Spiritual Practice and Management Education Pedagogy: Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Three Spiritual Traditions

Abstract

Can the philosophical foundations of spiritual practices inform management education pedagogy and in the long-run support emotional development and more ethical and responsible business practice? In this article, we introduce the essential aspects of three different spiritual traditions—Daoist inner work, Buddhist mindful reflexivity, and Quaker discernment—and lay out some foundations between these essential aspects and management education pedagogy. We offer examples of utilizing these concepts in teaching business ethics in order to offer a foundational discussion for future elaboration. Our experiences also illuminate that instructor preparation is a key ingredient if the kinds of teaching we advance are to gain traction and contribute to the repeated calls for pedagogical innovations that challenge dominant paradigms. We offer some concluding remarks, pathways for future research and indicate a list of resources that can support potential instructors.

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https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562920945739
Journal of Management Education
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Research Article
Spiritual Practice and
Management Education
Pedagogy: Exploring
the Philosophical
Foundations of Three
Spiritual Traditions
Nicholas Burton1 , Tom Culham2,
and Mai Chi Vu1
Abstract
Can the philosophical foundations of spiritual practices inform management
education pedagogy and in the long-run support emotional development and
more ethical and responsible business practice? In this article, we introduce
the essential aspects of three different spiritual traditions—Daoist inner
work, Buddhist mindful reflexivity, and Quaker discernment—and lay
out some foundations between these essential aspects and management
education pedagogy. We offer examples of utilizing these concepts in
teaching business ethics in order to offer a foundational discussion for future
elaboration. Our experiences also illuminate that instructor preparation is
a key ingredient if the kinds of teaching we advance are to gain traction and
contribute to the repeated calls for pedagogical innovations that challenge
dominant paradigms. We offer some concluding remarks, pathways for
future research and indicate a list of resources that can support potential
instructors.
1Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK
2Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Nicholas Burton, Northumbria University, CCE1, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, UK.
Email: n.burton@northumbria.ac.uk
945739JMEXXX10.1177/1052562920945739Journal of Management EducationBurton et al.
research-article2020

2 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
Keywords
Buddhism, mindfulness, reflexivity, Daoism, Quaker, pedagogy, emotional
intelligence
Introduction
Management education critics (e.g., Ghoshal, 2005; Giacalone, 2004;
Giacalone & Thompson, 2006; Mitroff, 2004; Neal & Finlay, 2008; Waddock
& Lozano, 2013) lament the absence of an ethical and spiritual foundation.
Giacalone and Thompson (2006), for example, argued that management edu-
cation is often framed by an excessive materialism and a logic of economics
that leaves “ethics and social responsibility subordinate [emphasis in origi-
nal]” (p. 274). Giacalone (2004) similarly argued that the ‘scientific’ paradigm
distorts student’s appreciation of nonfinancial goals such as love, forgiveness
and integrity leading to ‘sadness’ and ‘nightmarish’ lives (pp. 416-418).
Furthermore, Kelley and Nahser (2014) argued that pedagogical practices—
such as the case study method and management simulations—continually
reinforce this paradigm fostering a values-neutral and amoral perspective
toward business behavior and an abandonment of spiritual development
(Giacalone, 2004). On this reading, critical scholarship has argued that the
current management education paradigm can lead to dehumanizing leader-
ship (Petriglieri & Petriglieri, 2015), detached ways of knowing (Hay &
Samra-Fredericks, 2019), an absence of concern for society (Khurana, 2007),
and a selfish vision of human and organizational behavior (Mintzberg et al.,
2002; Mintzberg & Gosling, 2002).
Possible answers to address these kinds of concerns include challenging
accepted language, measurement techniques, and data analysis (Fornaciari
& Lund Dean, 2001), and advancing pedagogical innovations balancing rea-
son and emotions, such as whole-person learning (Barbera et al., 2015;
Eriksen, 2009; Kolb & Kolb, 2005), positive management education
(Karakas, 2011), and pedagogies that embed reflexivity (Sinclair, 2007),
deep listening (Senge et al., 2004), consciousness (Mirvis, 2008), and heart
and soul (Waddock & Lozano, 2013). While these important contributions
lay out a generic foundation of an alternate vision, how the essential aspects
of spiritual traditions might inform such a management education pedagogy
remains surprisingly underexplored. While the management education lit-
erature provides accounts of how to teach spirituality (e.g, Barnett et al.,
2000; Marcic, 2000), how instructors might use spiritual practices to teach a
wider business and management education program or curriculum is less
well-developed. Neal (1997), however, embarked on this task more than 20
years ago and offered self-knowledge, authenticity, respect for others’
beliefs, trust, and practicing one’s own spirituality (e.g., prayer, walking in

Burton et al. 3
nature) as essential aspects. In a special issue of the Journal of Management
Education, Harlos (2000) developed these ideas further by adding humility,
compassion, and simplicity to Neal’s work. Furthermore, Pielstick (2005)
later argued that meditation, journaling, walking, and sitting in nature can
form part of a spiritual pedagogy. More recently, Waddock and Lozano
(2013) also suggested that mindfulness may encourage greater social con-
sciousness in future leaders but did not elaborate further. Thus, examinations
of how the philosophies of different spiritual practices might connect to a
spiritual pedagogy—and the challenges in doing so—have not featured to
the best of our knowledge. While a spiritual pedagogy may have benefits for
both instructors and students, there are tensions associated with bringing an
emotionally grounded pedagogy into the classroom that often go unac-
knowledged (Lund Dean et al., in press), and we shall highlight the impor-
tance of instructor preparation throughout this article.
Extending this work in a new direction, we introduce foundational ideas
that explore the potential of three spiritual practices—Daoist, Buddhist, and
Quaker—with the aim of inspiring future scholarship to cultivate the kind of
ideals envisioned by recent scholarship. In this article, we offer some practi-
cal examples from our teaching of business ethics at both undergraduate and
postgraduate levels that we hope will encourage potential instructors. We
specifically chose these three traditions as, while they each have different
philosophical roots, each emphasizes the idea of an inward orientation and
prosocial normative commitments in the social world. We see these common
characteristics as essential to the kind of pedagogical innovations prior schol-
arship has envisaged.
Our article is structured as follows: First, we situate our article within the
literature on emotions in higher education teaching and learning and intro-
duce the kind of instructor preparation that may be required in order to engage
with pedagogies connected to the essential aspects of spiritual traditions.
Following this, we introduce the context of our teaching practice. Next, and
in turn, we briefly describe an essential aspect of Daoist, Buddhist, and
Quaker practice and elaborate how we used these in our teaching of business
ethics. We offer some concluding thoughts, pathways for future research, and
offer further resources for potential instructors.
Emotionally Grounded Management Education
Pedagogy
Each of three spiritual traditions we discuss in this article share an inner,
yet prosocial, orientation and call on instructors and students to participate
in personal developmental work that involves not only the intellect but
also emotional development. Until recently, pedagogy, and in particular,

