MINDFULNESS IN SCHOOLS
Meditation in schools is becoming increasingly popular with a growing number of studies showing the effectiveness of quiet reflection on stress, anxiety and ADHD in students.
COURSE FORMAT
The .b Mindfulness Training for 11-18 year olds
The “.b” (pronounced dot.be) is a curriculum developed by The Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), a non-profit organization specializing in training mindfulness in school settings. Since 2007, this program has been delivered in 12 countries, and translated into Dutch, Danish, Finnish, German, French and American English.
Because .b is designed by teachers, it is packaged with a specific pedagogy that makes teaching and learning mindfulness approachable and relevant to school life, whether it is a stressed teen facing exams, a bullying issue on the playground, a performance moment in sports or music, or enhanced listening and interpersonal communications for teachers. Current research shows that mindfulness training on young people has positive impacts on their mental health, stress management and well-being.
Past and Current Research oN Mindfulness for the Young
The MYRAID Research Project: A large-scale research grant was awarded by The Wellcome Trust in 2015 to allow teams at the University of Oxford, together with a few other universities in the UK, to carry out research over seven years. This project is based on the knowledge that adolescence is a vulnerable time for the onset of mental illness: 75% of mental disorders begin before the age of 24, and half by age 15. By promoting good mental health and intervening early, particularly in the crucial childhood and teenage years, we can help to prevent mental illness from developing and mitigate its effects when it does (UK Department of Health, 2011).
MINDFULNESS FOR TEACHERS
While introducing mindfulness to students early on in their lives is important, bringing mindfulness to students has to start with the teachers practicing it.
Teaching is one of the most stressful professions in the world that requires significant cognitive and emotional resources. This often comes from the high nature of interaction with students, parents, administrators, on top of heavy administrative workload including class planning, marking, setting assessment papers and overseeing extra-curricular activities. As the emphasis of education evolves in the 21st century to nurture students into compassionate, critical, reflective, flexible and social-emotional competent learners, the increasing demands on teachers often go beyond their typical job description.
The mental health of teachers is increasingly becoming an increasing concern in many developed nations, which has an impact on their job satisfaction and retention, apart from effective classroom management and supporting the social-emotional needs of students.
We believe that a lot can be done for teachers to help them cultivate mindfulness and compassion skills, so that they can effectively cope with the challenges of teaching and continue to fulfill their passion in teaching. We run workshops and programs for teachers and help schools in the consideration of suitable implementation approaches.