Journal of Contemplative Education and Psychological Wellbeing

Journal of Contemplative Education and Psychological Wellbeing, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2025, 146-155, https://doi.org/10.51474/jcepw.v1i1.631

Publication date: Jun 20, 2025

Views: 1 | Downloads: 0

In this reflective paper, I make a concluding observation of the journeys and arrivals of my PhD thesis- Place-Pedagogies, Eco-Spiritual Cosmologies and Cultural Stories. Employing the metaphor of ‘writing as living yoga’ of ecological relationality and ‘research as living dharma’ of authentic sincerity, the Eco composition of this paper unpacks the research journey. While unpacking the research journey, I make a synopsis of the process of how ‘being here yogic reflection’ (Chinmayananda, 2011; Morgan, 2012) at ‘being there PAR performance’ to ecological ripples (Trickett & Beehler, 2017) recognized that the dominant Western-Modern schooling architecture of Dapcha located Janahit School, where we conducted this Participatory Action Research (PAR) was less compatible to the place essential (the place Dharma) of Dapcha, Dharmashala. It appeared that the seemingly displaced (anti-ecological) schooling design which was continuously inclined to displaced standards was partly responsible for weakened belonging, being, and becoming of teachers, and students in the school and in the community.

---

1. Ahmad, A. K., Gjøtterud, S., & Krogh, E. (2016). Dialogue conferences and empowerment: Transforming primary education in Tanzania through cooperation. Educational Action Research, 24(2), 300-316. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2015.1058172
2. Burns, H. L. (2015). Transformative sustainability pedagogy: Learning from ecological systems and indigenous wisdom. Journal of Transformative Education, 13(3), 259-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344615584683
3. Chinmayananda, S. (2011). The Bhagawad Geeta. Central Chinmaya Mission Trust.
4. Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). Teachers College Press.
5. Lange, E. A. (2018). Transforming transformative education through ontologies of relationality. Journal of Transformative Education, 16(4), 280-301. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344618786452
6. Lewis, T. E., & Owen, J. (2020). Posthuman phenomenologies: Performance philosophy, non-human animals, and the landscape. Qualitative Inquiry, 26(5), 472-478. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800419836694
7. Luitel, B.C., & Taylor, P. C. (2019). Introduction: Research as Transformative Learning for Sustainable Futures. P. C. Taylor & B. C. Luitel (Eds.), Research as Transformative Learning for Sustainable Futures: Glocal Voices and Visions (pp. 1-16). Brill-Sense.
8. Mezirow, J. (2005). An overview on transformative learning. In P. Sutherland & J. Crowther (Eds.), Lifelong learning: Concepts and contexts (pp. 24-38). Routledge.
9. Miller, J. (2010). Whole child education. University of Toronto Press.
10. Morgan, P. F. (2012). Following contemplative education students’ transformation through their ‘‘Ground-of-Being’’ experiences. Journal of Transformative Education, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446
11. O’Neil, J. K. (2018). Transformative sustainability learning within a material-discursive ontology. Journal of Transformative Education, 16(4), 365-387. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541344618792823
12. Smith, G. (2002). Place-based education: Learning to be where we are. Phi Delta Kappan, 83, 584-594. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F003172170208300806
13. Sobel, D. (1996). Beyond ecophobia: Reclaiming the heart in nature education. The Orion Society.
14. Trickett, E. J. & Beehler, S. (2017) Participatory action research and impact: An ecological ripples perspective, Educational Action Research, 25(4), 525-540. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2017.1299025

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.