the perspective of the providers, users, and supervisors to reveal the training needs.
• What do the service providers do? What do they need to know? What knowledge or skills do they bring? What knowledge or skills do they need to develop? What challenges might they face? What could go wrong?
• What do the users of the service expect? How do they interact with the service? What emotions do they bring to the service point, and how do they affect the interaction? How might they misinterpret the service?
• What does the supervisor expect to see from the service point? What would demonstrate its effectiveness? What support or guidance do the service providers require? What accountability is needed?

Share out:�

• How was the outcome of your contemplative process different from your usual way of considering changes?
• What different perspectives or new insights entered your awareness during this contemplation activity?
• In what ways can this activity be used in your context to invite people into planning or training?
• How did you feel during the activity?

Resources for Contemplative Practice and Backwards Design

• Barbezat. D. P. & Bush, M. (2014). Contemplative Practices in Higher Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Greer, J. M. (2012). Mystery Teachings from the Living Earth. Weiser Books.
• Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• Zajonc, A. (2009). Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry. Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books.

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Questions?

• Thank you for attending and participating!
• lwhisler@columbiasc.edu
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurel-whisler-0b399713/