what is mindfulness - cpdbee€¦ · this is because we believe that teachers of mindfulness need...

what is?mindfulness

What mindfulness is:

A practiceof stoppingand noticing

Evidence-based

Training inattention and

awareness

Endorsed byNICE

(National Institute ofClinical Excellence)

Whatmindfulness isn’t:

BreathingExercises Yoga

Religiousor Spiritual

Chilling OutEmptyingYour Mind

How do people learn mindfulness?Mindfulness is always learned in a highly practical way, through direct experience of practices. We gradually learn to direct our attention in a more focused way to whatever is actually happening -whether it be our breathing, the sensations in our body, thoughts and feelings, or everyday activities such as walking and eating.

At its most basic level, mindfulness trains our attention to be more aware of what is actually happening, rather than worrying about what has happened or what might happen. We learn to bring greater curiosity to whatever it is we experience. This helps us to not only appreciate what is going well but to respond more skilfully in the here and now to life's inevitable challenges.

What’s the point of mindfulness?If you hear somebody claiming mindfulness is a cure for everything then please be careful! Nevertheless, there is a growing body of increasingly robust research which points towards tangible benefits both for young people and those who care for them. In adults, mindfulness training has been shown to improve health and wellbeing.

After taking a mindfulness course, people of all ages have reported that they are able to learn new information more e�ectively, think more clearly and feel calmer and less anxious. Specific Mindfulness courses are now recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, and GPs are referring adults on to eight-week mindfulness courses to reduce stress and help prevent recurrent depression. It is increasingly being used in the workplace to improve sta� wellbeing and satisfaction, in sports training to improve performance, and with children and young people and in schools to enhance wellbeing and learning.

Is mindfulness difficult?At first the mind wanders constantly, but with practice we learn to sustain our attention and direct it more skilfully. This helps break the grip of unhelpful mental habits, judgements and impulses, making way for greater calm, and for more helpful, kinder and rational thinking about all aspects of life. However, it takes practice!

Trained Teacher

MINDFULNESS IN SCHOOLS PROJECT

Information provided by Mindfulness in Schools Project through the trained teacher Hub.

For more information please visit www.mindfulnessinschools.org or email [email protected]

FLOURISHINGChildren can achieve their

potential and be free to be who they are.

DepressionLow Mood

StressAnxiety

WellbeingHappinessResilience

AttentionConcentration

PlanningMemory

AttainmentPerformance

RelationshipsSelf-EsteemOptimism

Self-RegulationCaring &

Compassion

Self-RegulationImpulse Delay

Oppositional BehaviourAggression

ADHD

Heart RateBlood Pressure

Cortisol & ImmunityEating Problems

Sleep Quality

LEARNING SOCIAL & EMOTIONALMENTAL HEALTH

BEHAVIOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH

ANCHORINGEven in the most difficult circumstances, mindfulness enables kids to feel grounded, safe, free to choose how they respond.

Trained Teacher




the benefits ofmindfulness for children

+

Trained Teacher




73% of newly quali�ed teachers in the UK consider leaving (Association of Teachers and Lecturers 2015).

Teachers report that current teaching climates generate work-related fatigue, depression and anxiety, cynicism and low self-e�cacy (NASUWT 2013).

Teacher stress and burnout (exhaustion with depressive symptoms; Swider and Zimmerman 2010) can negatively impact pupil engagement and learning through teacher absenteeism, reduced self-e�cacy and diminished teaching e�ectiveness.

8-week mindfulness programmes have been shown to:

Reduce teacher stress

Improve regulation of

stress

Increase self compassion

Increase teaching e�cacy

The classroom environment

Individual pupil wellbeing

These in turn are thought to affect:

+the benefits ofmindfulness for staff

Continue your practiceAs part of the MiSP community you will have access to expert guidance and support as you

continue to practice mindfulness as part of your everyday life.

We ask that you continue your practice for a further four months after your eight-week course and before starting a Teach course. This is because we believe that teachers of mindfulness need to be able to model what they are teaching, and to understand and relate directly to experiences

their students may be having.STEP

3

Complete an eight-week mindfulness course Combining the convenience of a live online course with the intimacy of face-to-face

delivery our .begin course introduces you to mindfulness through weekly online group sessions led by a MiSP instructor.

how to bringmindfulness to your school

Find Out More About Mindfulness Attend one of our short (about two hour) Information Events to discover the basic principles

behind mindfulness, the evidence of its potential benefits, an opportunity to try out some practices for yourself and receive guidance on your next steps.

You can also find out more at www.mindfulnessinschools.org including research and details of our courses.

orIf you are likely to have a group of interested colleagues we can deliver a bespoke Information

Event at your own venue if it will help!

STEP

1

Apply for a teaching courseOnce you have developed a regular mindfulness practice you are ready to train to teach either Paws b (for 7-11 year olds) or .b (for 11 to 18 year olds). Our Teach Paws

b and Teach .b courses consist of real-time lessons, explanations

of the pedagogy and time to practise guiding the exercises.

