Mindfulness

 

This image shows what mindfulness is all about (taking time, breathing, etc.)

 Image by John Hain from Pixabay

 

In the field of education, there has been a push to introduce “mindfulness” into schools and classrooms. Questions concerning stress, anxiety, and other negative mental health symptoms have caused many in education to turn to mindfulness to deal with these issues (Mindful Schools, n.d.). Nearly 1 in 3 adolescents will meet criteria for an anxiety disorder by the age of 18, and 46% of all children in America have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (Mindful Schools, n.d.). Also, the average U.S. teen spends 9 hours a day on digital entertainment, excluding school work, and about 40% of high school seniors report feelings of loneliness or isolation (Mindful Schools, n.d.). The practice of mindfulness can help students manage stress and anxiety, and improve their attention, self-control, emotional resilience, memory, and more (Mindful Schools, n.d.).

Schwartz (2019) explains that many teachers also find mindfulness to be useful because it helps them to pause before reacting to students. According to Schwartz (2019), it is important to ensure that mindfulness is helping rather than hurting students. To do this, Schwartz (2019) suggests ensuring that students feel physically safe, building trust in the classroom, and being aware of implicit bias, which is important because students will not respond to mindfulness training if they believe that their teachers are biased. Schwartz (2019) discusses relational mindfulness, which involves creating a safe and trusting environment in which students, particularly those who are dealing with trauma, can practice mindfulness. A community must be created where students feel safe engaging in mindfulness activities. Strategies include using basic mindfulness exercises, building a feeling of safety, and using relaxing music (Schwartz, 2019).

Marina Middle School in San Francisco, which had the highest suspension rate of any school in the city, had one class participate in 15 sessions of mindfulness training (Long, 2012). Megan Cowan, the mindfulness instructor, was brought in to conduct the mindfulness training. According to Cowan, mindfulness teaches students how to be comfortable when they’re not being entertained, and this is important because students won’t be entertained all the time (Long, 2012).  When Cowan began the mindfulness training, she found it almost impossible to achieve results due to the defiance of some of the students (Long, 2012). Four students in particular were deliberately disruptive. Cowan taught the students mindful listening and even how to be mindful while eating. At the end of the 15 mindfulness training sessions, the students reported positive feelings about the training (Long, 2012). Omar, one of the disruptive students, started acting out after his older brother was murdered. Omar stated that there would be fewer shootings in the world if everyone practiced mindfulness (Long, 2012).  Another student, Jennifer, stated that mindfulness helped her to stop and think before reacting in a difficult situation. Jennifer was happy because she believed that the training helped her to avoid making a mistake that she would later regret (Long, 2012). After the 15 sessions of mindfulness training, disciplinary referrals for the four disruptive students declined dramatically. The teachers, parents and students all felt that the students had more control over their actions (Long, 2012).

One app that can be used to practice mindfulness is called Calm. This app allows for a person to meditate to different relaxing sounds. The app can be used to hear nature sounds as well as calming music. The music and nature sounds are generally accompanied by nature imagery and videos. After trying this app for a few days, I found that the app lowered my stress level quite a bit. For instance, it helped me relax and finish all the work I needed to do. It also helped me calm down and get to sleep at night. Calm is an app that successfully helps with improving mindfulness.

Readings on the subject of mindfulness and the film on how mindfulness was used in one middle school help to make educators more aware of the importance of mindfulness training for adolescents. Mindfulness is especially effective when it is taught by a qualified person such as the instructor who worked with the students at Marina Middle School.

References

Long, R. (director/ producer). (2012) Room To Breathe [film]. ZAP Zoetrope Aubry Productions.

Schwartz, K. (2019). Nine ways to ensure your mindfulness teaching is trauma informed. KQED Mindshift. 

Why is Mindfulness Needed in Education? (n.d.). Mindful Schools.