BRING MINDFULNESS TO YOUR CLASSROOM!
A best practice for effective teaching and learning
1. INTRODUCTION
In schools, we are more or less effectively teaching
maths, languages, biology, chemistry, history, geography… but we very rarely
teach young people to use the lens through which all of their experiences (both
in home and in school) are being filtered.
That is the faculty of attention.
Our mental health and happiness are profoundly shaped
by what we do with our attention (where we place it and how we do it).
Attention is the faculty of awareness that we might probably be sensing
here right now.
Mindfulness is a foundation for all other learning,
it’s a way of attaching to the present moment, living the past and the future
aside. It’s learning from the inside out.
Mindfulness exercises are designed to train the brain
to have focus, attention and emotional regulation.
2. WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
Mindfulness is the basic human
ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and
not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
Meditation begins and ends in the
body. It involves taking the time to pay attention to where we are and what’s
going on, and that starts with being aware of our body
In fact:
-
It is a
like skill: makes a tremendous difference
-
Emotional
awareness – the naming of feelings
-
Reflect
rather than react to strong emotions
-
The
faculty of attention
-
“The art
of being present”
1) Mindfulness is
not obscure or exotic. It’s familiar to us because it’s what we already
do, how we already are. It takes many shapes and goes by many names.
2) Mindfulness is
not a special added thing we do. We already have the
capacity to be present, and it doesn’t require us to change who we are. But we
can cultivate these innate qualities with simple practices that are
scientifically demonstrated to benefit ourselves, our loved ones, our friends
and neighbors, the people we work with, and the institutions and organizations
we take part in
3) You don’t need
to change. Solutions that ask us to change who we are or
become something we’re not have failed us over and over again. Mindfulness
recognizes and cultivates the best of who we are as human beings.
4) Mindfulness has
the potential to become a transformative social phenomenon. Here’s why:
Anyone can do it. Mindfulness
practice cultivates universal human qualities and does not require anyone to
change their beliefs. Everyone can benefit and it’s easy to learn.
It’s a way of living. Mindfulness is
more than just a practice. It brings awareness and caring into everything we
do—and it cuts down needless stress. Even a little makes our lives better.
It’s evidence-based. We don’t have to
take mindfulness on faith. Both science and experience demonstrate its positive
benefits for our health, happiness, work, and relationships.
It sparks innovation. As we deal with
our world’s increasing complexity and uncertainty, mindfulness can lead us to
effective, resilient, low-cost responses to seemingly intransigent problems.
3. WHY SHOULD ALSO STAFF LEARN MINDFULNESS?
There
are two main reasons for staff to learn mindfulness:
1. Mindfulness enhances the
well-being and resilience of staff among many other benefits.
2. Teachers need to have
understood mindfulness personally – from the inside – before they can be
expected to teach it well and safely to young people. You cannot teach
something you are not able to do.
4 . THE USE OF MINDFULNESS IN THE CLASSROOM
- Enhances learning: attention, memory, creativity and academic achievement Improves concentration and helps ignore distraction
- Helps students and teachers know themselves and regulate their emotions:helps find quietness and balance whenever they feel angry, sad, annoyed, and feel more secure.
- Increases introspection: they see more clearly what happens inside of them, others and their environment.
- Develops kindness
- Improves prosocial skills: such as patience, empathy, joy for others’ wellbeing and equality.
- They better control impulsive behaviour
- They manage academic stress
- They practice more effective strategies of communication
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS:
TED
talks:
-
Mindfulness
in Schools: Richard Burnett at TEDxWhitechapel
-
Why
aren’t we teaching you mindfulness: Anne Marie Rossi at TEDxYouth
-
Mindfulness
in Education, Learning from the Inside Out: Amy Burke at TEDxAmsterdamED
Books,
online resources
- Schoeaberlein, D. (2011). Mindfulness
para enseñar y aprender. Estrategias para maestros y educadores. Madrid: Gaia Ediciones.
- Mindful:
healthy life, healthy mind. (https://www.mindful.org/) – search for key word “school”
- The
Child Mind Institute (https://childmind.org/)
A PROJECT: Mindfulness in Schools Project
An example:
A teacher asked, “Can today’s mindful
leader please come up front and begin?”
Isabella, a 6-year-old quietly took a
cross-legged seat on the classroom rug facing her peers. With her palms facing
up and resting on each knee, she began to tap her thumbs on each of her
fingers, simultaneously repeating the words “I-am-calm-now” with each tap.
Without hesitation, each of Isabella’s classmates, along with their teacher,
followed their mindful leader, tapping their thumbs and saying “I am calm now,”
gently lowering their voices after each repetition until the room grew quiet.
The teacher then asked her students to slowly make their way to their tables
and take out their “feelings” journal.
“They are learning the experience of
settling their body, what used to be a wild time now becomes a charming, sweet
moment when we all take a pause and come back to being present.”
She came to mindfulness on her own
about 10 years ago, and after seeing the benefits in her own life, she started
experimenting in the classroom with practices that used breathing and mindful
listening. “As I became more knowledgeable, experimenting and seeing what was
working, I was really impressed,” she said. “The kids verbalized to me that
they felt they had tools to use to handle stressful situations, which was very
moving to me.”
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