The Contemplative Approach of Indian Philosophies & Science Education: A Concentration on the Buddhist Principle of Pratityasamutpada

Abstract

Contemporary science pedagogy, especially at the secondary level, seeks to emphasize Dewey’s idea of science as a method. More specifically, factors of the nature of science that highlight inquiry-based learning have been popularized and applied in science curricula and classrooms. Simultaneously, the West has experienced exponential growth in studios, seminars, and interventions involving mindfulness, yoga, and Eastern practices. Whether it be for physical health or corporate productivity, these practices have entered the contemporary culture, often with an aspect of cultural appropriation. While these practices have undoubtedly proven to improve performance and control anxiety among young people, this paper argues that adopting the paradigm and premise of philosophies such as yoga, Vedanta, and Buddhism alter student understanding of science and their interaction with the world. This paper will do so by presenting science as an experience of inquiry by the subject, as explained by Dewey, Spencer, and Kuhn. This paper will contrast the approach of these contemplative schools to Cartesian dualism, particularly concerning the idea of subjective awareness. By doing so, this paper will present how a pedagogy based on the paradigm and approach of yoga and mindfulness (not just its meditation practices) can influence students’ experience of oneness with others and their environment, science as inquiry, and being a contributing member of a community. More specifically, this paradigm application allows for a student’s experience of first-person inquiry and awareness that leads to an interconnectedness (pratityasamutpada) and citta vrtti nirodha (stilling of the fluctuating states of mind). In a time when students are heavily engaged in a technology-dependent, pandemic learning environment, this shift in science pedagogy offers an alternative approach that improves student understanding of the role of empathy and sustenance in science.