The Mindful Classroom

Democracy is in trouble. But education is an opportunity for all of us as it helps to create space for us to listen and learn from and with others. Importantly, as this book highlights, there is an inward orientation that is critical to being able to do the common work of democratic life. We are more than our ideological and partisan affiliations, but it's easy to lose sight of this in this moment. We need practices that exercise our individual and collective civic muscle. This book highlights some of those possibilities.

As Leverette argues, whole conversations involving whole people remind us that we are people comprised of many dimensions. Stretching ourselves--figuratively and literally--helps us develop mindful that orients our actions.

Incorporating mindfulness and yoga as pedagogical tools in academia might seem odd at first, but the value of these proposed strategies soon becomes apparent. Leverette's timely conversations provide "aha!" moments that encourage educators to address race, identity, and social justice classroom issues from an exciting--and promising--perspective. Kudos!

The Mindful Classroom by Tru Leverette deftly weaves theory, pedagogical practice, and narrative to illuminate and honor the complexity of educating students as whole human beings who possess and require development of their self-reflection, compassion, and critical thinking in service of engaging productively in mindful conversations about race and social justice. Leverette shares grounded skill-building practices from her own teaching, offers student perspectives on their experiences as learners, and integrates scholarship from diverse fields of study. College and university educators who engage in mindfulness practices, deliberative pedagogy, community-engaged learning, and/or discourse on race and social justice will be affirmed, and will also benefit from the wisdom and experience shared in this text.