W. M. P. Y. B. Rathnayake

Abstract

Abstract

Pedagogy has been seminally influenced by the studies on cognitive psychology in recent decades, leading research towards metacognitive approaches. Metacognition and mindfulness have been concepts used in cognitive pedagogical approaches with identical interpretations. Metacognition, a concept aligned with western scientific approach received grander recognition, while mindfulness being a Buddhist philosophical approach to mind that interacts less in research. This conceptual paper attempts to materialize a taxonomy for the Buddhist philosophical concept known as mindfulness and to contrast it with the taxonomy of metacognition thereby investigating the replicas of the two.

Taxonomy of metacognition is constructed upon two categories:  metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive skills. Metacognitive knowledge is a construct of three super categories: declarative, procedural, and conditional metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive skills category consists of: regulation of cognition and executive functioning/metacognitive experiences. Mindfulness in contrast condenses three category levels: remembering and recollecting (sati), alertness (sampajañña), and ardency/compunction (atappa/ottappa). Remembering and recollecting category consists frames of references: body, feelings, mind and mental qualities at super-category level. Alertness category lies between the mind and the physical conduct of the body which has three super-categories. Ardency/compunction includes the desire/perseverance of mind to avoid unbeneficial coupled with desire to stimulate beneficial. These taxonomies at category, super-category and subcategory levels remain the material for the semantic analysis. 

The quintessence of both taxonomies remains identical thus paving category level replicas in reflection or remembering. The sub-category, super-category and category levels remain sensibly identical with distinctly agreed semantics. The semantics of two taxonomies display replicas in sub-category, super-category and category levels. Studies oriented towards calibration of such combined taxonomy for applied concerns in to the fields such as education, learning, cognitive psychology, pedagogy, psychopathology are prescribed. 

Keywords: Metacognition, Mindfulness, Phenomenology, Replicas, Taxonomy