Week 9- Independent Research Notes
NPR Article: “Schools are Embracing Mindfulness, but Practice Doesn’t Always make Perfect”
- High-poverty elementary school in Tennessee
- When students act up, they are sent to a “be well” room with a teacher who is a trained yoga instructor, a cozy environment with soft music playing.
- The teacher helps students focus on their breathing and get to the root of why they’re acting out by examining their emotions.
“One in 5 American children struggles with anxiety, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and almost half experience at least one serious stressor at home — like divorce, poverty or a parent's addiction — according to the nonprofit Child Trends” (Kamentez).
- Explosion of popularity of mindfulness in schools has meant a range of different practices, not all of which have been proven to be helpful.
- High quality, structured programs are beneficial to youth in schools.
- Mindfulness can mean many things including centering on the breath, mental exercises, and promoting kindness, awareness, and acceptance.
In schools, mindfulness practices have taken the forms of/ been implemented as...
- Teacher training/ personal development for teachers
- Solutions to behavioral problems in students
- Daily “warm up” practices for students
- A form of break from learning
Some for-profit organizations make videos or gadgets specifically for schools that center on mindfulness.
The problem is, not all these products are backed by evidence.
"There's people out there that have good intentions, and they're really trying to support schools, but they may not have the evidence behind what they're doing." (Tish Jennings, education researcher, University of Virginia)
Mindfulness impacts on Warner Elementary in Tennessee:
- Practices implemented: One on one sessions with students, yoga classes, classroom support, school wide breathing exercises lead by the principal.
- Results: behavior referrals down by 80% since the programs began.
Although there may been results, these kinds of programs are not backed by scientific evidence.
“Most of the clinical research on mindfulness has centered on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, a specific protocol created in a medical school. It draws from traditional Buddhist meditation practices, but secularized and standardized. MBSR for adults is fairly intensive: It typically takes place over the course of eight weeks, for two or two and a half hours per week, plus an all-day retreat” (NPR).
MBSR has proven to have significant impacts on the human body, many report similar results often provided by antidepressants.
Many studies have been conducted on children/ teens and mindfulness. One study done by individuals at John Hopkin’s University finds that tweaked MBSR (simplified courses for children) have similar impacts seen on adults.
Behavioral changes are one of the most important results of mindfulness practices in children and teens.
"We see mental health benefits," Sibinga explains. "We see some behavioral benefits. Youth are more likely not to engage in conflict — more likely to walk away from contentious discussions. They express greater acceptance of themselves" (NPR).
CARE Program co-created by Tish Jennings:
- More intensive approach
- Backed by belief that mindfulness practices in schools would be most successful if it includes adults.
- Backed by belief that mindfulness should be integrated by adults into social emotional learning.
- Care provides intensive training in mindfulness for teachers.
- Study including CARE trainees shows that the program was helpful in situations where teachers dealt with stressful situations and that the training improved teacher’s overall well-being.
- “Jennings says the programs that are backed by the best evidence are ‘doing a really good job of fitting into the school system in a way that the teachers and students can use. It's not being plugged in or added on. It's building a new climate in the school where everyone" — from the principal to the bus driver — ‘is approaching what they're doing with a more mindful and compassionate approach." (NPR).
Equity and mindfulness in schools:
- In the US, mindfulness has long been associated with wealthy, white people.
- As mindfulness becomes more popular in schools, researchers are looking into how it can be beneficial to children facing trauma and problems at home.
- "Statistics show, in schools across the country, black and Hispanic students are disciplined more often and more harshly. Cash says it's possible that a given student is feeling angry or disruptive because teachers really do show implicit bias — and mindfulness isn't going to fix that underlying problem” (NPR)
- Mindfulness can be helpful to help students center their emotions, however, it may be more productive in allowing teachers to eliminate their implicit bias.
- "What we're really trying to do is elevate the understanding that, you know, with our own personal practices, with our own sitting with ourselves, we're able to break down these barriers better" (Tiara Cash, NPR)
- Conclusion: In order to make mindfulness equitable and successful teachers must the work themselves first. This includes training, understanding, practicing, and implementing.
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