Pedagogical Possibilities: A Review of Approaches to Undergraduate Teaching in Buddhist Studies
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. The Growing Field of Buddhist Pedagogy
3. General Considerations for Course Design and Development
4. Big Ideas in Buddhist Studies
4.1. There Is No Single Way to Approach the Study of Buddhism
4.2. “Buddhism” Is a Constructed Category with an Intellectual History, Not an Objective Reality
Although pizza has some old Italian antecedents, American pizza as we know it was largely a product of Italian-American cooking. However, pizza-loving American tourists, going to Italy in the millions, sought out authentic Italian pizza. Italians, responding to this demand, developed pizzerias to meet American expectations. Delighted with their discovery of “authentic” Italian pizza, Americans subsequently developed chains of “authentic” Italian brick-oven pizzerias. Hence, Americans met their own reflection in the other and were delighted.
4.3. “Buddhist” Is a Contested Category, Not an Objective Reality
4.4. Buddhism Is a Lived Religion Embedded in Cultural, Social and Political Contexts
4.5. Buddhism Is Diverse, Dynamic, and Historically Conditioned
4.6. The Academic Study of Buddhism Is Different from the Practice of Buddhism
5. Transferrable Skills
5.1. Close Reading
5.2. Writing
5.3. Speaking and Listening
5.4. Empathy
5.5. Critical Thinking
5.6. Attention and Contemplation
6. Conclusions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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1 | “Buddhist Studies”. Harvard University Committee on the Study of Religion. Available online: https://studyofreligion.fas.harvard.edu/pages/buddhist-studies (accessed on 28 February 2021). |
2 | Although dated, the website “Teaching Buddhism” (Baen 2000) created by faculty at McGill University includes papers from the conference as well as other resources such as syllabi, textbook and film reviews, art resources, and online Buddhist texts and journals. |
3 | I use “goal(s)” because I recognize that we typically target several goals in our courses, but I tend to agree with colleagues who advocate focusing on one overall conceptual goal (McGovern 2020) or focusing on a single skill, such as public speaking, empathy, etc. (Garrett n.d.). One resource for helping instructors articulate learning goals is the “Learning Goals Inventory” (Barkley and Major 2016). |
4 | Here I follow the taxonomy of significant learning, that distinguishes between foundational knowledge, application, integration, human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn (Fink 2013, p. 35). |
5 | For those who identify a goal from the Learning Goal Inventory, a helpful resource of learning assessment techniques tied to the six domains of learning is (Barkley and Major 2016, pp. 71–404). |
6 | Typically, “one minute” papers have students respond to two questions: What was the most important thing you learned in class today? What question is unanswered? However, it could also include questions about their emotional and physical wellbeing. |
7 | Although, as Julius Tsai notes, this should not lead us to overlook substantive differences between the two, as “skillful means” functioned historically in the context of inter-sectarian competition as new communities sought to legitimate themselves (Tsai 2008, p. 161). |
8 | If we wanted to broaden the scope of our discussion, we could include the work of scholars who have similarly problematized the category of “religion” as a colonial European construction that was applied as a universal concept (e.g., Masuzawa 2005; Asad 1993). |
9 | Today we could use the example of yoga studios or mindfulness practices, which have made their way to Asia in a similar feedback loop. |
10 | A helpful resource for pre-2014 sources is (Jerryson 2015). |
11 | The Circled Square: Buddhist Studies in Higher Education. Available online: https://buddhiststudies.utoronto.ca/programs/podcast/ (accessed on 26 February 2021). |
12 | With the exception of quantitative literacy, they encompass all of the “Intellectual and Practical Skills,” and they address the skills of intercultural knowledge and lifelong learning within “Personal and Social Responsibility”. See “Essential Learning Outcomes”. Association of Colleges and Universities. Available online: https://www.aacu.org/essential-learning-outcomes (accessed on 28 February 2021). |
13 | This is made explicit in the “Integrative and Applied Learning VALUE Rubric” (AACU 2009b). |
14 | Adapted from the definition of “visual literacy” developed by the Association of College & Research Libraries: “Visual literacy is a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials”. See “ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education”. Last modified 27 October 2011. Available online: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy (accessed on 28 February 2021). |
15 | As Vanessa Sasson suggests, “we may want to take time to show students how to climb in and try to take on an idea and take it seriously instead of just standing over it” (Sasson n.d.). |
16 | Joseph Bizup advocates this BEAM approach to sources instead of the standard distinction between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources: Background for materials a writer relies on for general information or facts; Exhibit for materials a writer analyzes or interprets; Argument for materials whose claims a writer engages; and Methods for materials for which a writer takes a governing concept or derives a manner of working (Bizup 2008). |
17 | The National Communication Association identifies these factors as key in oral communication: that they compose and deliver messages using delivery methods and interpersonal skills suitable to the topic, purpose, context and audience (Morreale et al. 1998). |
18 | The focus on strengths instead of deficits draws from the Appreciative Inquiry model that consists of five steps: define (desired outcome), discovery (of strengths), dream (of future), design (action needed to make it happen), and deploy (taking that action). See “5-D Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry” AI Commons. Available online: https://appreciativeinquiry.champlain.edu/learn/appreciative-inquiry-introduction/5-d-cycle-appreciative-inquiry/ (accessed on 28 February 2021). |
19 | Another resource for evaluating public speaking is The Competent Speaker Speech Evaluation Form (Morreale et al. 2007), which includes a description of the competencies and criteria alongside the evaluation form. |
20 | For an expansive list of competencies, see (Morreale et al. 1998). |
21 | DeTemple recommends waiting several weeks before engaging in Reflective Structured Dialogue; in the first weeks she has students complete an application called Open Mind by Heterodox Academy (https://heterodoxacademy.org/, accessed on 28 February 2021) about being open to ideas that run counter to their own, and they also craft a communication agreement for the course (DeTemple et al. 2019, pp. 229–30). |
22 | As Peter Elbow writes, “Sometimes you can’t understand something till you try it or act on it. This is where role-playing gets its power: understanding through doing and inhabiting—not debating.” (Elbow 2008, p. 8). |
23 | I have also found that many breakthroughs about my research come when I am swimming or running, and my mind has the space to allow for such open awareness. |
24 | Judith Simmer-Brown articulates this stance well: “We are not introducing religious practices; we are developing new teaching pedagogies.” (Simmer-Brown 2011a, p. 110). |
25 | Natalie Avalos (n.d.) and Matt King (n.d.) emphasize the importance of decolonizing our teaching of Buddhist Studies in their podcasts, and the group Women in the Study of Asian Religions has taken steps towards such decolonizing efforts through their collaborative database of resources relevant to the teaching and study of Asian Religions that were either created by women or concerned with women (or both). See “WISAR Online Resources: Collaborative Database”. Available online: http://libblogs.luc.edu/wisar/resources/online-resources/ (accessed on 26 February 2021). |
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McGuire, B. Pedagogical Possibilities: A Review of Approaches to Undergraduate Teaching in Buddhist Studies. Religions 2021, 12, 231. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12040231
McGuire B. Pedagogical Possibilities: A Review of Approaches to Undergraduate Teaching in Buddhist Studies. Religions. 2021; 12(4):231. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12040231
Chicago/Turabian StyleMcGuire, Beverley. 2021. "Pedagogical Possibilities: A Review of Approaches to Undergraduate Teaching in Buddhist Studies" Religions 12, no. 4: 231. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12040231
APA StyleMcGuire, B. (2021). Pedagogical Possibilities: A Review of Approaches to Undergraduate Teaching in Buddhist Studies. Religions, 12(4), 231. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12040231