{"id":5073,"date":"2019-10-21T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T13:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=5073"},"modified":"2019-10-16T13:18:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T18:18:37","slug":"what-if-a-research-supported-educational-idea-is-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/what-if-a-research-supported-educational-idea-is-unconstitutional\/","title":{"rendered":"What if a Research-Supported Educational Idea is Unconstitutional?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a reader of this blog, you know we\u2019ve got lots (and LOTS) of research showing that sleep benefits learning<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A good night\u2019s sleep consolidates memories. Naps improve learning<\/a>. Heck: sleep even helps us forget things we want to forget<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What if it turned out that\u2014for some reason\u2014giving students time to nap were unconstitutional<\/em>? What if lawyers argued we can\u2019t delay high-school start times to allow for more sleep, because the constitution requires school to begin before 8:00 am?<\/p>\n

Although this hypothetical example is obviously silly\u2014why would naps be unconstitutional?\u2014the deeper question matters. We are, after all, a country of laws. If a particular educational practice\u2014like, say, \u201cseparate but equal\u201d\u2014is unconstitutional, we don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

Obviously.<\/p>\n

A Current Example<\/h2>\n

The Tricycle<\/a> is a magazine that promotes Buddhism, and for that reason takes real interest in mindfulness. You can, for instance, read about “The Buddha\u2019s Original Teachings on Mindfulness”\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in May, Tricycle editor James Shaheen posted a surprising interview on their website.<\/p>\n

In this conversation<\/a>, Shaheen talks with Dr. Candy Gunther Brown<\/a>: a religious studies professor who argues that mindfulness can\u2019t be separated from its religious origins.<\/p>\n

For that reason, requiring mindfulness is\u2014in fact\u2014requiring a kind of religious activity: a requirement that, in Brown\u2019s view, violates the US Constitution.<\/p>\n

Digging Deeper<\/h2>\n

Shaheen\u2019s conversation with Brown lasts almost an hour, and so can\u2019t be summarized in a brief blog post. I encourage you to listen to the whole thing.<\/p>\n

To give a flavor of her argument, I\u2019ll briefly mention a few of her points.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>: mindfulness often encourages participants to adopt a detached view of the events around them, and their emotional responses to those events. Rather than respond, we should \u201ctake a mental step back\u201d and simply notice our bodily response to our feelings.<\/p>\n

Brown notes that this seemingly \u201cneutral stance\u201d might well spill over into a religious perspective. After all, many religions ask their adherents not to notice<\/em> their internal responses, but to go into the world and do something<\/em> about those events.<\/p>\n

For that reason, mindfulness isn\u2019t a religiously neutral practice.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>: Brown quotes research suggesting that people who practice mindfulness have religious experiences at a higher rate than those who don\u2019t. And, people who have those often end up moving away from a monotheistic perspective.<\/p>\n

Which is to say, mindfulness might in fact change the religious views<\/em> of the people participating in it.<\/p>\n

If we know that to be true (and, to be clear, I haven\u2019t reviewed the research Brown cites), then requiring students to practice mindfulness might both<\/em> have all the school and health benefits we like and<\/em> indirectly encourage a particular religious framework within schools.<\/p>\n

Of course, Brown discusses other concerns as well. Some are explicitly legal. Others focus on the motives of (some) people and organizations that promote mindfulness: phrases like \u201cstealth Buddhism\u201d make her suspicions amply clear.<\/p>\n

You can read her own summary of her argument here.<\/a><\/p>\n

What Should We Do?<\/h2>\n

Brown doesn\u2019t<\/em> want to banish or forbid mindful practices from schools. Instead, she wants schools that have them ensure such programs are voluntary<\/em>.<\/p>\n

They should not even be \u201copt-out\u201d programs that students must decline\u2014risking their relationships with peers and teachers.<\/p>\n

Instead, they should be \u201copt-in\u201d programs that students sign up for and attend when they choose to.<\/p>\n

In her view, this framework\u2014especially if it offers appropriate alternatives\u2014would both provide the good stuff that mindfulness allows and pass constitutional muster.<\/p>\n

Another important point stands out in this debate.<\/p>\n

Note the source of this anti-mindfulness interview: a magazine and website devoted to Buddhism and mindfulness<\/em>. (Okay, it\u2019s not exactly an anti-mindfulness interview, but I suspect some people will see it that way.)<\/p>\n

You might think that this magazine would be hostile to Brown\u2019s position. You might think it would try to ignore her work, or shout it down.<\/p>\n

Instead, editor Shaheen interviews Brown sympathetically and politely and knowledgeably. (He\u2019s clearly read her book.)<\/p>\n

So, the second thing we should do is emulate Shaheen\u2019s example<\/em>. As I\u2019ve written elsewhere<\/a>: when we hear about evidence that contradicts our beliefs, we should not ignore it or decry it.<\/p>\n

We should, instead, learn as much as we can from it.<\/p>\n

Whatever you think about the constitutionality of mindfulness, I hope you admire, and follow, Shaheen\u2019s example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A religious studies professor argues that required mindfulness programs in schools create constitutional problems. She also offers solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,19],"class_list":["post-5073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog","tag-mindfulness","tag-skepticism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5073"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5079,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5073\/revisions\/5079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}