4 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
management education pedagogy, focused on preparing instructors to edu-
cate the student mind and the intellect, disregarding emotions (Hall, 2002).
Some have properly argued that bringing emotions into the classroom
through experiential learning may cause harm without precautions and
proper instructor training (Lund Dean et al., in press). However, it is also
equally important to recognize that not working with emotions can be
potentially harmful as emotions are one of the primary building blocks of
intrapersonal development (Shrivastava, 2010), which is critical to help
differentiate students in the competition for future leadership roles
(Mintzberg & Gosling, 2002). Furthermore, Ghoshal (2005) and others
have stressed the importance of emotions in developing more ethical and
responsible students and eventually future leaders.
McGilchrist (2009) proposed that Western society’s emphasis on the left-
brain orientation of logical intellectual thinking and the primacy of individual
agency threatens our happiness and humanity. He held that the left-brain
emphasis needs to be balanced with a right-brain orientation characterized by
empathy, connection, and relationship with others. The right brain is where
the sense of justice, and ability to behave selflessly lies. Furthermore, he
proposed that “moral judgments are not deliberative, but unconscious and
intuitive” (p. 86), consistent with the views of moral intuitionists (Bechara
et al., 2007; Damasio, 1994; Greene, 2009; Haidt, 2001). McGilchrist (2009)
also argued that much can be learned from contemplative and spiritual tradi-
tions to access right brain consciousness, providing a motivation for our
teaching practice.
Due to an emphasis on educating the intellect, there is often a reluctance
to address emotions in the classroom as historically emotions have been
linked to pathology requiring trained professionals such as psychiatrists or
psychologists. Alternatively, emotions were seen as responsible for poor
decision making, and rational logic was seen as “the basis of sound deci-
sions,” while “emotions can only cloud the mind and interfere with good
judgment,” a point reinforced by Bechara et al. (2007, p. 273). According to
Showry and Manasa (2014), Harvard and Stanford view self-awareness
developed through inner work to reveal one’s “characters, traits, beliefs, val-
ues, strengths, abilities, motivations and desires” as fundamental to “manage-
rial and leadership success” while “IQ and technical skills are far less
important” (p. 17). Cohen (2009) also argues that to be truly effective educa-
tors must purposely work with emotions in the classroom because they are
central to who we are as human beings. This is supported by findings in the
field of positive psychology where positive emotions have been found to
have the power to heal and enable transformation (Fosha, 2009a, 2009b;
Fredrickson et al., 2008, Fredrickson & Losada, 2005; Garland et al., 2010).

Burton et al. 5
Hogan and Warrenfeltz (2003) argued that among the four domains that
management education can target—intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills,
leadership skills, and business skills—intrapersonal skills are the hardest to
develop as they are “the province of one’s basic beliefs and assumptions, as
well as strategies for regulating one’s impulses and emotional needs” (Kaiser &
Kaplan, 2006, p. 464). How to regulate and utilize emotions effectively involves
acquiring or modifying attitudes and behavior through processes such as self-
awareness, emotional regulation, and the ability to learn from mistakes. Intense
emotional responses can, however, distort a students’ perception and result in
anger, fear, vulnerability, and panic, and therefore by encouraging emotional
development in the classroom, potential instructors are required to develop
skills and knowledge that may be unfamiliar. Many students may be sensitive,
feel threatened, and react accordingly, thereby ultimately storing up problems
in “interpersonal relationships, in fulfilling important leadership roles, and in
applying basic business skills” (Kaiser & Kaplan, 2006, p. 470). Therefore,
despite the risks and tensions that emotional development may bring, the need
to address these challenges seems pressing (Bowen, 2014).
To effectively develop students’ emotions as an aspect of learning and
development, the development of trust between instructor and students is a
vital ingredient (Bevelander & Page, 2011). Trust is an interpersonal phe-
nomenon embedded in social relationships and developed when there is “a
willingness to take action in circumstances where such action makes one
vulnerable to the other party” (Doney et al., 1998, p. 604) and where people
share common values and norms. According to Rousseau et al. (1998), trust
develops over time in response to prior actions. Thus, it is possible to pro-
mote trust by creating a learning environment where vulnerabilities can be
shared (Berkovich, 2014), but it should be equally recognized that sharing
personal experiences requires self-exposure that in turn requires a high-trust
environment. Ladkin and Taylor (2010), for example, suggested that self-
exposure is a key ingredient in authenticity as leaders convey their vulnera-
bilities to promote higher levels of engagement and trust. The relationship
between a willingness to share and be vulnerable with others and generating
interpersonal trust is likely to be self-reinforcing and is more likely to develop
over time than be present immediately. Kaiser and Kaplan (2006) argued that
instructors engaged in emotionally grounded pedagogies should engage in
establishing a “peer learning community” where students can become com-
fortable to work on their emotional and intellectual development over time. A
peer learning community, according to the authors, needs to be a trustworthy
and safe place where individuals can freely share about themselves and their
vulnerabilities and find support so that individuals come to understand each
other, and mutual trust deepens.

6 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
In the pedagogies, we elaborate next, we show how learning communities
can be developed in three different higher education contexts utilizing peda-
gogical practices drawn from three different spiritual traditions—Daoist,
Buddhist, and Quaker. We particularly draw attention to showing how we
encourage student vulnerability, which we address through our example of
inner work from Dao practice; safe student self-disclosure, which we address
through an example of mindful reflexivity from the Buddhist tradition; and,
finally, on developing trust, which we address through utilizing collective
discernment from the Quaker tradition.
Context
The teaching examples that follow are drawn from the Canadian, Vietnamese,
and Australian higher education contexts. In all three examples, the context is
a traditional “secular” university setting. The Dao case was utilized on a core,
third-year business ethics module as part of a 4-year undergraduate business
and management degree in Canada. The cohort size was around 60 and
encompassed roughly of 40% home and 60% international students, respec-
tively. The Buddhist example was drawn from teaching at a Vietnamese uni-
versity using Buddhist concepts as part of an “ethics” subtheme within a
corporate responsibility module. The corporate social responsibility module
formed part of a 2-year MBA program, which consisted of about 25 part-
time, postexperience, home students who held a senior management position.
The context of the Quaker example is based on a final-year undergraduate
elective business ethics module of around 25 students consisting of 60%
home students and 40% international students. A summary of the educational
contexts is shown in Table 1.
Instructor Preparation
Many students are socialized to expect an intellectually oriented pedagogy
and have not been exposed to pedagogies that address emotions. Ex ante
student unfamiliarity with emotionally grounded pedagogies underscores the
importance of instructor preparation and the need for careful and thoughtful
scaffolding by instructors to gain knowledge and experience in engaging stu-
dents. Teaching with unfamiliar pedagogies, thus, presents a central problem:
Do instructors have the skills to be able to effectively pursue these pedago-
gies? Lund Dean et al. (in press), for example, highlighted the risks of teach-
ing with experiential pedagogies without adequate instructor preparation and
lamented the absence of a community of practice that supports instructor
development in experiential pedagogy. Therefore, some words of caution are

Burton et al. 7
Table 1. Context of Taught Courses.
Context Daoist concepts Buddhist concepts Quaker concepts
Course level Third-year
undergraduate
business ethics course
Postexperience
students
Third-year
undergraduate
business ethics course
Length 12 weeks, semester-
long
12 weeks, semester-
long
12 weeks, semester-long
Required or
elective
Required Elective Elective
Experiential or
content
50% experiential; 50%
content delivery
40% experiential; 60%
content delivery
60% experiential; 40%
content delivery
Type of students A mix of Canadian and
international students
Mainly Vietnamese
executives in a senior
management role
A mix of Australian and
international students
Nature of
assessments
Weekly online
discussions in
preparation for class
discussions
A group case study
An individual ethics and
emotional intelligence
report
Journaling required but
not assessed
Summative assessment:
Journaling the
accumulated
experience gained
during self and group
reflexive activities
Evaluation of an
ethical debate, and a
reflective statement
Typical enrolment 60 students 30 students 20 students
Context Business and
Management program
MBA Business and
Management program
needed. We offer the following considerations for those who wish to engage
in utilizing spiritual practice as an emotionally grounded approach to man-
agement education.
First, instructors need skills and knowledge that relate to psychological
states such as emotional development and regulation. This suggests that
potential instructors need to maintain an understanding of advances on topics
related to emotions and other associated topics such as emotional intelligence
(EI) that are applicable. A significant body of research has been conducted on
the practices and business benefits of developing EI popularized by Goleman
et al. (2002). In addition, much has been written on how individuals and orga-
nizations can develop EI; one such example provided by Boyatzis and McKee
(2005). EI over the years has developed legitimacy and is well-known for
providing an entry point in enabling a conversation from talking about emo-
tions to working with emotions. According to Goleman (1995), EI was
inspired by Aristotle’s virtue ethics and a comparison of the two conducted
by Culham (2013) confirmed many important similarities. Virtue ethics was

