Week 1

·         Week 1 – Foundation – September 10 - 14

o   Text: The Way of Mindful Education, Part 1: Why Mindful Education Matters

§  The way of mindfulness

§  Education revolution

§  History of mindful education

§  Mapping the movement

o   Article: NYT, “In the Classroom …” (2007)

§  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/us/16mindful.html

o   Research:

§  Buchmann, M. (1989). The careful vision: How practical is contemplation inteaching? 

§  Dam, N. T., Vugt, M. K., Vago, D. R., Schmalzl, L., Saron, C. D., Olendzki, A., . . . Meyer, D. E. (2017). Mind the hype: A critical evaluation and prescriptive agenda for research onmindfulness and meditation.

§  Harrison, J. R., Vannest, K., Davis, J., & Reynolds, C. (2012). Common problem behaviors of children and adolescents in general education classrooms in the United States.

§  Silva, A. M., Negreiros, F., & Albano, R. M. (2016). Indiscipline at publicschool: Teachers conceptions on causes and intervention.

What are some considerations and/or limitations of mindfulness interventions in education?

From the material I have discerned the following considerations that I thought were important to note:

From Rechtschaffen’s point of view, to introduce mindfulness to students takes creativity and innovation (p. xxi), and that there is no right (or wrong) way. He stated that “it functions best when the teacher is experimenting with using his or her own life as a laboratory for exploring and deepening the practice of mindfulness” (p. xxi). It goes without saying that to teach anything, the teacher needs to be not only well-acquainted with the subject-matter as well as personal experience interacting with that subject – especially such a personal topic as mindfulness or meditation. And mindfulness is so personal; it requires the teacher and student to engage with moment-to-moment personal experience (sensations, feelings, surroundings). To teach from a pre-made curriculum without personal experience (both with the activities and a personal practice), I suspect, might not be successful.  And it does take ‘creativity and innovation’ to consider the students themselves, their context(s), and needs when developing lessons or activities for their participation.

The research article by Margaret Buchmann (1989) is connected to this thought. While not speaking of mindfulness specifically, she stated that the concept of practice (of teaching, not a meditation practice) “goes beyond describing what a teacher does or what many teachers happen to do, appealing instead to a concept of teaching as a virtual activity that is a bearer of good” (p. 57). She asserted that the time a teacher spends in contemplation of instruction and the particular recipients  is necessary for “the intrinsic good of learning” (p. 57). Careful consideration of the purpose, students, and context are necessary for a beneficial result (giving usable and edifying tools of mindfulness to the teachers and students) – I would call that skillful (or wise) effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

When we don’t listen to our students, we are in a perpetual battle against them. When we don’t honor the amount of physical movement kids need, we have to fight them or medicate them into sitting at a desk all day. When we don’t offer students a healthy way to express difficult emotions, we end up being perpetually frustrated by their behaviors. When we don’t tach them how to pay attention, we end up yelling at them when they are distracted. So many teachers have expressed grief to me because they feel as if they are in a war with the very kids they want to help. (Rechtschaffen, 2014, p. 14)

I wanted to consider indiscipline to get a clearer picture of the hindrances to individual and group learning. The most common were reported to be distractibility, anxiety, worry, self-doubt, and the need for perfection (Harrison, 2012, p. 61). In addition, teacher conceptions of indiscipline were interesting to consider because the teachers’ perceptions of indiscipline can influence how they will react or respond to them. “The results show the relationship among teachers’ conceptions on the different aspects of indiscipline at school, both inside and outside the classroom, taking into account that they consider indiscipline mainly as an expression of individual characteristics and family factors, as well as attributing individual and family causes to indiscipline and, effectively, they manage the situations of indiscipline principally with actions involving the students with their families. (Silva, 2016, p. 7-8). Teachers are perceiving the majority of behavior challenges caused by influences outside of their control, and thus choose to address these challenges directly with the students and immediate family. The researchers concluded that it is “very important to develop actions of intervention addressed to teachers with goals to expand their vision on the situations that can generate indiscipline at school;” in other words, there may be some conditions within the teachers’ control that can be addressed such as instruction, materials used, and school rules.