At the end of the course, participants will receive six-months freemembership to The Hub our exclusive teachers’ network and all

the materials needed to start teaching the lessons.

STEP 2STEP 4

Trained Teacher


© M

indfulness in Schools Proje

ct

Train

ed To Teach

Train

ed To Teach

© M

indfulness in Schools Proje

ct

Trained Teacher




Bringing mindfulness to your school begins with your staff

I am new to mindfulness. Is this the right course for me?We certainly hope so. .begin is taught live online, but face-to-face in real-time by highly experienced mindfulness practitioners who are skilled in delivering group sessions. Hugely experienced in mindfulness and its many benefits through their own practice and training, they also understand the demands of working in education.

Having said this, now may not be the right time for you if you are currently receiving treatment for anxiety and/or depression or have recently experienced trauma, bereavement or similar life events. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact us.

Will the technology work for me?You need a reasonable broadband internet connection and a device with a webcam and microphone (which are built into almost all laptops nowadays). The platform we use is called Zoom, so for precise technical requirements please visit https://zoom.us/. As general guidance, if Skype or Facetime work on your computer or phone then you should be fine.

Do I need to work in education to apply for the course?Yes. You will have to either work in a school or, if you’re an outside provider, work within an educational setting on a regular basis.

What is the time commitment?After a 30-45 minute orientation, .begin takes the form of 8 weekly sessions of approximately 90 minutes. There will also be home practice of around 20 minutes per day.

Will I receive a certificate on completion of the course? Will it count towards CPD?Having completed the course, you will receive a certificate. This could form part of your professional development records.

What is .begin?.begin combines the convenience of a live online course that you can complete in the comfort of your own home with the intimacy of live, face-to-face delivery. You will be introduced to mindfulness over eight weeks via small group sessions of approximately 90 minutes per week.

The course is delivered via video conferencing, allowing real-time interaction with your group whilst being led by a highly experienced MiSP instructor.

Why .begin?The benefits of mindfulness for school sta� have been well researched (see, for example, the ‘Evidence Base’ section on the MiSP website), and suggest that mindfulness may benefit you in a number of ways, including reductions in stress, burnout and anxiety; a reduction in feelings of task and time pressure; improved ability to manage thoughts and behaviour; an increase in coping skills, motivation, planning and problem solving; and self-care in taking more time to relax.

If you are also interested in teaching mindfulness to your pupils, it is important that you first learn it for yourself. This enables you to directly experience the potential personal benefits of mindfulness, as well as meeting initial prerequisites to go on and train to teach mindfulness to young people. It can, however, be tricky finding a suitable course that fits around patterns of work/location etc

What will I get from .begin?Apart from the benefits you might find in practising mindfulness, those who complete the .begin course and continue to practise mindfulness on a regular basis can then qualify for further training to teach either our .b curriculum (for 11 – 18 year-olds) or Paws b (for 7 – 11 year-olds).

Trained Teacher




what pupils say about

Trained Teacher




Survey of1,009 pupils nationwide

who took the Paws b course 70

Found the Paws bcourse very

or fairly USEFUL

Found some orall of the course

ENJOYABLE

Might or likelyto KEEP USING

mindfulness

8991

86

“The best thing about Paws b is that when i was getting bullied at school I

used to find a nice and peaceful place and i did all

of the key things the teacher taught us. It really

helped me.”

“It helps me with dealing with things differently with my

disabled sister”

“Now I know how to control myself when I

have a wobble.”

“Paws b helped me with sport,

concentration and happiness”

“It has helped me most with my

confidence. I have done a lot more things after this

course.”

Mindfulness for 7-11 year-olds

�e Paws b CurriculumPaws b [pause & be] is a leading mindfulness curriculum for children aged 7-11 in schools.

The lessons are flexible and varied and can be taught as six, one hour lessons, or twelve 30 minute lessons.

Learning from all of the lessons is encouraged to be connected to other aspects of the school curriculum where and when appropriate, such as music, sport, art, drama, queuing to come into the classroom, school and residential trips, to name just a few possibilities.

What makes Paws b distinctive?Paws b was carefully crafted by classroom teachers and mindfulness experts to engage young children. It is taught with striking visuals, film clips and activities that bring mindfulness to life without losing the expertise and integrity of classic mindfulness teaching.

What are Paws b’s objectives?The aim of Paws b is to give students mindfulness as a life skill. Students use it:

● to feel happier, calmer and more fulfilled

● to get on better with others

● to help them concentrate and learn better

● to help cope with stress and anxiety

● to support performance such as music and sport.

The Paws b Curriculum

Trained Teacher




Teach Paws bTeach Paws b is a three-day training course which prepares participants to teach the Paws b curriculum to 7-11-year-olds in schools or other educational or youth-related organisations.

