This reading list includes some recommended academic literature that has informed conceptual and methodological concerns of mine in my own educational research on the integration of meditation and other contemplative practices into higher education pedagogy and curriculum.
Please Note: The reading lists on this website are continually being updated. Please feel free to get in touch if you feel there is relevant literature worth exploring and later perhaps including in this list.
Research as Meditative Process and/or Practice
Academic Journal Articles
Chuaprapaisilp, A. (1997). Thai Buddhist philosophy and the action research process. Educational Action Research, 5(2), 331–336.
Coyle, A. (2008). Qualitative methods and ‘the (partly) ineffable’ in psychological research on religion and spirituality. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 5(1), 56–67.
Janesick, V. J. (2015). Contemplative qualitative inquiry: Practicing the Zen of research. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Tight, M. (2016). Phenomenography: The development and application of an innovative research design in higher education research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 19(3). 319–338.
Winter, R. (2003). Buddhism and action research: Towards an appropriate model of inquiry for the caring professions. Educational Action Research, 11(1), 141–160.
Ward, S. J., & Varnon-Hughes, S. (2016). Mindful action research: A values-based, scholar practitioner approach. Claremont, CA: Claremont Lincoln University.
On Research Paradigms
Academic Books
Lin, J., Oxford, R., & Culham, T. (Eds.) (2016). Toward a spiritual research paradigm: Exploring new ways of knowing, researching and being. Toronto: Information Age Publishing.
Sheldrake, R. (2017). Science and spiritual practices: Reconnecting through direct experience. London: Coronet. (Please Note: This is a general read book but research-informed and critiques a materialist worldview).
Chapters in Edited Academic Books
Varela, F. J., & Shear, J. (1999). First-person methodologies: What, why, how? In F. Varela & J. Shear (Eds.), The View from Within (pp. 1–14). Thorverton: Imprint Academics.
Academic Journal Articles
Caldwell, C. (2014). Mindfulness and bodyfulness: A new paradigm. Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, 1(5), 69–88.
Davis, C. S., & Breede, D. C. (2015). Holistic ethnography: Embodiment, emotion, contemplation, and dialogue in ethnographic fieldwork. The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, 2(1), 77-100.
Francesconi, D., & Tarozzi, M. (2012). Embodied education: A convergence of phenomenological pedagogy and embodiment. Studia Phaenomenologica, 2012(1), 263–288.
Magnat, V. (2011). Conducting embodied research at the intersection of performance studies, experimental ethnography, and indigenous methodologies. Anthropologica, 2, 213.
Margalef García, L., & Pareja Roblin, N. (2008). Innovation, research and professional development in higher education: Learning from our own experience. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(1), 104–116.
Roth, W. (2012). First–person methods: Toward an empirical phenomenology of experience (Vol. 3). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
Shapiro, L., & Stolz, S. A. (2018). Embodied cognition and its significance for education. Theory and Research in Education, 1–21.
Research Methods for Supporting and Investigating Integration of Meditative, Contemplative and/or Spiritual Experiences
Academic Journal Articles
Bhattacharya, K., & Payne, R. (2016). Mixing mediums, mixing selves: Arts-based contemplative approaches to border crossings. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 29(9), 1100-1117.
Brockbank, A., & McGill, I. (2007). Facilitating reflective learning in higher education. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
Burchell, H., & Dyson, J. (2005). Action research in higher education: Exploring ways of creating and holding space for reflection. Educational Action Research, 13(2), 291–300.
Caine, R. N., & Caine, G. (1997). Education on the edge of possibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
McDrury, J., & Alterio, M. (2002). Learning through storytelling in higher education: Using reflection and experience to improve learning. London: Kogan Page.
On Methodological Issues & Future Directions
Academic Books
Farias, M., & Wikholm, C. (2015). The Buddha pill: Can meditation change you?London: Watkins Publishing.
Park, R. (2000). Voodoo science: The road from foolishness to fraud. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chapters in Edited Academic Books
Hyland, T. (2016). On the comtemporary applications of mindfulness: Some implications for education. In O. Ergas & S. Todd (Eds.), Philosophy East/West: Exploring intersections between Educational and Contemplative Practices (pp. 9–28). Chicester: Wiley Blackwell.
Academic Journal Articles
Davidson, R. J., & Kaszniak, A. W. (2015). Conceptual and methodological issues in research on mindfulness and meditation. American Psychologist, 70(7), 581–592.
Evans, J., & Davies, B. (2011). New directions, new questions? Social theory, education and embodiment. Sport, Education and Society, 16(3), 263–278.
Hyland, T. (2014). Mindfulness-based interventions and the affective domain of education. Educational Studies, 40(3), 277–291.
Hyland, T. (2016). The limits of mindfulness : Emerging issues for education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 64(1), 97–117.
Sellman, E. M, & Buttarazzi, G. F. (2019). Adding lemon to poison-Raising critical questions about the oxymoronic nature of mindfulness in education and its future direction. British Journal of Educational Studies, 1-18.
