Considering mindfulness in the classroom.

*I wrote this article at the beginning of my Independent Study of curricula and practices available to teachers and school administration. It would be fruitful to revisit this topic to see if any progress has been made in the almost 4 years since this was written. If anything, the 'hype' that surrounded classroom mindfulness practices has abated to a certain degree, allowing the concepts of mindfulness to be 'absorbed' into the more palatable and acceptable 'social-emotional learning', which is devoid of the perceptions of spirituality inherent in anything labeled 'mindfulness.'

From a certain point of view, to introduce mindfulness to students takes creativity and innovation, and that there is no right (or wrong) way (Rechtschaffen, 2014). 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 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)

Considering indiscipline, the most common reported were distractibility, anxiety, worry, self-doubt, and the need for perfection (Harrison, 2012). In addition, teacher conceptions of indiscipline influences how they will react or respond to them. Research has shown that teachers attributed indiscipline to individual characteristics and family factors, and thus manage the situations of indiscipline principally with actions involving the students with their families. (Silva, 2016). It seems teachers perceive most behavior challenges as caused by influences outside of their control. 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 behavioral challenges are motivated by situations and perceptions that are not clear. I have witnessed these teacher conceptions of indiscipline, and had conversations with teachers about challenges within their classrooms. I believe that mindfulness techniques have the potential to foster (teacher) compassion toward self and others that may be valuable in mediating some causes of indiscipline challenges. While classroom mindfulness practices may not provide lasting solutions to any of the long-standing issues of indiscipline in schools, it may help may reduce stress and provide tools (for teachers and students) to become more aware. 

Despite the benefits of mindfulness activities and a meditation practice there remains the matter of the 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, Goleman and Davidson state the same; Goleman was awarded his doctorate with what would be considered now somewhat faulty research methods (2017).

“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” (2017, p. 40). The article was pretty pointed about nailing down certain aspects, most especially the definition of ‘mindfulness.’

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.” (Brown, 2007)

For the record, mindfulness can be defined in simple terms both children and adults can understand and practice: mindfulness is paying attention, in the present moment, on purpose. Even if classroom mindfulness practices are not always an effective behavior management tool in the classroom, teaching and modeling simple daily mindfulness is a necessary and beneficial life skill for everyone involved, both inside and outside the classroom.

References

Brown, P. L. (2007). In the classroom, a new focus on quieting the mind. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/us/16mindful.html

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 on mindfulness and meditation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(1). 

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

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. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 20, 55-64.

Rechtschaffen, D. J. (2014). The way of mindful education: Cultivating well-being in teachers and students. W.W. Norton & Company.

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

Silva, A. M., Negreiros, F., & Albano, R. M. (2016). Indiscipline in public school: Teacher conceptions and intervention. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 3(1), 1-10.

Original article written September 2018, edited 2022.