Buddhism in Culturally Responsive Engineering and Science Education

1. Buddhism in Culturally Responsive Engineering and Science Education Author: Marisol Mercado Santiago [School of Engineering education, purdue university] Second authors: Alice l. Pawley & Donald w. mitchell 12thsakyadhita conference 2011

2. Questions that we will explore in this presentation: What does Buddhism have to offer to engineering and science education? How do Buddhist concepts can be integrated in science and engineering education? (for Buddhist youngsters in Buddhist schools) For what purposes?

3. Content • What is engineering? • Culturally relevant approach to education • Buddhist concepts that can be integrated in engineering and science education • Case scenarios (examples) in teaching and learning

4. What is Engineering? Design Implementation (also known as: construction, production, development) • Activitiestodesign and develop technologies, systems, products, processes, structures, buildings, etcetera. • Industrial Revolution of the Western world (late 19th century)  needed skilled workers  academia started engineering programs. Civil engineering being one of the first ones.

5. Example of Engineering Design Projects • Photos of projects done by pre-college and college students (Western context): Robot that lifts aluminum cans (pre-college level) http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2009/boiler-green-robots1.jpg Building a ramp structure. It helps the child to explore physics (force and motion) (K-12 level) http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/beyond/seed/zan.html Solar-powered low-cost neonatal incubator (college level) http://www.scu.edu/engineering/enews/2011winter/research.cfm

6. Culturally relevant approach to education • Geneva Gay (2000): (1) Validates and respects the perspective of diverse cultural heritages (2) Establishes relationships between academic abstractions and the children’s sociocultural reality. (3) Uses diverse ways of teaching to fit in the different learning styles. (4) Incorporation of multicultural education

7. Buddhist concepts The Four Noble Truths Dependent Origination and Interdependence Greed (lobha) as a Poison of the Mind that Impacts the World The Principle of Ahimsa (non-violence or non-harm)

8. Case Scenario #1: The Four Noble Truths as a Framework for Engineering Design A community teacher guides high school students in a village school to identify and design a solution for one of the village’s development problems.

9. Case Scenario #1: The Four Noble Truths as a Framework for Engineering Design

10. Dependent Origination Related to interdependence (de Silva, 1998) and emptiness. Emptiness – everything lacks of inherent existence; thus, in reality everything is interconnected in a nexus of interdependence. How can we associate dependent origination with engineering and sustainability education?

11. Case scenario #2: Production of biofuels in a bigger picture1 CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2 CO2

12. Greenhouse effect Greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide (CO2)) absorb heat and contribute to the increase of global warming, which is in itself a natural process of the Earth. Radiation from the sun Sun Atmosphere • Increase of heat in Earth results in: • Change in animals migration patterns. • Increase of floods, heavy rain in some areas. • Melting of ice in the poles, rising sea levels. • Drying of forests. • Loss of wildlife…

13. Greed (lobha) as a Poison of the Mind that Impacts the World Greed  high consumerism  more demand in Earth’s natural resources and services  contribute in the increment of CO2  greenhouse effect. Many authors have related greed to practices that have made a strong negative impact in the environment (e.g., Swearer, 1997; Sivaraksa, 2000; Sure, 2010).

14. Greed (lobha) as a Poison of the Mind that Impacts the World • Engineering contribute to industries and manufacturing of products that support the chain of consumerism: “Engineers create factories in towns and cause villagers to move away from their families to find work.Engineers contribute more than possibly any other profession (apart from business itself) to the movement of capital throughout the world which causes all developing countries to become increasingly market driven. These are what we need to guard against, are responsible for and can do something about” (Baillie, 2009, p. 83)

15. Case Scenario #3: Impermanence and the Product Lifecycle • Teacher-students reflective dialogue about the impact of greed and high consumerism: what happens when a society keeps cultivating an urge to consume, not being satisfied with what they have. • Teacher can bring knowledge about the products lifecycle and connect it to the principle of impermanence. • What happens when people keep consuming non-biodegradable productswithout proper recycling?

