Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning: Preparing Mindfulness Specialists in Education and Clinical Care

Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning is the first comprehensive survey text exploring the history, research, theory, and best practices of secular-scientific mindfulness. With a focus on how mindfulness is taught and learned, this book is an invaluable resource for aspiring or expert mindfulness specialists. Integrating and defining the emerging field of MBTL within a common purpose, evidence-base, and set of transprofessional—and transformational—practices, the book provides both a visionary agenda and highly practical techniques and tools. Chapters provide curriculum design and teaching tips, explore the expert-validated MBTL-TCF competency framework, and reveal insights into the ways self-awareness can evolve into ecological awareness through intensive retreats.

Table of Contents:
Section 1. Histories - Why MBTL: From Mindfulness to Mindfulness-Based Teaching and Learning 1. How We Got Here: From Traditional to Secular-Scientific Mindfulness 2. Where We Are Now: Secular-Scientific Mindfulness and the Malaise of Modernity 3. What Happened: The Mainstreaming of Mindfulness Section 2. - Contexts - Where We Teach: MBTL in Institutional Contexts 4. Community and Continuing Education: Beyond Institutional Constraints 5. Healthcare: The Medicalization of Mindfulness 6. Higher Education: From Contemplative Studies to "Student Success" 7. PreK-12 Education: Where Social-Emotional and Inquiry-Based Learning Intersect 8. Workplace and Organizational Contexts Section 3. Theories - Why Mindfulness Works: Theories Informing MBTL 9. Biological Theories of Embodied Cognition and Mindfulness 10. Cognitive Processing Theories 11. Buddhist Theories of Mindfulness and Learning Section 4. Practices - What We Teach: The What, Why, and How of MBTL 12. Mindfulness as Body-Mind Communication 13. Mindfulness as Social-Emotional Learning 14. Mindfulness as Inquiry-Based Learning Section 5. Methods - What We Do: Competencies and Professional Practice in MBTL 15. Transprofessional Competencies for MBTL Specialists: The MBTL-TCF 16. Curriculum Design for MBTL Specialists 17. Trauma-Informed Practice in MBTL Section 6. Limits - What We Don't See: The Post-Modern Frontier of MBTL 18. The Limits of Professionalism: Navigating the Wilds of the (Post)Modern 19. From Self-Awareness to Ecological Awareness: Mindful Encounters with Wildlife During Intensive Silent Retreats

About the Author :
Seonaigh MacPherson, PhD, is a professor in the Faculty of Education and Community Development at the University of the Fraser Valley, where she is founder and coordinator of the MBTL graduate certificate program. A certified MBSR and MBCT teacher, she lives in British Columbia, Canada. Patricia Rockman, MD, is an associate professor at the University of Toronto Department of Family Medicine, where she is cross-appointed to psychiatry. She is co-founder of the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto where she teaches MBSR, MBCT, and mindfulness-certification programs.

Review :
"Combining rigorous scholarship with an intuitive understanding of contemplative practice, this impressive book makes a compelling case for mindfulness as an embodied bridge linking the broad domains of education and self-growth. It is a wonderful resource for educators, mindfulness teachers, and professionals interested in fostering curiosity, sensory processing, and awareness as platforms for lifelong learning and well-being." Zindel Segal, PhD, Distinguished Professor, University of Toronto, Scarborough "Seonaigh MacPherson and Patricia Rockman have integrated material from a wealth of disciplines, distilling the teaching and learning of secular-scientific mindfulness to cultivate personal and societal wellbeing. In so doing, they bring divergent views of western mindfulness together, emphasizing a common and critical goal in a western world that is in dire need of working toward well-being on all levels." Ellen Katz, PhD, associate professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto "This book is a deep dive into the mindfulness field, exploring many of its significant questions, themes, and controversies: its history, how mindfulness emerged in multiple sectors, and scientific and clinical issues. A standout is the useful rubric for evaluating and training mindfulness teachers. Thoroughly researched, meticulous, and comprehensive, this book will be a landmark text for the mindfulness field for years to come." Diana Winston, director of mindfulness education, UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and author of The Little Book of Being