This essay will be limited to mindfulness-based teaching in first-generation mindfulness based programs (MBPs) like Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Definition of MBPs used in this discussion is as those programs in which ‘a distinctive feature is that systematic and sustained training in formal and informal mindful practices (for both teacher and participants) is central both to the therapeutic approach and underpinning theoretical model’ (Crane et al. 2017). Furthermore, sets of values and morals as well as the qualitative tones that govern a teacher’s conduct in context of teaching MBPs will constitute the ethical frameworks. Ethical Frameworks Underpinning MBPs McCown, Reibel …show more content…
It also recommends an ongoing involvement in the research, best-practice discussions (e.g. participation in web-forums or conferences) and a community of peers. These forums and opportunities to stay connected with peers assist heavily in building a strong communal ethical scaffolding. In a nascent profession, teachers use such structures to lean on as they wrestle with emerging dilemmas of their individual …show more content…
At this point, it is important to pause and note that a teacher’s personal identity – inevitably marked by her cultural heritage, professional background and her life journey - also influences her ethics. Sometimes the elements of this identity supplement the growth of a teacher and at other times, they may become impediments. Maex (2011) states that the well-intentioned habitual tendencies of therapists/doctors to give advice can sometimes be detrimental to the empowerment of a participant’s discovery of his own answer through his suffering. Conversely, Crane (2016) gives the example of pioneering work of Kabat-Zinn and attributes one of the success factors to his professional background as “it honored the ethics, agenda, ethos and concerns of the mainstream hospital setting within which the course was implemented.” All of life experiences bring their own contributions and at the end, I would concur with “good teaching comes from identity, not technique.” (Palmer, 1998, p.