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By: Brittany Sill-Turner

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Mindful Inquiry:
An Introduction
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Reflection

§ “… I am convinced that men hate each other

because they fear each other. They fear each
other because they don’t know each other,
and they don’t know each other because they
don’t communicate with each other, and they
don’t communicate with each other because
they are separated from each other.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King, 1962

("Dr. Martin Luther King's visit to Cornell College - Cornell College", 2017)
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THINK…PAIR…SHARE…

§ Think about the quote you just read.

§ What comes up for you?

§ Is it still relevant?

§ Why?

§ How do we create change?

§ Engaging in conversation?

§ Listening?
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Mindful Inquiry
§ What does it mean to be mindful?
§ Paying attention, on purpose in the present and being non-judgmental to
the unfolding of each moment in the experience

§ Receptive

§ Letting be

§ Not having all of the answers and being “okay” with that

§ What does it mean to inquire?

§ Asking a question (or many questions) to investigate our experience.

§ Active Questioning

§ Assumptions

§ Can mean shutting down, becoming rigid in our opinion and position

§ Waiting for the first sign that you don’t think like them and jumping
into set them straight

(Nagata, 2002) and (Webster-Wright, 2013)

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What is Mindful
Inquiry?

§ Mindful Inquiry means being open-

minded

§ Giving your full attention to others

§ Allowing yourself the time and

space to fully absorb what the other
person said

§ Provides a means of effectively

communicating and listening with
people of diverse cultures.
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Lee Mun Wah
§ Executive Director of Stirfry Seminars & Consulting

§ A diversity training company

§ Prior to this, a resource specialist and counselor in the San

Francisco Unified School District for 25 years.

§ His belief: “we each must take a stand and personally

participate in this important journey of confronting our fears
and beginning a conversation not only with those we love but
also with those we have been taught to fear”.

("Stirfry Seminars & Consulting”, 2017)

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Remember…. Be patient, listen and
don’t rush to an
apology or solution.

Stay with the

relationship and the
process.

Empathy and sincerity

are the gateways to
understanding and
compassion.
("Stirfry Seminars & Consulting”, 2009)
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Mindful Inquiry
Questions:
§ “What I heard you say was....”

§ “Tell me more about what you meant by...”

§ “What angered you about what happened?”

§ “What hurt you about what happened?”

§ “What’s familiar about what happened?”

§ (How did that affect you?

§ How does it affect you now?)

§ “What do you need/want?”

("Stirfry Seminars & Consulting”, 2009)

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Dominate Modes of Communication

§ Shifting our modes of communication that dominate our

society.

§ Unable to separate own needs and interests from those

of others.

§ More likely to interrupt

§ Everything they hear comes with an automatic bias:

§ How does this affect me?

§ They attend to the surface of the words rather than

listening for what is “between the lines.”

§ Positional Authority

§ Debate Mode
(Rockman, 2017) and ("Deep Listening", 2010)
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More Than Just
Active Listening…
§ Active Listening - a practice of repeating back or
paraphrasing what you think you are hearing and gently
seeking clarification when the meaning is not clear.

§ Mindful or Deep listening - listening, from a deep,

receptive, and caring place in oneself.

§ Listening that is generous, empathic, supportive,

accurate, and trusting.

§ Qhatever others say, regardless of how well

or poorly it is said, comes from something
true in their experience.

§ Deep Listening is an ongoing practice of

suspending self-oriented, reactive thinking
and opening one’s awareness to the
unknown and unexpected.
("Deep Listening", 2010)
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Healthy Ways to
Communicate
§ Reflect back what is being said. Use their words, not yours.

§ Begin where they are, not where you want them to be.

§ Be curious and open to what they are trying to say.

§ Notice what they are saying and what they are not.

§ Emotionally relate to how they are feeling. Nurture the

relationship.

§ Notice how you are feeling. Be honest and authentic.

§ Take responsibility for your part in the conflict or

misunderstanding.

§ Try to understand how their past affects who they are and how
those experiences affect their relationship with you.

§ Stay with the process and the relationship, not just the solution.

("Stirfry Seminars & Consulting”, 2009)

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Using Mindful Inquiry and
Listening with Students
§ Applying Mindful Inquiry to Learning styles
§ Reflect: What is causing this student to “act
out?”

§ Ask them what they need?

§ Are they physically comfortable?

§ What can educators do?

§ Observe Patters of Behavior

§ Listen to the way a Person Communicates

§ Experiment with what works and what doesn't’t

§ Focus on natural strengths, not weaknesses

§ Remember… students apply their own unique

perspective to learning tasks.

(Ulrich Tobias, 2017)

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Using Mindful Inquiry with Co-workers…
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References:
§ Nagata, A. (2002). Mindful Inquiry: A Learner-Centered Approach to Qualitative Research. Keynote Speeches at 2002 SIETAR
Japan Conference, pp.23-36.

§ Dr. Martin Luther King's visit to Cornell College - Cornell College. (2017). Cornell College News Center. Retrieved 14 October
2017, from http://news.cornellcollege.edu/dr-martin-luther-kings-visit-to-cornell-college/

§ Webster-Wright, A. (2013). The eye of the storm: a mindful inquiry into reflective practices in higher education. Reflective
Practice, 14(4), 556-567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2013.810618

§ Rockman, P. (2017). Inquiry: the heart of mindfulness · Centre for Mindfulness Studies. The Centre for Mindfulness Studies.
Retrieved 20 October 2017, from https://www.mindfulnessstudies.com/inquiry-the-heart-of-mindfulness/

§ Deep Listening. (2010). Mindful. Retrieved 22 October 2017, from https://www.mindful.org/deep-listening/

§ Stirfry Seminars & Consulting - Diversity Training Seminars, Diversity Training Films and Diversity Training Materials. (2017).
Stirfryseminars.com. Retrieved 14 October 2017, from http://www.stirfryseminars.com/

§ Ulrich Tobias, C. (2017). Reaching Those You Love Best in the Worst of Times: Practical and Compassionate Ways to Talk and
Listen. Presentation, Heathman Lodge Vancouver.