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Week 9 – Working Together –
November 5 - 9
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Text: Invisible Classroom: Relationships, Neuroscience & Mindfulness in
the Classroom
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Nurturing
student strengths
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Mindfulness:
mind & brain collaboration
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YouTube: Amy Burke, “Learning from the
Inside Out”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i2B44sLVCM
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Blog:
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Convince
a potential skeptic of the value of mindful education using evidence that
supports mindful education
Why is mindfulness
training (or mindfulness-based interventions) important in the education of youth?
A simple definition of mindfulness is an intentional, non-judgmental present-moment
awareness. The term ‘mindfulness’ can imply a practice of mindfulness (such as informal mindful attention, sitting
meditation, or mindful movement), a state
of mindfulness (existing awareness of the present-moment with acceptance), or
a trait of mindfulness (when repeated
mindful practice becomes consistent behavior). Mindfulness lessons range from mindful
moments to longer mindful activities that allow students and teachers time to pause
and breathe, focusing awareness both inside and outside themselves, and observing
without judgment the physical and mental sensations arising (or present) in
that moment.
Mindfulness training promotes
skills of awareness, focused attention, and self-regulation that can encourage a favorable learning environment
for learning other subjects, such as math, language skills, history, and
science. It also teaches essential skills of self-care and self-compassion that
are supportive during times of difficulty or challenge, and can encourage compassionate
care for companions, community, and the world. Mindful education can be viewed
as a subset of social-emotional learning
(Lawlor, 2016). Social-emotional learning (SEL) is prevention-oriented training
in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and
responsible decision-making. Mindful education addresses self-awareness and
self-management specifically, and the remainder by extension.
Learning present-moment awareness is a practice of self-health-care that can result in improved focused
attention, calmer demeanor, and self-awareness for both teachers and students. Mindfulness
is the study and exploration of the ‘nature
of mind’; observation of the working, meandering, and emotional reactivity
of the mind-body trains self-regulation and self-acceptance. The result can be
an enhanced ability to make skillful life-choices moment-by-moment.
There have been over 800 studies on mindfulness on adults.
Despite mindfulness-based interventions encouraged and utilized in many educational
settings, there have been fewer studies focused on youth. Of that research, findings
include improved emotional and
behavioral self-regulation, frustration tolerance and self-control (Wisner, Jones, and Gwin, 2010), increased emotional intelligence (Goleman, 2011), increased attentional focus and concentration,
and decreased anxiety (Black, Milan,
and Sussman, 2009; Beauchemin, Hutchins, and Patterson, 2008). Research investigating
the benefits of mindfulness training in youth is growing and ongoing.
A recent comprehensive meta-analysis of mindfulness-based
interventions with youth (Klingbeil et al., 2017) “confirmed and extended
findings from previous meta-analyses, providing stronger evidence that MBIs
have universally small, positive therapeutic effects across a variety of youth
outcome domains” (p. 99). Those domains included self-awareness and
self-management (i.e. reducing stress and controlling impulses). Further,
findings indicated that “the treatment effects of MBIs obtained in school
settings were on par with those obtained in clinical settings, suggesting that
MBIs are just as functional in this context” (p. 99). Together, these two
findings “provide a sound scientific
basis for school-based practitioners to adopt and implement MBIs” (p. 99).
Secular mindfulness is occasionally
mistaken as part of religious ritual. However, it is actually a “state of
mind that in one form or another has been defined and practiced by most of the
major world religions for thousands of years (Olson, 2014). Learning to pay careful
attention to the present moment without judgment can improve one’s awareness of
any preferred religious devotion, work-vocation, social relationships, creative
endeavors, as well as physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Learning to live in the present moment, instead of ruminating
about the past or anticipating (or fearing) the future, is a practice of living life “as if it really
mattered” (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). It is important to teach youth these essential
skills of attention and awareness of their own body-mind and the importance of
living in the present moment, as “the highest function of education is to bring
about an integrated individual who is capable of dealing with life as a whole”
(Krishnamurti, 1973). The intention and
purpose of mindful education is to teach fundamental skills of awareness that
will allow the development of an integrated, attentive student.
