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Contemplative Information and Visual Literacy (CIVL)

Basic information about contemplative information and visual literacy (CIVL)

Contemplative Information and Visual Literacy (CIVL)

gen AI-created image of sunlight coming through a library with computers and books, with a focus on mindfulness

Image generated by Google Gemini using the prompt "create an image of contemplative information literacy, or mindfulness practices applied to information literacy" on June 18, 2025

Contemplative Information and Visual Literacy (CIVL) is the application of mindfulness strategies to information and visual source evaluation. 

As our information landscape rapidly evolves to include generative AI tools and global disinformation strategies, so too does the need for more holistic information and visual literacy evaluation strategies recognizing students' emotions and worldviews along with their rational logic.

Jon Kabat-Zinn (2003) defines mindfulness as "the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally [sic] to the unfolding of experience moment by moment" (p. 145).

As one of the college's core competencies, information and visual literacy is:

  • The ability to assess the information requirements of complex projects;
  • To identify potential textual, visual and electronic resources;
  • To obtain the needed information;
  • And to interpret, evaluate, synthesize, organize, and use that information, regardless of format
  • While adhering strictly to the legal and ethical guidelines governing information access in today’s society
  • A set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. 

For more details, see the Highline College Library's Information & Visual Literacy Resources for Faculty.

We believe that applying mindfulness practices to information and visual literacy can help students to make more mindful and intentional information consumption choices, and will become an increasingly valuable skill for students to practice and to apply within their professional, academic, and personal lives.

Contemplative Pedagogy

Contemplative Information and Visual Literacy (CIVL) developed out of the concept of contemplative practices, especially contemplative pedagogy. Hart (2004) describes contemplation as a concept "used broadly to refer to a third way of knowing that complements the rational and the sensory" (p. 28). As Rendón and Kangala (2014) point out, "Educators are often trained to remove or distance the inner engagement in our education system. This imbalance between the outer and inner engagements, and privileging one way of knowing over the other, have often invalidated or dismissed the ways of knowing of Indigenous populations and people of color" (p. 62).

With deep historical roots in Buddhist and Hindu meditative practices and Christian and Islamic contemplative traditions, Jon Kabat-Zinn popularized secular mindfulness in western society through the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, an 8-week course. Research examining MBSR program results supported an evidence-based connection between mindfulness and stress relief as well as mental health improvements.  The MBSR program's success influenced a wide range of mindfulness interventions in other disciplines, including education (Ragoonaden, 2015, p. 18).

Aytac and Mizrachi (2022) identify contemplative pedagogy as mindfulness applied within the educational realm (43). As Chick (2010) has noted, contemplative pedagogy can “offset the constant distractions of our multitasking, multimedia culture” through the cultivation of methods “designed to quiet and shift the habitual chatter of the mind to cultivate a capacity for deepened awareness, concentration, and insight.” 

Other benefits of contemplative pedagogy (Barbezat & Bush, 2014) may include:

  • Increased attention and concentration
  • Improving physical and mental health
  • Increased gratitude and social connections

In the classroom, contemplative pedagogy strategies might include:

  • Reflective journal writing
  • Deep listening
  • Guided meditation practices

The Tree of Contemplative Practices provides a flexible framework for approaching mindfulness in daily life, including learning and teaching. As one of the tree's creators, Maia Duerr, has written, "The Tree was never meant to be a definitive taxonomy but rather an invitation to explore what [contemplative] practice means to each of us."

Illustration of a tree labeled "The Tree of Contemplative Practices." The base emphasizes connection and awareness. Limbs include categories such as ritual, creative, relational, and movement. Branches feature activities like yoga, meditation, beholding, contemplative arts, deep listening, labryinth walking, Qigong, and journaling.

The Tree of Contemplative Practices was created by Maia Duerr and Carrie Bergman for the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society 

References and Further Reading

Aytac, S., & Mizrachi, D. (2022). The mindfulness framework for implementing mindfulness into information literacy instruction. The Reference Librarian, 6(1-2), 46-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2022.2030273

Barbezat, D., & Bush, M. (2014). Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning. John Wiley & Sons.

Chick, N. (2010). Mindfulness in the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/contemplative-pedagogy/.

Hart, T. (2004). Opening the contemplative mind in the classroom. Journal of Transformative Education, 2(1), 28-46.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 145. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016

Ragoonaden, K. (2015). Mindful education and well-being. In K. Ragoonaden (Ed.), Mindful Teaching and Learning: Developing a Pedagogy of Well-Being (pp. 17–31). Lexington Books.

Rendón, L., & Kanagala, V. (2014). Embracing contemplative pedagogy in a culturally diverse classroom. In B. F. Tobolowsky (Ed.), Paths to Learning: Teaching for Engagement in College (pp. 61–76). National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.