A Beginner's Guide to Conscious Education

Feeling burnt out? Undervalued? Overwhelmed? Resentful?

Being a teacher in higher education can be a rewarding experience, sure, but every day colleagues and coaching clients confess to me that they are at a breaking point: No time or energy to spend with family. Grading papers on weekends. Involved in projects that seem to go nowhere. Feeling unheard, under-compensated, and confused about what to do in order to regain the meaning, joy, and autonomy that draws so many of us to this to this career in the first place. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Conscious education is an approach to faculty development that centers faculty. While I’m all for a “student-centered” approach to teaching and learning, there can be no quality teaching if we show up with no energy, no joy, no reserves.

Conscious education teaches faculty to be mindful and compassionate, to align actions to values, meet their own needs, challenge outworn beliefs, and maintain boundaries that protect and serve students, faculty, themselves, and their loved ones.

Intention, Mindfulness, and Compassion: The Three Pillars of Conscious Education

Intention, mindfulness, and compassion are the three pillars that underpin the conscious education model.

We start with will and intention: no one can force us to change. True transformation requires willingness to change with at a lightly-held intention of how we’d like things to be different (lightly-held because we don't want to limit ourselves to known outcomes).

Next, mindful attention helps us become conscious of and accept what is, without judgment. Mindfulness helps us identify micro-moments in which to choose new responses, instead of unconsciously reacting. Mindfulness is a prerequisite for noticing where we can make new choices that lead to new outcomes.

The third pillar, compassion, starts with ourselves. Recognizing our own humanity, forgiving ourselves, and treating ourselves gently will allow us to do the same for our students and colleagues.

Needs, Values, Beliefs, and Boundaries: Taking Action Toward Conscious Education

With these three pillars in place, we can begin aligning our behaviors to our values: this means spending less time being frustrated and not doing work that leaves us feeling unsatisfied. Whether consciously or unconsciously our values guide our behaviors and choices. Knowing what is important to us, truly important, allows us to make conscious choices in line with our values, to keep our integrity by putting our energy into what we value.

To align our energy also means meeting our own needs; if we meet our own physical, safety, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs, we won’t unconsciously be looking for others to do this for us. We start to remove our ego from our classrooms, research, and projects, allowing space for those around us to thrive and self-actualize.

Conscious educators also regularly interrogate their beliefs to see if anything has been outgrown, changed, or needs tweaking. What we believe can change over time, so it's important to consciously check that the beliefs from which we act still hold true.

Boundaries and Context: Taking Action Toward Wellness and Change

In some ways perhaps most importantly, establishing and maintaining strong boundaries keeps us, our students, our colleagues, and our loved ones safe from intrusion, overstepping, burn out, and frustration. Clear boundaries and communication liberate us and teach others how to treat us.

Finally, conscious education requires a frank assessment of the context and culture in which we are trying to educate , grow, and thrive. Conscious educators are aware of power structures at play in higher education and aim to challenge and change what they can.

So What?

I’ll elaborate more on each of these areas as this project develops, but for now, you might ask yourself

· How do I feel about my career in higher education?

· Does my work bring me joy?

· Do I feel like my work is meaningful?

· Do I have energy for the other parts of my life that are important to me?

If you are feeling burnt out, undervalued, unappreciated, worn out, overworked, or disillusioned, consider

· journaling about the areas outlined above

· working with a therapist

· subscribing to this blog

· scheduling a 1:1 coaching session with me

· simply paying mindful attention to where you feel out of alignment or most frustrated

I’m glad you read this today. I’m here to help.

Click Here to Learn More