Consciousness and Capacity-Building

Abstract

This chapter explores the relationship between consciousness and capacity-building in current educational settings. In particular, it elaborates the distinctive associations between varying levels and states of consciousness on the one hand and the potential to enhance individual and group learning and teaching capabilities on the other. The authors argue that learners and educators are sometimes enabled to share their heightened understandings of themselves and their worlds with many others across multiple educational fields. This argument is illustrated by reference to specific manifestations of consciousness raising among Australian senior secondary art classrooms, Australian teachers promoting their students’ mental health and well-being, and yoga masters and practitioners. The chapter concludes by eliciting implications of this intimate connection between consciousness and capacity-building in contemporary educational contexts.