A Phenomenological Study of Loving Kindness Practice in Education Settings

This study uses Phenomenological research methods to explore the ways in which four teachers recited Loving Kindness Meditation for a three week period, particularly focusing on their students during the course of practice. Through personal reflection, journaling and interviews, the teachers describe how Loving Kindness Meditation affected their emotional life as teachers, their experiences of students and classroom dynamics, and the challenges experienced when reciting Loving Kindness Meditation to students. The study reveals a tendency for teachers to adopt a more yielding, less controlling orientation toward student encounters as their practice of Loving Kindness Meditation progressed. The study also hints at problematic limits to over-reliance on meditative imagery, redefining Eros in teacher-student dynamics as a surrender of idealistic expectations of student reciprocation. Future research could more deeply unpack the psychodynamic impacts of Loving Kindness on caregiver identities.M.A