16. Case Scenario #3: Impermanence and the Product Lifecycle Story of Stuff (2010) International Website – video that explains the products lifecycle, linked to consumerism, and environmental pollution. http://www.storyofstuff.com/international/

17. Industrial Products Life Cycle Selling Transportation Extraction of Earth’s resources Production Product use What other alternatives to discard the product do we have? Engineers

18. The Principle of Ahimsa (non-violence or non-harm) • Ahimsa is a commitment to non-harm (Sure, 2010, p. 67). • Teacher-students reflective dialogueabout the relationship between unethical manufacturing activities (where many engineers work) and environmental pollution • What can we do about it if we would have the opportunity to become engineers?: “While consumer good manufacturers may not intentionally choose to cause harm, their actions nonetheless often leave death and injury in their wake. [….] Producers justify tremendous harm to many forms of life to meet the bottom line of profit and gain” (Kaza, 2005, p. 143)

19. Case Scenario #4: Importance of ethics in engineering • Teacher-students reflective dialogue about the importance ofethics in engineering2: • Each field of engineering has its own professional ethics code. • We can guide our engineering and science practices through Buddhist ethics as well. • How do the teachings of the Buddha can be applied to ethical conduct in engineering? • The interdependence of individual and society • Social responsibility • Karma and conditioning

20. Case Scenario #4: Importance of mindfulness in engineering • Teacher-students reflective dialogue about the importance of mindfulness in engineering design and implementation: • How do current and future engineers can protect the environment while at the same time meet the needs of the people? • Design mindful of impermanence: • What will happen to the product after it will cease to be useful? • Consider: • Biodegradable materials • Ways to reduce CO2 in the production and distribution of the product

21. Conclusion Overview of culturally responsive education and engineering Connected four Buddhist concepts with examples of teaching and learning engineering and science for youngsters in Buddhist schools. We hope that these examples may support grassroots educational initiatives connecting engineering, science, ethics, sustainability, and Buddhism.

22. Acknowledgements • This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. • Marisol is grateful to the following people: • Professors A.L. Pawley, D. W. Mitchell, D. Evangelou, and B. Jesiek • Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center (Bloomington, Indiana, United States) • Carlos A. Santiago Quintana • Buddhist communities of Puerto Rico

23. Update • Working paper: Connection of an engineering design activity with the Four Noble Truths and a Buddhist leadership model. • Second author: Donald W. Mitchell (Dept. of Philosophy, Purdue University) • Future doctoral dissertation: development and research of an introduction to engineering for Tibetans in a school in India (probably Dharamsala).

24. Note I would love to keep in contact with you if this paper helps in your school or if you need my support in any way. After I finish my doctoral degree it is my intention to help support Buddhist nunneries and children’s schools.

25. Questions? Suggestions? Marisol Mercado Santiago: msantiago16@purdue.edu Purdue University School of Engineering Education Armstrong Hall 701 West Stadium Avenue West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045 Dr. Alice L. Pawley: apawley@purdue.edu [School of Eng. Ed.] Dr. Donald. W. Mitchell: dmitch@purdue.edu [Dept. of Philosophy]

26. References Please, see entire list of references in the paper Baillie, C. (2009). Engineering and society: Working towards social justice part I: Engineering and society. Morgan & Claypool Publishers. doi: 10.2200/S00136ED1V01Y200905ETS008 de Silva, P. (1998). Environmental philosophy and ethics in Buddhism. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, Inc. Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teachers College. Kaza, S. (2005). Penetrating the tangle. In S. Kaza (Ed.), Hooked!: Buddhist writings on greed, desire, and the urge to consume (pp. 139-151). Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. Kemavuthanon, S., & Duberley, J. (2009). A Buddhist view of leadership: the case of the OTOP project. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 30(8), 737-758. doi:10.1108/01437730911003902   Punnadhammo, A. (2010). Dependent origination and the causes and conditions behind the climate crisis. In D. W. Mitchell & W. Skudlarek, OSB (Eds.), Green monasticism: A Buddhist-Catholic response to an environmental calamity (pp. 39-46). Brooklyn, New York: Lantern Books.

27. References Sivaraksa, S. (2000). Development as if people mattered. In S. Kaza & K. Kraft (Eds.), Dharma rain: Sources of Buddhist environmentalism (pp. 183-190). Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. Sure, H. (2010). The monastic rules of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism: The BhikshuPattimokhaand the ten major and forty-eight minor Bodhisattva precepts from the Net of Brahma (Brahmajmala) Sutra. In D. W. Mitchell & W. Skudlarek, OSB (Eds.), Green monasticism: A Buddhist-Catholic response to an environmental calamity (pp. 61-75). Brooklyn, New York: Lantern Books. Swearer, D. K. (1997). The hermeneutics of Buddhist ecology in contemporary Thailand: Buddhadāsa and Dhammapitaka. In M. E. Tucker & D. R. Williams, Buddhism and ecology: The interconnection of dharma and deeds (pp. 21-44). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. The Story of Stuff. (2010). The story of stuff with Annie Leonard. Retrieved from http://www.storyofstuff.com/international/index.html