Many continuing adult and professional education programs have heeded the call of what Packer and Greco-Brooks (1998) refer to as the "ontological work of school," or helping "change the kinds of person their students become" (p. 134). This new "ontological" work attempts to incorporate critical pedagogy to stimulate critical self-reflection and more mindful interaction. Many adult and continuing education classrooms have significantly increased their use of experiential learning methods to accomplish these goals. The underlying assumption is that if students are encouraged to experience and reflect upon problematic events, they will use these "mindful moments" to incorporate other perspectives and, in turn, become more accepting of, comfortable with, and socially effective in diverse contexts. Experience alone, however, does not necessarily encourage one to be "self" critical. This article joins the dialogue about how we teach students to be critically self-reflective and embrace the complexities of doing "ontological" work. The article also is intended to incite dialogue about our own understanding of the "ontological work" many of us promote. (Contains 2 footnotes.)