The situation is clear: everyone involved is human and not perfect! And often behavior challenges are motivated by situations and perceptions that are not clear. I have witnessed this teacher conceptions of indiscipline at PBE, and with talking with Lisa about challenges within her own classroom. I believe that mindfulness techniques have the potential to foster compassion toward self and others that may be valuable in helping with indiscipline challenges such as described in the first study cited.

Disclaimer: I most certainly am not seeking to find lasting solutions to any of the long-standing issues of indiscipline in schools. It was my desire to get a clearer picture of the environment without judgment. I would suggest that mindfulness activities or interventions introduced in the classroom or school could help reduce stress and provide tools to become more aware. Awareness is a good thing.

In thinking of awareness, I want to look at the limitations of mindfulness interventions. It is more than clear that they are not the solution to the world’s problems. Despite the benefits of mindfulness activities and a meditation practice there is the matter of hype surrounding the research. To put it bluntly, “misinformation and poor methodology associated with past studies of mindfulness may lead public consumers to be harmed, misled, and disappointed,” (Dam, 2017, p. 36). Interestingly, in a text I am reading for Neuroscience class, Goleman and Davidson state the same; Goleman was awarded his doctorate with what would be considered now somewhat faulty research methods (Goleman, Altered Traits, 2017, chapter 4).

“As we’ve seen, our somewhat flawed research methods during our Harvard graduate school days reflected the general quality – or lack of it – during the first decades of meditation studies, the 1970s and 1980s. Today our initial research attempts would not meet our own standards to be included here. Indeed, a large proportion of meditation studies in one way or another fail to meet the gold standards for research methods that are essential for publication in the top, “A-level” scientific journals.” (Goleman, 2017, p. 77)

The Dam article calls out the problem of media and marketing influence and use of study results, sometimes glossing or hyping the results to get the big headlines or sell products: “published journal abstracts and media reports about obtained results often gloss over such crucial variations, leading to inappropriate comparisons between what might be fundamentally different states, experiences, skills, and practices” (p. 40). This is a problem that is currently being addressed. The article was pretty pointed about nailing down certain aspects, most especially the definition of ‘mindfulness.’ This is important to keep in mind – I liked what was stated in the New York Times article:

Although some students take naturally to mindfulness, it is “not a magic bullet,” said Diana Winston, the director of mindfulness education at the U.C.L.A. center. She said the research thus far was “inconclusive” about how effective mindfulness was for children who suffered from trauma-related disorders, for example. It is “a slow process,” Ms. Winston added. “Just because kids sit and listen to the bell doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be more kind.”

I guess my main takeaways from this week’s materials is that we are all human and we are all doing the best we can. Teachers are doing the best they can to help the kids, who are doing the best they can given the circumstances. Mindfulness interventions can be a benefit if creatively introduced and lessons carefully constructed. It is important for me, as a mindfulness coach, to watch and be aware of my own desires and perceptions – to see just the seen, to loosely quote the Bahiya Sutta.

I enjoyed really digging into this material and one connection I made was to Dan Siegel material I have studied previously. Rechtschaffen mentioned Dan Siegel and how mindfulness complements and supports the core competencies of SEL. Siegel described “how mindfulness practices support the integration of separated functional areas of the brain, linking them with synaptic connections. When mindfulness links the brain up in this way, the five competencies … naturally arise” (Rechtschaffen, 2014, p. 18). As a matter of interest, I want to revisit Siegel’s book Mindsight and refresh my memory on the me-map, you-map, and we-map descriptions of the pre-frontal cortex (executive functioning).

To conclude, just a note on my personal practice:

I have been contemplating, since retreat, the Bahiya Sutta, and the meaning of Awakening. I am having more difficulty fitting in sitting meditation daily, and often end up adding it at the end of the day rather than my preferred beginning. More discipline is needed, and I am hoping as the semester progresses I will get into more of a rhythm.

Additional sources cited:

Goleman, D., and Davidson, R. (2017). Altered traits: Science reveals how meditation changes your mind, brain, and body. New York, NY: Avery Books.

Siegel, D. (2011). Mindsight: The new science of personal transformation. New York: Bantam Books.