8 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
developed at a time when spirituality was more deeply integrated with all
aspects of living. Furthermore, both Confucian and Daoist ethics have been
conceived as forms of virtue ethics (Ivanhoe & Csikszentmihalyi, 1999;
Slingerland, 2010). In particular, Daoists view emotions as the entry point to
which one gains awareness of one’s Dao-given innate self, providing a direct
connection between emotional awareness and spirituality. It was believed by
Daoists that this emotional awareness would result in a transformation of the
individual.
Second, potential instructors need to maintain an adequate knowledge of
the “essential aspects” of the spiritual tradition(s) from which their teaching
practice is drawn and originates. We stop some way short, however, of sug-
gesting that potential instructors need to be experienced spiritual practitioners.
In fact, we do not believe a deep philosophical and theological understanding
of different spiritual traditions is required to use our teaching approaches. In
fact, proselytizing is likely to be counterproductive. Our approach to working
with emotions, however, does involve applying contemplative and spiritual
practices in teaching such as meditation, silence, and reflexivity (which are
supported by academic research) and instructors should maintain an under-
standing of their essential features and potential role in student learning and
development. Entering this pedagogical space requires instructors to be famil-
iar with the origination and benefits of spiritual practices such as meditation
(Goleman & Davidson, 2017; Tsai et al., 2007), and other contemplative prac-
tices that may interest instructors such as yoga, tai chi, and qi gong (Gelles,
2015; Jabr, 2018; Streeter et al., 2012). It should be noted that instructors
should also be motivated to transform themselves and learn through the pro-
cess of engaging in these practices over a period of time to gain confidence
with the varieties of emotional experiences that one may have (Cohen, 2009).
To support potential instructors, an indicative list of readings and resources is
provided in the appendix.
There is, however, a paradox, however, at the heart of the “instructor com-
petency” debate. While we would encourage potential instructors to know
their limits and stay within them, and would discourage instructors who lack
these kinds of skills from engaging in the kinds of teaching pedagogies we
shall describe, we also recognize that there is a need to overcome a general
reluctance for instructors to innovate in their teaching and curriculum. This
represents a challenge to both instructors and scholars alike (Shepherd, 2004).
However, the philosophical content of many spiritual traditions foregrounds
the idea of personal development through personal experience and experi-
mentation, often referred to as a spiritual journey. In many spiritual tradi-
tions, personal development is conceived as a continuing and evolving
iteration between personal experience that is subsequently tested by a wider

Burton et al. 9
group wisdom (e.g., Muers & Burton, 2019), and thus we recognize the
importance for potential instructors to experiment with pedagogical innova-
tions while developing knowledge, skills, and belonging to an appropriate
support network or community of practice in which to share reflections and
good practice.
Third, responsiveness to the student is a key feature of our approach.
Participation by students in teaching using spiritual pedagogies must be vol-
untary and confidential and alternative exercises should be made available to
students unwilling to participate. For instance, in a business school, participa-
tion should be elective and not mandatory. Furthermore, in a postexperience
setting, there should be additional considerations that include commercial
confidence and an acknowledgement that any personal vulnerabilities dis-
closed are not shared with the organization or with others outside of class
unless personal consent is given. Another form of responsiveness is for the
instructor to develop skills and knowledge in managing group dynamics to
promote the kinds of virtues that underscore the essential aspects of many
spiritual traditions, for example, honesty, integrity, equality, and so on. Magee
and Galinsky (2008) suggested that group dynamics can be negatively
affected when more powerful or assertive individuals speak longer than oth-
ers or dominate proceedings, or instructors are seen to occupy a position of
power and a gatekeeper of knowledge. Thus, instructors may wish to share
openly first and set the tone for a more open and equal dialogue, relinquish-
ing control of group outcomes and allow students to direct and cocreate
learning.
Fourth, the instructors’ role is to provide a structure for teaching and to
facilitate a process that emerges from student interactions. However, as
Shepherd (2004) noted, it is important to know your limits. Shepherd sug-
gested that instructors teaching with emotionally grounded pedagogies
should be prepared to make a referral if a student shows signs of significant
distress and recommends that instructors have a prepared list of support ser-
vices available within the university.
We now move on to a discussion of teaching practice from each of the
spiritual traditions in turn. In the teaching practice sections, the first person I
is used to describe activities that each author shared with students.
Dao
Essential Aspect: Inner Work
Neuroscience research indicates that ethical decisions are made uncon-
sciously and are related to emotions and the body (Haidt, 2001; Greene et al.,

10 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
2001). This is an important assertion for business ethics education because
ethical decisions are often believed to be made consciously, deliberately, and
rationally. For example, Kohlberg’s (1981) theory of moral development
exemplified the rationalist approach to ethical decision making. Education in
general and business education, in particular, is known for teaching reason-
based methods to support decision making, while discounting other aspects
of human nature such as emotions and altruistic behavior (Frederick, 2008;
Ghoshal, 2005). Neuroscience suggests an ethics pedagogy addressing not
only the mind but also emotions, body, and the unconscious.
Scholarship posits that Daoists developed pedagogy for cultivating virtue
that was holistic, engaging the unconscious, body, emotions, mind, and spirit
(Culham, 2013; Ivanhoe & Csikszentmihalyi, 1999), and a similar approach
known as intuitive ethics founded in neuroscience and psychology may sup-
port business ethics education (Weaver et al., 2014). The diversity of Daoist
spiritual practices can be traced to the contemplative practices proposed in a
4th-century BCE text Inward Training (Kirkland, 2004). The overarching
intent of Inward Training is virtue cultivation through contemplative and
daily practices that return awareness to one’s innate self, assumed to originate
in the Dao, the ultimate perfection and source of everything in the universe
(Culham, 2013; Roth, 1999). Virtue cultivation involves a process of achiev-
ing tranquility holistically in one’s body, breath, emotions, vital energy (qi),
mind, and spirit (Roth, 1999) by focusing on inner work and shutting out
external stimuli (Major et al., 2010).
Successful cultivation of tranquility results in a values shift caused by a
shift in perception of self and one’s relationship with others, and an intui-
tive awareness of the ultimate truth. Related to this, the ancient Chinese
believed wisdom develops in two ways: rationally through cognitive means
and nonrationally through intuitive means such as meditation and insight
(Lloyd & Sivin, 2002). Therefore, in our teaching practice, Dao contempla-
tive practices, along with experiential cognitive learning through develop-
ing EI, were incorporated into inner work as part of business ethics
instruction. Inner work is defined as quieting the mind, working with inner
reflective practices and observing “perceptions, sensations, memories and
cognitions” to enhance self-awareness (Cohen, 2009, p. 31). Emotions are
important as they provide knowledge of one’s innate self, and a path to bet-
ter health (Major et al., 2010; Roth, 1999). Therefore, emotions must be
acknowledged and managed effectively for living a “good life.” Tranquility
is not complete stillness but rather it is a process of dynamically achieving
equanimity in the presence of change or movement (Hall & Ames, 1998).
An important insight for contemporary education is that the cultivation of
tranquility involves acknowledging one’s emotions yet not being overtaken

