Week 9- Independent Research Synthesis
As the topic of mindfulness has grown in popularity across the United States, many experts are worried about the implementation and motive behind the practices often incorporated into children's school day. Mindfulness, defined as "a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique",and has been recently popularized in the education system through forms of behavioral corrections, teacher training, and "warm ups" or "breaks" for students throughout the school day. Mindfulness is often used as a way for teachers to assist students in combating common anxieties or emotions caused due to issues at home. Often, mindfulness looks different in each school. Experts worry that for-profit organizations and inproper training for instructors could cause more harm than good when mindfulness is present in schools. Mindfulness also becomes an issue in regards to equity, as the idea of mindfulness and wellness is often associated with wealthy white women, making the practices ignorant to many marginalized individuals struggles. Issues of equity arise in schools when teachers/ instructors express implicit bias, an underlying problem that mindfulness will not solve. Experts who have conducted clinical research regarding mindfulness in schools conclude that in order to make mindfulness equitable and productive, implicit bias must first be eliminated, and that mindfulness within schools must be structured.
Mindfulness is a common tool used to increase daily levels of happiness. Many fail to recognize, however, that mindfulness is not a magical one-size-fits-all solutions to inequality and the anxiety, anger, and despair caused by injustice. When implementing mindfulness in schools, it is vital to understand the different backgrounds of each student and carefully crafting practices around the needs of individuals, taking into consideration sensitivities or triggers they may have due to their unique experiences. If schools want to meaningfully implement mindfulness into their school day and see real results from students, they must address the culture of the school, root out implicit bias, and work to structure a program around the needs of their students.
Did you find any resources to share with teachers that helps understand the complexity of using mindfulness in school? Going over that it is not a one0size fits all approach?
ReplyDeleteYes! I found several on the Greater Good Science Center's cite. The one I sent you and one of the articles I discussed in my previous two posts that lay out steps teachers can take to incorporate mindfulness appropriately were two that I think are great for educators to read and take information from.
ReplyDelete