“The term mindful learning is used here in a very specific way, drawn from the concept of mindfulness that I defined in an earlier book by that name. A mindful approach to any activity has three characteristics: the continuous creation of new categories; openness to new information; and an implicit awareness of more than one perspective. Mindlessness, in contrast, is characterized by an entrapment in old categories; by automatic behavior that precludes attending to new signals; and by action that operates from a single perspective. Being mindless, colloquially speaking, is like being on autopilot. In Mindfulness, I described the benefits of a mindful approach for our psychological and physical well-being. For instance, elderly adults given mindfulness treatments were shown to live longer than their peers who were not given such treatments. In this book I use the concept of mindfulness as a lens through which to explore its importance in the world I know best, teaching and learning.”