Burton et al. 11
by them. While Daoists hold meditative practices as important for the
development of virtue, it is included as part of business ethics instruction to
improve ethical decision making because research has demonstrated it
helps regulate emotions and improve self-awareness (Goleman & Davidson,
2017), which are foundations of ethical decision making (MacIntyre, 1984).
Teaching Using Inner Work
In this section, I discuss how I used inner work in an undergraduate class set-
ting to address two interrelated matters: developing trust and working with
vulnerability. Given instruction was delivered in a traditional, secular higher
education setting, I have found through experience that an important element
of developing student engagement is to locate the pedagogy within the
broader context of contemporary forms of secular meditation and EI that
have prolonged periods of academic legitimacy (Culham, 2013). Furthermore,
Daoism as a spiritual tradition is never explicitly referenced, other than the
connection between inner work and emotions and student learning and devel-
opment. Another means of developing trust is to be open and vulnerable,
which sets the tone for the characteristics of the learning community. This is
the foundation I use to initially establish trust and the importance of being
vulnerable but recognize that both trust and vulnerability must be supported
with further scaffolding.
Many students are socialized to expect an intellectually oriented pedagogy
and have not been exposed to the methods addressing emotions and the
unconscious. Given this shift in orientation and expectations, careful scaf-
folding is required to engage students with the idea of inner work. Scaffolding
can be divided into providing the reasons and benefits why one would learn
in this way, and a carefully designed program that supports students and
acknowledges their doubts as they progress with inner work.
Prior to engaging students with inner work, they learn about a virtue ethics
decision-making framework illustrating how emotional self-awareness is
integrated with decision making in an organizational context (Badaracco,
1997). Therefore, they understand the business context within which inner
work is needed. They are also informed that the framework of virtue ethics
used in the course is consistent with research indicating ethics are founded on
emotions and their regulation, providing outcomes for practicing EI skills
and meditation.
Since these skills are often seen as unusual activities by many business
and management students, to support the perceived worthiness of the
approach, I inform students as follows:

12 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
 Neuroscience research indicates ethical decisions are made uncon-
sciously and related to emotions and the body providing the reason for
inner work to improve self-awareness (Haidt, 2001; Greene et al.,
2001).
 The brain changes in positive ways with meditation, in particular,
helping with self-awareness and emotional regulation (Goleman &
Davidson, 2017).
 Personal development of EI has been documented as valuable for both
business and the employee (Goleman et al., 2002; Lopes et al., 2006;
Showry & Manasa, 2014).
 In addition to learning about the external world, education can involve
being scientists of themselves involving introspection of inner sensa-
tions, emotions and thoughts leading to the need for vulnerability.
 Vulnerability is a healthy, courageous, and beneficial means of relat-
ing to others (Brown, 2010).
 Many leading companies (e.g., see Jabr, 2018) support contemplative
practices.
I demonstrate the value of inner work through instruction and coaching and
foregrounding the importance and validity of student experience to the learn-
ing process. As mentioned, the desired outcomes of engaging in inner work
are to improve emotional self-awareness and regulation of emotions, key
foundations of ethical decision making. In addition, I acknowledge that med-
itation, and practicing EI skills is an unusual approach, and I extend an invita-
tion to try out these activities as a personal experiment, and I request students
to hold judgment until they have experienced the activity for a few weeks.
The meditation activity discussed next is specifically designed to improve
student’s emotional awareness and regulation of emotions. Prior to medita-
tion, I invite students to recall a positive or negative emotional experience in
the recent past. Students are then invited to participate in an open meditation,
for example, “a spacious awareness of whatever comes to mind” (Goleman &
Davidson, 2017, p. 135), where I advise them to breathe naturally and observe
their internal experience. Qualitative research indicates that initially students
often find meditation weird or unusual (Culham & Shivhare, 2019). However,
I find that persistence with meditation for around 10 minutes in each class
throughout the semester helps students to become comfortable with the prac-
tice. Following open meditation, I invite students to pair up and discuss their
experiences. Then, an open class discussion is held focused on exploring stu-
dent’s physiological, emotional, and mental experiences related to the event
they recalled. Sharing personal experiences is unusual for most students and
I have found that a graduated approach of paired discussions followed by

Burton et al. 13
voluntary class sharing enables dialogue and encourages vulnerability. The
primary purpose of engaging in postmeditation dialogue is to assist students
to develop an awareness of physiological experiences and their related emo-
tions, which contributes to self-awareness and emotional regulation as stu-
dents learn to dispassionately observe emotional highs and lows. Students
also learn from other’s experiences and the practice normalizes vulnerability
as part of an inner experience. Finally, during the class discussion, I provide
further guidance regarding meditation so that student meditation skills are
scaffolded over time (Culham & Shivhare, 2019). Outside class, I ask stu-
dents to journal about their meditation and EI skill development weekly, fur-
ther providing the opportunity to develop their skills, reflect, and consolidate
learning (Houghton et al., 2012; Pavlovich et al., 2009).
In the cognitive learning dimensions of the teaching, students are offered
options to practice the skills of listening or speaking with others to develop
their EI (Lombardo & Eichinger, 2002) and virtues. This activity provides the
student with the opportunity to deliberately and consciously work with emo-
tional experiences to develop emotional self-awareness and regulation. For
example, those choosing speaking with others, may notice at first the emotion
of fear, accompanied by sweating palms, and rapid heartbeat. If they persist,
they are developing the virtue of courage, while those practicing listening when
it is not comfortable are practicing the virtue of patience (Culham et al., 2020).
Students select a skill to develop based on a review of descriptions indicating
poor and ideal behavior related to each skill (see Lombardo & Eichinger 2002).
Based on self-assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, students
choose one ideal behavior to practice outside of class a set number of times
per week, weekly journal their experiences, and meet with a fellow student or
someone close to provide friendly support and accountability to their com-
mitment to the work. Students are encouraged to reflect and record their
internal experiences in ungraded journals, which serve the purpose of docu-
menting progress regarding their EI skill and meditation practices, and offer
the opportunity for instructor feedback and guidance. Over the course of the
semester, a change is often observed from a sense of stress and discomfort
regarding practicing their EI skills to ease and calm over time contributing to
confidence and self-awareness indicating a transformation has occurred in
their experience (Culham et al., 2020). At the end of the semester, students
are required to review their journals from beginning to end and summarize
their experiences and development. This assignment is graded based on com-
pletion of the requirements and demonstration of the application of critical
thinking in the evaluation of experiences. As part of the course students also
complete case studies and tests to evaluate their ability to apply business eth-
ics course knowledge.

14 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
Challenges
In the preceding section, I provided an example regarding students being
encouraged to be vulnerable where they shared unusual experiences that
occurred during meditation. Some students describe unusual experiences
such as visions or mind states approaching oneness1 that for other students in
the class are perceived as weird, causing laughter or exclamations of surprise.
My preparation and experience with using inner work has helped me recog-
nize that I needed to do more than thank the student for their contribution. I
reflected that I needed to acknowledge their statements and ask them to elab-
orate on their experience while only revealing what they felt comfortable
doing. This conveyed to the student and the class that I valued the unusual
insights they revealed by being vulnerable.
Engaging in inner work with students can also sometimes illuminate the
instructor’s underdeveloped emotional skills. Instructors need to be comfort-
able with their own and student vulnerability and need the training and experi-
ence to address questions and experiences that surface through the practices
due to the broader view of student life the course affords. I have become much
more aware of student’s stress through conversations with them and reviewing
their journals. Sometimes, instructors may need to address emotional issues
that require skill to manage beyond their training and experience and need to
know when and where to suggest students seek additional support. For exam-
ple, I have had a few occasions where students have become overly assertive or
derogatory in their comments; alternatively, students may display anxiety or
stress. My preparation helped me remain calm and helpful in such situations
and recognize my own limits. In situations like this, I found that engaging in a
process of introspection and being able to discuss the matter with a supportive
community of practice has helped develop the skills to meet these challenges.
Buddhist
Essential Aspect: Mindful Reflexivity
Mindfulness is widely used as a form of contemplative pedagogy in social
work education (Birnbaum & Birnbaum, 2008; Lynn, 2010) and has recently
featured in management education (Kuechler & Stedham, 2018), fostering
student self-care (Bonifas & Napoli, 2013), developing knowledge and
skills (Gockel et al., 2013; Raheim & Lu, 2014), and critical reflection
(Chinnery & Beddoe, 2011). As a contemplative pedagogy, mindfulness can
be accompanied by music, poetry, meditation, and art to nurture psychologi-
cal wellbeing and deep awareness (Hoyt, 2016). Mindfulness can not only