References
Beauchemin,
J., Hutchins, T. L., & Patterson, L. (2008). Mindfulness meditation may
lesson anxiety, promote social skills, and improve academic performance among
adolescents with learning disabilities. Complementary
Health Practice Review, 13, 34-45.
Black,
D. S., Milan, J., & Sussman, S. (2009). Sitting-meditation interventions
among youth: A review of treatment efficacy. Pediatrics, 124(3), 532-541.
Goleman,
D. (2011). The brain and emotional
intelligence. Northampton, MA: More Than Sound.
Kabat-Zinn,
J. (2005). Coming to our senses: Healing
ourselves and the world through mindfulness. New York: Hyperion.
Klingbeil,
D., Renshaw, T., Willenbrink, J., Copek, R., Chan, K. T., Haddock, A., Yassine,
J., & Clifton, J. (2017). Mindfulness-based interventions with youth: A
comprehensive meta-analysis of group-design studies. Journal of School Psychology, 63, 77-103.
Krishnamurti,
J. (1973). Education & Significance of Life. Retrieved from University of
Dehli, https://sol.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=1448&chapterid=1328
Lawlor,
M. S. (2016). Mindfulness and social emotional learning: A conceptual
framework. In K. A. Schonert-Reichl, & R. W. Roeser (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness in education (pp.
65-80). New York: Guilford.
Olson,
K. (2014). The invisible classroom:
Relationships, neuroscience & mindfulness in schools. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company
Wisner,
B. L., Jones, B., & Gwin, D. (2010). School based meditation practices for
adolescents: A resource for strengthening self-regulation, emotional coping,
and self-esteem. Children and Schools, 32(3).
Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteI read this post from two perspectives.
1. I am a school administrator who already thinks mindfulness is a positive thing. I don’t practice mindfulness myself but think it might be beneficial not only for me, but also for my teachers and students. I’m curious to know if it’s worth my time and energy to look into getting mindfulness training into my school for either teachers or students (or both).
2. I’m also a school administrator who thinks mindfulness is just another liberal ploy to keep our children soft and whiny. What children need is more rigorous academic classes, not someone asking them to sit still and talk about their feelings afterwards. I definitely don’t practice mindfulness. I’ve got better things to do with my time - like actually helping students.
From perspective #1, I find it helpful that you linked mindfulness to SEL because my district already has an SEL initiative. Mindfulness training could then be integrated into our growing professional development programming on SEL implementation. Plus, linking mindfulness to SEL helps to keep it secular rather than to be mistaken as religious or spiritual. It was also helpful to have the reference to mindfulness studies for both adults and youth. It would be helpful to have some idea of what these MBIs looked like in school settings. You lost me a little on the body-mind, integration, life as a whole conversation but no doubt, I have been brainwashed into thinking in terms of accountability and results in my role as a school leader. As a principal, I have heard this saying that what gets tested gets taught. Are there any assessments for SEL or mindfulness that my school could use to measure our progress? I know this goes against the more holistic view of mindfulness for students, but having concrete evidence that mindfulness works in some way might help convince others of the value of teaching mindfulness to our students.
From perspective #2, I’m still not convinced that schools need to teach mindfulness. Self-awareness and self-management can be taught through students’ engagement with the academic material. For example, a student can become more aware of her identity through reading a young adult fiction novel and a teacher that encourages her to reflect upon her identity in comparison to the main character. Why sit still and breathe when we can be reading and discussing ideas in a lively, engaged manner? We don’t have the time in our schools to fit mindfulness class into the already packed schedule. If it’s not required, I’m not going to bother.
Do you have any responses to either perspectives?
Thanks,
Julie