A Collaboration: Exploring, Discussing, and Practicing the Pause

The act of intentionally pausing becomes not only a teaching strategy but a spiritual practice, reminding us that God meets us in the in-between spaces of chaos and calm; this explicit method of pausing for even the smallest moment of time gives educators space for reflection and reaps fruit with intentional pause and reflection on teaching dispositions. This essay, written as a dual autoethnographic reflection, explores the development of collaborative workshops two professors held over two years, which invited pre-service teachers to cultivate dispositions of empathy, adaptability, gratitude, and hope through creative pausing. Through stories and those of the professors' students, the authors illuminate how choosing to pause and reflect on specific dispositions became vehicles for both professional resilience, flourishing, and Christ-like transformation. Recognizing that reflection is an integral and traditional part of pre-service education, the authors chose to create elevated opportunities for teacher candidates to pause and reflect on distinct dispositions.