Mindful pedagogy as a contemporary pedagogical approach in applied learning: Conceptual foundations and early insights from higher education

Mindful pedagogy employing mindful practices for learning shows promise as a modern teaching strategy for Applied Learning (AL) in higher education. This qualitative study investigated the feasibility of this strategy, exploring the logic model of a culinary arts module, The Mindful Kitchen Health and Wellbeing for Chefs to describe initial insights from the AL pathways that are shaped by a mindful pedagogical approach. Data analysis of a graduate focus group (n = 6) a co-educator-designer interview and the researcher’s co-educator-designer reflection revealed three emerging themes: mindful pedagogy positively reframed the learning environment for students and educators; uniquely, it empowered creativity while also promoting wellbeing for stress resilience, and it created heightened awareness of needs within professional practice. The related skills are aligned to ‘real world’ AL. The resulting logic model demonstrates potential as a frame of reference for deeper exploration of using a mindful approach to AL pedagogy within university disciplines.