Roeser 2016

Source:   BOOK CHAPTER

APA Citation:

Roeser, R. W. (2016). Processes of teaching, learning, and transfer in mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for teachers: A contemplative education perspective. In K. Schonert-Reichl & R. Roeser (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness in education: Integrating theory and research into practice. New York, NY: Springer.

Author bio:

Robert W. Roeser – Portland State University, Portland OR

Notes:

CHAPTER 10

it is ironic that in the history of scientific research on teaching and learning in schools, the person of the teacher, with his or her qualities, has remained largely in the shadows while a focus on disembodied curricular content, content standards, and educational practices have taken up a disproportionate share of the limelight (e.g., Roeser, Marachi, & Gelhbach, 2002; Tharp & Gallimore, 1988). Loc 5932-5935

one discerns a rather narrow focus on mindfulness programs and their efficacy in terms of affected brain regions and individual outcomes, with little consideration of the quality of program implementation, the dose or exposure of participants to curricula, and the embodied presence of instructors with their unique qualities, pedagogical practices, and background (see Hölzel et al., 2011). Loc 5941-5944

In this chapter, I hypothesize that the quality of teaching and learning that goes on within MBIs is a key factor in adequately answering basic questions of how and why mindfulness skills “transfer” from the training context to schools in ways that may improve teaching, teacher– student relationships, and student engagement in classroom learning. The purpose of this chapter is to explore this thesis from a Contemplative Educational perspective… loc 5967-5970

Contemplative Education is an emerging field of applied science devoted to carefully and rigorously describing and explaining the putative effects of MBIs in educational settings on educational leaders and schools, teachers and classrooms, and students (see Roeser, 2014; Roeser & Peck, 2009). Furthermore, Contemplative Education aims to apply the knowledge so-gained to optimize the development, implementation, and scaling of such programs if they prove feasible and efficacious. Loc 5980-5984

According to Roeser and Zelazo (2012), the scientific goals of the CSP, from an explicitly developmental perspective, are threefold: (a) to describe the beneficial or contraindicated developmental effects of engagement in contemplative practices on body, brain, mind, and social relationships; (2) to explain contemplative practice effects at neurophysiological, psychological, behavioral, and social levels of analysis; and (3) to use descriptive and explanatory findings to optimize human development through the introduction of MBIs and related secular practices in families, schools, clinics, and communities in developmentally and culturally appropriate ways. Loc 5996-6002

For the last 7 years, I have been working closely with Margaret Cullen on a mindfulness training program she created specifically for teachers (see Cullen & Pons, 2015). The program has been called both the SMART-in-Education program (Stress Management and Resiliency Training) and the Mindfulness-based Emotional Balance program (MBEB) . It is a fully manualized professional development (PD) program designed to help educators (a) develop mindfulness, (i.e., the skills of present-centered awareness, focused attention, working memory, and emotion regulation); (b) apply mindfulness to reduce occupational stress and increase resilience and engagement in teaching; (c) apply mindfulness to interpersonal relationships in order to create well-managed and caring classroom climates. Loc 6079-6085

The program incorporates approximately 50 % of the components from Kabat‐Zinn’s (2003) widely used Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program , including many of the same mindfulness exercises, contemplative movement practices, and focus on setting intentions and clarifying values. Differing from MBSR, about 30% of the program is devoted to mindfulness-based emotion skills and theory, and the remaining 20 % to mindfulness-based prosocial dispositions like kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Loc 6086-6090

[paraphrase] Mindfulness training (MT) helps teachers:

·         Reduces individual stress and distress; promotes teacher’s resilience by reducing stress reactivity through the cultivation of self-regulatory and coping resources

·         Helps teachers to generate an additional set of resources beyond coping with stress by recognizing and amplifying positive emotional experiences

·         Cultivates pro-social dispositions such as empathy, perspective-taking, and a loving-kind attitude toward self and others

In sum, by enhancing the mindfulness-related skills and dispositions outlined in Table 10.1, our Theory of Change (see Fig. 10.1) posits increases in teacher resilience to stress, in engagement with teaching, and in a prosocial and autonomy-supportive approach to interactions with students (the three pathways). Loc 6140-6143

Loc 6143 (above); loc 4230 (below)

One of the more interesting word families that emerged from this analysis was the instructor’s frequent use of conditional language during group discussions— language suggestive of curiosity, openness, and ongoing exploration. This word cluster consisted of words such as “may,” “might,” “kind of,” “sort of,” and “see if.” These words seem to function to encourage the novice towards further inquiry and curiosity with respect to knowing without pressure, coercion, or dogmatism. In sum, these descriptive results suggest that the mindfulness instructor afforded teacher participants ample opportunities to develop a new vocabulary during these group discussions , a vocabulary reflective of the concepts, practice, and skills and dispositions associated with mindfulness. Loc 6349-6355

“wait-time”— allowing students time to think after a question was asked or a response requested: “I think the way that this class has affected me personally is that I’m more comfortable with quiet. I don’t feel a need to fill the airwaves every five seconds now, which I think is a problem with a lot of teachers. We tend to want to talk a lot because we feel like that’s our job. I think this new understanding kind of bled into my classroom where I’ve started to give a lot more airtime and space, what they call wait-time, to kids. I’m not feeling like I have to rush on to the next thing anymore because I realize that there’s something really important about that wait-time and that space.” Loc 6412-6417

Loc 6454 (above)

Based on the study of teaching, pedagogical expertise might be conceptualized as the practical ability of the mindfulness instructor to “bring the teachers to the task of learning mindfulness” by engaging their aspirations and linking them to what the curriculum and practices have to offer; and to “bring the task of learning mindfulness to the teachers” by teaching them mindfulness skills in emotionally and autonomy-supportive ways and empowering them to realize their intrinsic aspirations (Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Blumenfeld, Mergendoller, & Swarthout, 1987). Finally, the motivation of the instructor may also matters. In the best-case scenario, mindfulness instructors offer such trainings out of an aspiration to assist teachers in assisting themselves in alleviating suffering and realizing happiness. Loc 6467-6473