Burton et al. 15
be used as a pedagogy to develop self-awareness and reflexivity but can also
be used to enhance an instructors’ use of reflection and reflexivity in teach-
ing (Lynn, 2010).
The practice of right mindfulness is one of the skillful means in Buddhist
philosophy. As a practice in the Noble Eightfold Path,2 right mindfulness
encompasses wisdom and morality in such a way that it facilitates a “middle
way”—a balance between extremes of desire and self-mortification to help
students and practitioners to transcend excessive attachments, such as fixed
perceptions or dispositions (Bodhi, 1998; Vu et al., 2018). It also encourages
ethicality, and the consideration of relational others in thoughts and actions.
The practice of “right mindfulness” can also foster mindful reflexivity (Vu &
Burton, 2020) that can encourage transformational learning, instilling an
ability to question who we are in the world, acknowledging that our interac-
tions are contextually embedded, and how we can act responsibly and ethi-
cally to bring people together for the common good (Purser, 2015). Mindful
reflexivity is attained through the Buddhist philosophical notions of depen-
dent arising (the interdependence of all phenomena), and through the
exchange of feedback, experiences, and dialogues from different perspec-
tives. To facilitate the practice of mindful reflexivity, an understanding of the
underlying philosophical foundations of right mindfulness is crucial—in par-
ticular, the three notions of dependent arising, impermanence, and nonself.
Understanding dependent arising facilitates collective mindfulness, allow-
ing students to appreciate the multidimensional aspects of the learning expe-
rience as a way to encourage both self- and critical reflexivity (Cunliffe,
2009, 2016; Vu & Burton, 2020). Impermanence, on the other hand, refers to
the temporal and changing nature of all phenomenon. Applying this principle
in the classrooms can help students to move away from their own comfort
zone with the understanding that an individuals’ status of knowledge is tem-
poral rather than static. This encourages students to more actively engage in
new and unexpected experiences and be more willing to be critical of their
own views, learning to be less attached to their own ego and ideology.
Willingness to face the unknown can encourage students to build up their
resilience to unforeseen issues, which is crucially important in complex man-
agement contexts. Last, the notion of nonself can stimulate students to let go
of attachments to selfish perceptions that may constrain their capabilities to
transform and develop through reflexivity.
Teaching Using Mindful Reflexivity
The aim of the activity is to enable student learning by encouraging par-
ticipants to critically rethink and question their way of managing and

16 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
organizing (Alvesson & Willmott, 1992) to reveal the ethical and moral
implications of management (Currie & Knights, 2003) in challenging situ-
ations. This requires reflexivity (Dyer & Hurd, 2016) and certain levels of
self-disclosure to overcome surface learning (Entwistle, 2000). Effective
self-disclosure can lead to increased intimacy (Bazarova, 2012), strong
interpersonal bonds and enhanced trust (Harper & Harper, 2006). This can
create a positive learning community based on such bonds, where instruc-
tors can generate deeper student learning (Borshuk, 2017). However, self-
disclosure can also be sometimes painful to hear, too personal or too risky
to share (Allen & Baber, 1992), and therefore self-disclosure should be
offered as an approach to enhance student learning only where there are
communal learning benefits for the discloser and others (Wheeless &
Grotz, 1976). Instructors should also present themselves in such a way that
it reduces their power and authority in the classroom and destabilizes their
position as a gatekeeper of information (Thornton, 1991). For instance,
Kelly (1986) suggested that instructors should remain as neutral as possi-
ble when discussing controversial issues. Cain (1996), on the other hand,
claims that self-disclosure by instructors on relevant issues can reduce the
power and status differential between instructor and students, which can
nurture an environment where students feel more inclined to risk their own
self-disclosure.
The intended learning outcomes of the session is to facilitate mindful
reflexivity based on an individuals’ self-reflexivity and critical reflexivity
(Cunliffe, 2009; Hibbert & Cunliffe, 2015) in order to extend student inter-
pretations and understanding of business ethics and identify responsible busi-
ness practices by allowing participants to exchange critical feedback and
reflections. Prior to this session, students participated in lectures on theories
of normative and descriptive ethics. The teaching activity involves inviting
students to self-disclose an uncomfortable case relating to an ethical dilemma
and engage in discussion to reveal how they dealt with it or could have dealt
with it, utilized as part of a 3-hour MBA module for senior managers. The
process I use involves encouraging self-reflexivity to help students learn
from both successes and failures of the self and from others, and the ability to
question means and ends (Lash, 1993) of the decisions made in managerial
ethical dilemmas. It also involves inviting students to be critical reflexive—
the ability of students to examine their organizational policies and practices
to see whether their leadership/management genuinely guides responsible
and ethical action.
To support students in feeling comfortable to participate, I emphasize the
following points:

Burton et al. 17
 The importance of a peer-learning classroom: honoring personal expe-
rience as a valid, reliable, and significant source of knowledge (Forrest
& Rosenberg, 1997)
 Up-front agreement about the necessary boundaries, confidentiality,
and reporting issues with guidelines for respectful classroom dialogue
(Borshuk, 2017) subject to relevant context and culture
 Encouraging students to use multiple materials (readings, movies,
online sources, etc.) to ensure multiplicity of voices are presented to
stimulate alternative conceptions
First, I encourage students to write down an ethical dilemma they have expe-
rienced in the workplace. This may be an ethical dilemma they have been
personally involved in, or one that they have witnessed. The student exam-
ples are anonymized (unless the student wishes it not to be anonymized) and
shared with the whole class by the instructor. I subsequently invite students
to ask questions and reflect on any cases that interest them in small groups for
about 45 minutes by reference to three elements of mindful reflexivity:
 Dependent arising: Who were the involved stakeholders within the
issue; relationships of those involved; motives, actions, outcomes, and
consequences of outcomes?
 Impermanence: Has this issue occurred before? If yes, are the reac-
tions similar or different, how and why? What is the specific context
of the issues? Would actions be different in other circumstances?
 Nonself: What was the motive behind decisions to respond to the ethi-
cal issue? Was the decision to attend to the ethical issue instrumental?
Whose end did it serve?
The Buddhist concepts are introduced in a prior lecture that covers spiritual-
normative ethics. In the session here, students were invited to apply these
concepts to their real-life cases by focusing upon the types of questions listed.
Following an initial discussion, each of the small groups are invited to
select and critically evaluate one case for up to 1 hour. I have found that this
activity helps students develop self-reflexivity by reviewing their own
motives, end purposes, reflection of past experiences and the context and the
context sensitivity of responses, and critical reflexivity by sharing their own
experiences, weighing the consequences of actions and motives, and debat-
ing other perspectives
Following the small group work, I guide a plenary session to open up dis-
cussion for each table to share their experiences and present agreements and
any remaining unsolved issues to discuss as a whole class. By opening up

