Mindfulness in schools: A requirement for New Era education (Part II)

In  PART I of this article we talked about how mindfulness responds to the needs of children in today's society. This may be one of the reasons for the growing popularity of this meditative practice in the educational context, and more specifically, in schools. In this second part of mindfulness in the educational environment we will explore some of the programs aimed at developing aspects related to the children’s emotional, social and academic development through the practice of mindfulness in different countries. Many of these programs began to be implemented years ago and are still in effect today. It is not intended to make an exhaustive analysis of each of the selected programs, but to offer practical information that could be of interest to the reader.

Selected programs

Below there is a list of the programs analyzed, the country where they have been developed and, where appropriate, the web addresses where you can find more information about them.

Tarjets of the programs

We can differentiate between programs intended only for students and those intended for both students and teachers. In the latter case, teachers have to be trained before implementing the program in their classes.
The programs encompasses students from Early Childhood Education (from 3 years) to Baccalaureate (18 years). However, most of them focus on students corresponding to Primary Education (6 to 12 years old). An explanation for this would be the recommendation of the experts to formally start with this practice from the age of 5. Some of the programs cover a wide age range while others focus on working with children of specific ages. In the first case, the different activities are adapted to the characteristics and needs of the children depending on their age. The activities are the same in both cases, but the approach is different depending on the students’ age.

Aspects to be improved

Although the backbone of these programs is the practice of mindfulness, which is a tool to achieve specific objectives. Most of them are focused on improving the children’s social and emotional skills, since these have important effects on their behavior and academic performance. The objectives of the different programs depend, to a great extent, on the context in which they have been developed. Some of the aspects that these programs intend to improve are:

- self-awareness
- emotional management
- peer relationships
- academic performance
- self-confidence
- behavior problems, violence and bullying
- cognitive and emotional skills
- emotional balance
- mental health
- stress level
- disposition towards learning
- teacher and student welfare
- socio-emotional skills

If we look carefully at the list, we will realize that most of these objectives to be achieved are either socio-emotional skills, or are related to them. This is a sign of the importance of developing socio-emotional skills for the different areas of a person's life, but this is a topic that we will address later on.

Techniques

The techniques used in the different programs can be divided into two main groups:

1) Formal techniques. They are those related to a mindfulness practice based on stillness. Some examples of these techniques are:
- Attention in breathing
- Body scan (attention to the different parts of the body)
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Attention to thoughts and sounds
- Attention to bodily sensations
- Attention to posture
- Visualization or imagery

2) Informal techniques. Although the purpose is the same as for formal techniques –developing mindfulness–, they are applied to everyday situations and tasks. Some of these techniques are:
- Personal diaries
- Games
- Stories
- Eat carefully
- Attention to movements
- Tell stories
- Draw or color

Some of these programs include a daily practice at home. The main goal is to integrate mindfulness into everyday life, so that the children are able to live in the present, with full awareness of themselves and of what surrounds them.

Results

After the implementation of these programs, positive results have been observed in both teachers and students. In the case of teachers, an improvement in job satisfaction, reduction in sick leave and stress, has been detected, among other aspects. In relation to students, a reduction in the rate of absenteeism, stress, fear, depressive symptoms and reactive and disruptive behavior was found. In addition, academic results, concentration, relaxation, rest and respect for oneself and others have been positively affected.

In view of the above, the introduction of mindfulness in schools seems to be a useful and valuable tool to improve education. On the one hand, it helps the teachers to feel more satisfied with their work, an essential aspect for both, teachers and students. Any professional who is satisfied with their job will be more likely to develop it more effectively. On the other hand, mindfulness encourages the improvement of students' personal and academic skills. From my point of view, it is indisputable that this type of meditative practices deserves, at the very least, to be considered as an option to be implemented in different settings in schools: extracurricular, workshops, etc. in order that children, teachers and parents can become familiar with this type of practice.

 REFERENCES

Mañas, I., Franco, C., Gil, M. D., & Gil, C. (2014). Educación consciente: Mindfulness (Atención Plena) en el ámbito educativo. Educadores conscientes formando a seres humanos conscientes. Alianza de civilizaciones, políticas migratorias y educación, 193-229.

Semple, R. J., Droutman, V., & Reid, B. A. (2017). Mindfulness goes to school: Things learned (so far) from research and real‐world experiences. Psychology in the Schools, 54(1), 29-52.

Terzi, A. M., de Souza, L. L., Machado, M. P. A., Konigsberger, M., Waldemar, J. O. C., de FREITAS, B. I., ... & Ferreira, M. Q. B. (2016). Mindfulness en la Educación: experiencias y perspectivas desde Brasil. Revista interuniversitaria de formación del profesorado, (87), 107-122.

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