18 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
discussion to the whole group, unresolved issues are subject to wider group
wisdom and critical reflection. After the plenary session, I put aside time for
students to quietly reflect on their own management practice and past and
present experiences of ethical dilemmas. Students are encouraged to journal
how they feel, and to identify opportunities for learning and development,
and to share any emergent feelings with the group if they so wish.
To assist the debriefing, collective sharing is facilitated by the instructor to
allow opportunities for both self- and critical- reflection experiences to stim-
ulate thoughts and feelings for students’ journaling. The importance of ongo-
ing journaling is emphasized to encourage students to recognize their
reflections, feelings of anxiety, or frustration and to identify possible reasons
behind such feelings. They are also encouraged to share their learning jour-
nals with other students on the module or program if they wish since continu-
ous learning can develop by further reflecting with and through others. I have
found that this is an important part of the activity as if facilitates a safe thera-
peutic space for students to tease out their emotional responses to contradic-
tions with their own personal understandings, values, beliefs, and experiences
(O’Connell & Dyment, 2011).
Challenges
Bringing mindful reflexivity into classrooms can present challenges. The jour-
nals we have received from students show how the process of being mindfully
reflexive may involve sharing painful or embarrassing experiences and being
critiqued by others—albeit anonymously—which can introduce anxiety
among students. Being open and vulnerable with and to others in class discus-
sions can hurt feelings and egos and may lead to frustration. Thus, the applica-
tion of mindful reflexivity can be challenging for some students. When
experimenting with the approach in different contexts, I have noticed that
especially in cohorts with international students from “face-saving” cultures,
using mindful reflexivity can lead to an unwillingness to engage and ulti-
mately to feelings of shame and embarrassment. It can take a deep courage to
engage in activities that contrast with cultural norms. To overcome this chal-
lenge, the creation of a safe learning community is important. To facilitate
such a learning environment, instructors play a vital role in facilitating inter-
personal bonds to encourage participants to overcome their own boundaries.
This may involve the instructor leading by example and sharing relevant man-
agerial challenges and issues or even disclosing personal experiences.
In addition, there is a possibility of resistance to sharing ethical dilemmas,
and the possibility of defensive reactions to the perspectives of others.
Participants may be unwilling to discuss past experiences or failures. As the

Burton et al. 19
students in the MBA cohort all have senior leadership or management roles,
I have found some resistance and defensiveness to listening to the perspec-
tives of others, and some have found it difficult to avoid being ego-defensive.
In this situation, I have found it useful to either reemphasize the “rules” of
sharing, self-disclosure, and deep listening, and sometimes I have invited
students to write these up on posters, which are then displayed around the
class. At other times, a time-out or period of reflection can help recenter stu-
dents. Sometimes this is as simple as inviting students to take a walk or read
an inspirational quotation that speaks to them. In the final analysis, instruc-
tors may need talk to reluctant students in a private setting about their anxiet-
ies and offer alternative exercises should they wish not to participate.
Quaker
Essential Aspect: Discernment
Quaker spiritual practice—and especially its discernment process—has
attracted interest from management scholars who have recently attested to its
growing interest in non-Quaker and nonreligious organizations (e.g., Muers &
Burton, 2019). Furthermore, Quakers have had a long historical association
with higher education in the United States, sharing a concern for authenticity,
care, love, trust, equality, and justice (Alton, 2018; O’Donnell, 2013). A
“Quaker education” is commonly associated with the Quaker testimonies to
peace, truth, integrity, simplicity, and equality (Rowe & Watson, 2018) that
represents an outward expression of an inner orientation to love and compas-
sion. At the heart of Quaker theology is the idea of the Light Within implanted
by God in every person and a readiness to answer “that of God in every one”
(Rediehs, 2016).
Among Quakers, silence is believed to create the ideal framing for spiri-
tual attainment and development (Molina-Markham, 2014) and is perceived
as a channel through which the divine can enter hearts and minds. Silence
also acts as a form of embodied stillness that facilitates deep listening and
connectedness among a group. Discernment is an essential aspect of the tra-
dition and is experienced through introspection and approached through con-
templative silence, pursuit of community belonging, and an abiding sense of
unity (Benefiel, 2005). Discernment approaches ethical decision making as
“the call of God as it comes to us in the midst of daily life” (Delbecq et al.,
2003, p. 147). Once a group practicing discernment enters into silence, any-
one in the group may then feel led to contribute to the matter at hand which
“reveal[s] their attempts at understanding and forming their belief” (Kline,
2012, p. 286). Quakers’ recognize that members of a group have “different

20 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
experience, different kinds of knowledge” (Ambler, 2013, p. 69) and as con-
tributions are heard, periods of silence and spoken contributions are interwo-
ven until eventually a position of unity emerges—Quakers call this finding
the “sense of the meeting” (Burton, 2017). Through collectively seeking
unity, each person is a constituent of the collectivized sense-making of the
group. Through this process of sharing individual knowledge, members of
the group expose individual knowledge to “collective testing” (Vu & Burton,
2020) in order to give primacy to an emergent group wisdom. Allen (2017)
argued that collective testing requires Quakers to be open to a practice of
individual “unknowing,” which then informs a wider group-wisdom.
For Quakers, while group wisdom is authoritative, its status, however,
remains partial and uncertain. Dandelion (2004) noted that for Quakers doubt
is a theological prescription. The glue that bonds together the group is not
necessarily shared religious belief but rather a belief that all knowledge is
cocreated and uncertain and represents the group’s best attempts at determin-
ing a group wisdom. To achieve this requires a willingness to eschew human
expertise and authority, to be nonexpert, not-knowing. Dandelion (2004) has
called this idea the “perhapsness” of Quaker epistemology. Thus, as opposed
to relativistic arguments that everyone can be right, the Quaker view is that
no individual person can be fully right (Dandelion, 1996).
Teaching Using Discernment
As part of a final-year undergraduate business and management program, I
teach an elective business ethics module that encompasses a “leaders’
debate” centered on the moral role of universities. The leaders’ debate is
located within the context of a 2-hour session about midway through a
semester-long module. By way of student preparation, students attend a
series of 1-hour lectures that explore various descriptive and normative
approaches to ethics, such as deontology, utilitarian ethics, virtue ethics,
and so on. A few weeks prior to teaching, students are invited to read a
seminar brief in relation to the leaders’ debate and its associated learning
outcomes—“To collectively appreciate different philosophical approaches
to business ethics.” The group is typically divided into four smaller groups,
and for each group, I provide
 The debate motion: “To what extent does management education pro-
duce responsible students”?
 Confirmation that four fictitious leaders will participate in the debate
 A pen portrait and summary of the ethical views of the four fictitious
leaders’ toward the motion

Burton et al. 21
In the teaching activity briefing, I allocate one fictitious leader to each of four
groups and confirm that the group is tasked with representing the ethical
views of that leader in the debate. Undisclosed to students, the pen portraits
of the four leaders are written in a way to represent different normative and
descriptive traditions toward ethics.
The leader debate has two distinct phases. In Phase 1, each of the four
groups nominates a speaker to debate the motion from the perspective of the
leader they have been given. Given that the pen portraits of the four leaders
reflect four different ethical traditions, there is often some areas of agreement
and some areas of disagreement between the views of the students represent-
ing the “leaders.” For example, students debating using a deontological and
virtue ethics approach may find some common ground but find little agree-
ment with an egoist or utilitarian approach to the motion. During the debate, I
often find that students recognize that the debate has been “set up” to reflect
the key similarities and differences between the different ethical traditions. At
this stage of proceedings, students will often ask me how consensus might be
reached in an organization if members of the organization do not share an ethi-
cal viewpoint.
In Phase 2 of the debate, the teaching activity turns to discover whether
the process of ethical decision making can enable a heterogeneous group to
reach consensus or unity. While Quaker discernment is used as the process,
the philosophical and theological content is not introduced, although further
readings are made available. I advise students that the aim of the process is
to reach a position toward the motion that they all find acceptable, although
noting that arras of disunity may sometimes persist. Disunity is not a failure
but rather should be perceived as a signal that the group is not yet ready to
make a decision.
To facilitate the process, the seating in the classroom is changed into one
large circle to reflect a Quaker meeting (Burton, 2017). The pen portraits of
the leaders are now put aside and I advise students that they are no longer
required to “stick to the script” of the leaders’ debate used in Phase 1. I also
introduce a few simple discernment rules (adopted from Quaker practice and
described in Muers & Burton, 2019). First, the room is organized into one
circle to visibly reflect the idea of equality and connection. Second, given
that silence is an important feature of discernment, students are asked to
observe a short pause between contributions to signal that the contribution
has been truly heard. Silence is therefore used to create a “space” to reflect on
the contributions offered to the group, to reduce the risk of a heated or ego-
based debate, and to develop an environment where students may feel com-
fortable with self-disclosure and vulnerability in order to create a high-trust
context. Third, students are also asked to limit their contributions to avoid

22 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
dominating proceedings, contribute only if it takes the understanding of the
group forward, do not criticize a contribution but rather add to it, limit advo-
cacy, and to not repeat what has been previously said.
In the discernment phase, I locate myself as part of the circle and my mini-
mal role is to observe adherence to the “rules.” Importantly, once a sense of
unity emerges, I ask for a period of silence and reflection as I draft a contem-
poraneous statement that reflects the group’s collective wisdom, which is
then accepted or rejected by the group. Thus, discernment requires that
instructors do not occupy a powerful or privileged position by virtue of their
knowledge or academic credentials but act as a servant to the process. Like
Quakers, instructors are attempting to do justice to the collective sense-mak-
ing of the group within a trusting, equal and noncoercive relationship open to
the emergence of new insights.
The debrief invites students to reflect upon how the process encourages or
discourages reaching unity toward an issue, often despite significant cultural,
social and ethical diversity in business school settings. I ask students to reflect
upon the process of teasing out group wisdom, and the relative primacy of
individual and collective ways of “knowing.” Students are asked to comment
on if and how their own ethical views toward the motion changed during the
process, and whether they found this inspiring or challenging. In situations
where areas of disunity remained, students are invited to consider whether this
is important, and if so, how this might be resolved over time. Should the deci-
sion proceed in the knowledge of disunity? Or should disunity be seen as a
signal that further discernment is required? Students are also asked to consider
the importance of the “discernment rules” and whether these were helpful, and
if so, why? Last, students are asked to reflect on whether the process enabled or
inhibited their willingness to contribute and to deeply listen to others.
One further objective of the seminar debrief is to relate the exercise to
the module assessment. As part of the assessment, students are invited to
submit a reflective statement relating to Phase 2 of the teaching activity,
which articulates their perceptions and feelings toward the questions raised
in the debrief.
Challenges
Quaker discernment emphasizes the relational aspects of learning and
development and encourages “the learner not simply to think differently but
to act differently” (Smith & Kempster, 2019, p. 305). Through sharing indi-
vidual knowledge and beliefs toward an issue or problem, and by having an
open mind, students can reflexively adjust or change their position in rela-
tion to others in a trusting and supportive environment, which can facilitate
new understandings and learning. As Vu and Burton (2020) noted, Quaker

Burton et al. 23
discernment is “an active and continuous negotiation between individual
knowledge and the ‘sense of the meeting,’ as individual knowledge, belief,
and opinions are adjusted in contextually embedded ways” (p. 219). My
review of students’ reflective statements strongly suggests that Quaker dis-
cernment may offer opportunities for groups to contribute to an ethical dis-
cussion, problem or issue in a respectful and nonjudgmental way that
encourages a qualitative change in individual beliefs and knowledge (see
also Anderson, 2006) and that can transform student learning about busi-
ness ethics and managerial responsibility. Students also often reflect on the
sharp contrast between the discernment process, and what they know about
hierarchal decision-making in organizations.
However, Quaker discernment can also create anxiety, and can be uncom-
fortable and unsettling for some. I have found that the role of silence is par-
ticularly unsettling for some students. Fear of “breaking the silence” and
“speaking out of the silence” can cause reluctance for some students to par-
ticipate. I have found that clearly setting out the discernment rules at the
outset is critical. Students should be encouraged to contribute to the discus-
sion but only if feel led to do so. Furthermore, I have found that feeling com-
fortable with silence is an important student skill, and I would encourage
instructors to resist breaking the silence if the conversation seems “stuck.” In
circumstances when the discernment seems stuck, I find it helpful to briefly
summarize my “sense of the meeting” so far, and to signal that the process is
back in student hands by saying “the decision is back before you.” This often
helps students take the discernment in new and unexpected directions.
Concluding Remarks
In this article, we have connected the essential aspects of three different spiri-
tual traditions to management education pedagogy, and Table 2 provides a
summary.
While our work is foundational, our contribution to the management edu-
cation literature is threefold. First, we have illuminated the possibilities for
a management education pedagogy that encompasses the essential aspects of
three spiritual practices. We have illustrated how teaching using aspects of
Daoist and Buddhist practice may support individual students in developing
emotions and reflexivity. Furthermore, we showed how collective discern-
ment may help students working in teams and groups cultivate relational
awareness and group wisdom. Second, we have moved beyond treating spir-
ituality as a “monoculture” to show how the different essential aspects of
spiritual practices can be potentially utilized by instructors across under-
graduate and post-experience classes. By doing so, we have responded to the
calls for more “heart and soul” in management education (Waddock &

24
Table 2. Linkages Between the Essential Aspects of Spiritual Practice and Pedagogy.
Tradition
Essence of
tradition
Key features of
tradition
Learning outcomes
desired
Teaching business ethics—activities
suggested
Dao Inner work Cultivation of virtue by
developing tranquility through
meditation resulting in
awareness of one’s innate
nature.
Improved self-
awareness;
emotional
regulation, and
relations with
others
Engage in contemplative practices
Preparation:
Students: No specific preparation is required, but regular meditation
practice in and outside class recommended
Instructor: Familiarity of use of meditation and Dao principles
Activities:
Recollection of a positive or negative emotional experience
Meditation
Reflective dialogue
Interpersonal skills (EI) practice
Listening and speaking exercise to cultivate virtue
Plenary & debrief:
Instructor to raise questions to invite collective sharing
Reflective journaling
Buddhism Right mindfulness
embedded in the
principles of the
Noble Eightfold
Path
Key features: Dependent arising
Impermanence
Nonself
Self-reflexivity
Critical reflexivity
Mindful reflexivity Mindful Reflexivity through self—and critical—reflexivity on business
ethics problems to develop responsible business practices
Preparation:
Students: Familiarity with Buddhist concepts discussed in previous
sessions
Instructor: Familiarity of use of Buddhist right mindfulness principles
Activities:
Phase I: Allow students to discuss their ethical issues and select
one to explore using three elements of Buddhist philosophy
(dependent arising; impermanence; nonself)
Phase II: Whole-group discussions to practice mindful reflexivity
toward agreements and unresolved issues
Plenary and debrief:
Instructor to raise questions to invite collective sharing
Self-reflexivity: Each student is allowed individual time to reflect
upon feelings, and learning and development opportunities
(continued)

25
Tradition
Essence of
tradition
Key features of
tradition
Learning outcomes
desired
Teaching business ethics—activities
suggested
Quaker Discernment Key features: Instructor as clerk
Periods of silence and spoken
contributions interwoven
Deep listening
Positive contributions
Avoidance of criticism
Ensuring everyone is heard
Contemporaneous statement
of unity
Developing group
wisdom
Discerning group wisdom toward a business ethics problem through
a leaders’ debate.
Preparation:
Students: Knowledge of core philosophical foundations for studying
business ethics through lectures or other medium
Instructor: Familiarity of use of discernment and group dynamics
Activities:
Explain behavioral rules and discernment process
Explain that the aim is to try to reach a unity that everyone finds
acceptable, but that areas of disunity may emerge
Explain instructor role as “clerk”
Begin with short period of silence
Students contribute to the process as they feel led and in line with
the “rules”
Process ends when the clerk senses an emerging unity
Instructor/clerk drafts a contemporaneous statement reflecting the
group wisdom for acceptance or revision by the group
Areas of disunity and acknowledged for further discernment
Plenary and debrief:
Discussion of process, advantages, and frustrations
Discussion of silence and behavioral rules; why are they important/
unimportant and why?
Status of individual versus group wisdom
Table 2. (continued)

26 Journal of Management Education 00(0)
Lozano, 2013). We have only scratched the surface, however, and opportu-
nities for further research and practice abound. Third, addressing challenges
in these experimental teachings in terms of vulnerability, trust-building, and
self-disclosure, we reaffirm that the techniques and ethics of experiential
teaching (Rosenbloom & Fetner, 2001) need to be reflexively reviewed and
considered by instructors.
The approaches we have elaborated may represent a challenge to potential
instructors. Inviting student’s emotional experiences into class both publicly
and privately encourages an openness but also a vulnerability. Instructors
need to acquire unfamiliar skills that relate to theoretical advancements on
emotional development but also on the philosophical content of spiritual tra-
ditions. We have argued that instructors need not be spiritual practitioners,
but they do need to share its normative commitments, and the ability and
willingness to be open and vulnerable themselves. We have found that
instructors who are willing and motivated to transform themselves through
teaching and learning are well-placed to develop the kinds of skills required
to create safe peer-learning communities.
We hope that our elaborations of teaching examples can be taken up by
other potential instructors. We recognize, however, that further questions may
arise, which we see also as pathways for future research. For example, decid-
ing whether or how to disclose the spiritual and/or religious foundations of the
essential aspects of the practices to students remains an intriguing question.
We have found that, given the diversity of belief content (and none) in many
higher education classes, this can sometimes be unhelpful. Nonetheless, there
may be contexts in which it is helps support student engagement. This is an
interesting idea for further research. Further research may also wish to explore
how other essential aspects of the three spiritual traditions we have explored
could be utilized. For example, the Daoist concept of cultivating emotional
tranquility was linked to the exercises of inner work through meditation and
EI, the latter of which is familiar to most students and educators. Further
extrapolation of how tranquility could be nurtured through EI would be valu-
able. Further Buddhist principles, such as self-decentralization or karmic rea-
soning could be explored as a way to teach leadership. Karmic reasoning has
some similarities, for example, to utilitarian ethics, based on social outcomes.
In the Quaker tradition, clearness committees are often used to support an
individual in finding clearness toward an issue or problem (e.g., Benefiel,
2004; Burson, 2002). Clearness committees may offer an interesting peda-
gogical innovation in mentoring, coaching, and tutoring. While beyond the
scope of this article, we are aware that clearness committees have featured in
a number of independent executive leadership programs, and yet universities
have often ignored their potential (an indicative resource is listed in the

27
Indicative Resources for Potential Instructors.
Resource Dao Buddhist Quaker
Key text(s) Ivanhoe, P. J. (2003). The Daodejing of Laozi. Hackett.
Ames, R. T. (Ed.). (2016). Wandering at ease in the
Zhuangzi. SUNY Press.
Rāhula, W. (1974). What the Buddha
taught (Vol. 641). Grove Press.
Quakers in Britain. (1995). Quaker faith
and practice.
Further reading
of philosophy
Chan, A. (2010). Affectivity and the nature of the
sage: Gleanings from a Tang Daoist master. Journal
of Daoist Studies, 3(2), 1-27.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2006). Material virtue: Ethics and
the body in early China. Brill.
Kirkland, R. (2004). Taoism: The enduring tradition.
Routledge.
Roth, H. D. (1999). Original Tao: Inward training
(nei-yeh) and the foundations of Taoist mysticism.
Columbia University Press.
Harvey, P. (2012). An introduction to
Buddhism: Teachings, history and
practices. Cambridge University Press.
Dandelion, P. (2008). The Quakers: A
very short introduction (Vol. 177).
Dandelion, P. (2007). An introduction to
Quakerism.
Durham, G. (2013). Being a Quaker:
A guide for newcomers (revised and
updated). ebookpartnership.com.
Resources on
essential aspects Inner work Mindful reflexivity Discernment
Readings Cohen, A. (2009). Gateway to the Dao-field: Essays for
the awakening educator. Cambria.
Culham, T. E. & Lin, J (2020). Daoist Cultivation of Qi
and Virtue for Life, Wisdom, and Learning. Palgrave
MacMillan.
Kohn, L. (2004). Cosmos and community: The ethical
dimension of Daoism. Three Pines Press.
Kohn, L. (Ed.). (2000). Daoism handbook (Vol. 14).
Brill.
Kohn, L. (2009). Introducing Daoism. JBE Online Books.
Mamgain, V. (2010). Ethical
consciousness in the classroom: How
Buddhist practices can help develop
empathy and compassion. Journal of
Transformative Education, 8(1), 22-41.
Vu, M. C., & Burton, N. (2020). Mindful
reflexivity: Unpacking the process of
transformative learning in mindfulness
and discernment. Management
Learning, 51(2), 207-226.
Anderson, P. (2006). The meeting
for worship in which business is
conducted-Quaker decision-making
process as a factor of spiritual
discernment. Quaker Religious
Thought, 106(1), 4.
Eccles, P. J. (2009). The presence in
the midst: reflections on discernment.
Quaker Books.
(continued)
Appendix
Instructor Resources

28
Resources on
essential aspects Inner work Mindful reflexivity Discernment
Podcasts and
Videos
Brown, B. (2010). The power of vulnerability
[Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.
ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_
vulnerability?language=en
The Four Noble Truths: https://youtu.
be/9WXCyqdP7s8
The Noble Eightfold Path: https://youtu.
be/bi8OeCuzHKc
Dependent origination/arising: https://
youtu.be/A2cDhGVgb9A
Non-self: https://youtu.be/
gSZjKKuvHEQ
Skillfulness: https://youtu.be/
ZTqibLMY1LM
Quaker faith and podcast: Speaking in
meeting
https://quakerpodcast.org/speaking-in-
meeting/?fbclid=IwAR1UXrnvo8wW
wAwzCHHt3NUe_rENUXluLS_7eG
isrAdvNJfRYr6i0teMhTo
Quaker faith and podcast: Business
process
https://quakerpodcast.org/business-
process/
Quaker Speak: The Quaker practice of
discernment:
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=PfIG2m7dAk8
Quaker Speak: How Quakers make
decisions
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=gjrBg1VvyZ8
Quaker Speak: How to have a
clearness committee
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=kvNO4-leFOg
Sample of
Secular
Contemplative
Programs
David S. Rosenthal center for wellness and health promotion Harvard University Health Services: https://wellness.huhs.harvard.edu/mindfulness
The Mindfulness Institute: http://www.mindfulnessinstitute.ca/mbsr
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) facilitator. Adult Education, University of the Fraser
Valley https://www.ufv.ca/mbtl/
Search inside yourself (originally created by Google): https://siyli.org/programs/search-inside-yourself
The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values: https://thecenter.mit.edu/
Appendix. (continued)

Burton et al. 29
appendix). Beyond the traditions we have explored, our ideas could equally be
extended to other spiritual and religious traditions, and we hope scholars from
other traditions and faiths can contribute their practice to the discussion.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publi-
cation of this article.
ORCID iD
Nicholas Burton https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3140-9776
Notes
1. Oneness is and experience of seeing oneself “as intimately connected with other
people, creatures, and things in ways that conduce to their greater happiness,
advantage, and well-being” (Ivanhoe et al., 2018, pp. 1-2).
2. To overcome states of “suffering,” the eight principles of the Noble Eightfold
Path (right speech, right intention, right action, right view, right effort, right
mindfulness, right conduct, and right concentration) are guidelines.
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