Participants who have attended an approved 8-week introduction to mindfulness course, and meet other course prerequisites, will be taught the lessons in ‘real time’ with opportunities to discuss the pedagogy of each lesson and how it can best be taught to a group of young people in di�erent settings. There will also be opportunities to work with other participants guiding them, and being guided by them, in the main mindfulness practices from the lessons.

What will I get?At the end of the course, participants will receive 6-months free membership to the MiSP Teachers’ Network and all the materials needed to start teaching the lessons: Student Booklet, “How to teach Paws b” booklet, Teacher’s Notes on each lesson, PowerPoint slideshow of each lesson, Animations.

Do I meet the Teach Paws b course prerequisites?Teachers of mindfulness need to be able to model what they are teaching, and to understand and relate directly and empathically to experiences their students may be having from a solid base in their own life. Therefore you will need to complete of an eight-week secular mindfulness course (such as .begin) and another four months of mindfulness practice before the start of the Teach .b training.

Do you offer free places on courses?MiSP is o�ering supported places on our UK teacher training courses - Teach .b, Teach Paws b and School Mindfulness Lead - to UK schools who have above average numbers of pupils receiving Free School Meals.

what pupils say about

Trained Teacher




Survey of1, 181 pupils nationwidewho took the .b course

Found the .b courseextremely, very or

fairly USEFUL

Found the .b courseexremely, very or

fairly ENJOYABLE

Are extremely, veryor fairly likely to KEEPUSING mindfulness

7871

68

74

�e .b Curriculum.b, pronounced [dot-be], is the UK’s leading mindfulness curriculum for 11-18 year olds in schools. .b stands for ‘stop and be’, a simple practice at the heart of this ten lesson course.

Each .b lesson (between 40 minutes and 1 hour) is expertly crafted for use in the classroom to teach a distinct mindfulness skill.

The .b materials are designed to engage even the most sceptical of young minds.

What makes .b distinctive?.b was carefully crafted by classroom teachers to engage everyone, including the most cynical of student audiences. It is taught with striking visuals, film clips and activities that bring mindfulness to life without losing the expertise and integrity of classic mindfulness teaching.

What are .b’s objectives?The aim of .b is to give students mindfulness as a life skill. Students use it:

● to feel happier, calmer and more fulfilled

● to get on better with others

● to help them concentrate and learn better

● to help cope with stress and anxiety

● to support performance such as music and sport.

Mindfulness for 11-18 year-oldsThe .b Curriculum

Trained Teacher




Teach .bTeach .b is a four-day training course which prepares participants to teach the ten-lesson .b curriculum to 11-18-year-olds in schools, or other educational or youth-related organisations.

Participants who have attended an approved 8-week introduction to mindfulness course, and meet other course prerequisites, will be taught the lessons in ‘real time’ with opportunities to discuss the pedagogy of each lesson and how it can best be taught to a group of young people in di�erent settings.

There will also be opportunities to work with other participants guiding them, and being guided by them, in the main mindfulness practices from the lessons.

What will I get?At the end of the course, participants will receive 6-months free membership to the MiSP Teachers’ Network and all the materials needed to start teaching the lessons: Student Booklet, “How to teach .b” booklet, Teacher’s Notes on each lesson, PowerPoint slideshow of each lesson, Animations.

Do I meet the .b course prerequisites?Teachers of mindfulness need to be able to model what they are teaching, and to understand and relate directly and empathically to experiences their students may be having from a solid base in their own life. Therefore you will need to complete of an eight-week secular mindfulness course (such as .begin) and another four months of mindfulness practice before the start of the Teach .b training.

Do you offer free places on courses?MiSP is o�ering supported places on our UK teacher training courses - Teach .b, Teach Paws b and School Mindfulness Lead - to UK schools who have above average numbers of pupils receiving Free School Meals.

With a little research, mainly using the wonders of the internet, I was led quickly to the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), a non-profit organisation teaching secular mindfulness to students, teachers, parents and carers using the .b (dot-be) courses. �ey are an established organisation and they know their beans when it comes to offering mindfulness in schools. �rough MiSP I was able to locate a qualified and experienced tutor and we started with our first mindfulness .b course on a Wednesday after school. It was a success, students really enjoyed the course (particularly tasting and eating chocolate mindfully). I could see the benefits quickly as students warmed to the easy mindful techniques of FOFBOC (feet on floor, bottom on chair) and 7/11(relaxation breathing) and were receptive to the excellent teaching materials with easy watchable animations.I offered several 20-minute presentations to staff to introduce the concept of mindfulness. We quickly had our first cohort of 13 staff signed up ready for their eight-week course in October 2016. �e tutor, Lorraine Millard, was a real find, a qualified psychotherapist and mindfulness practitioner who also happened to be employed by our lead sponsor, the University of Kent. Lorraine knew how to pitch the course to a group of enthusiastic teachers and support staff. She was compassionate, sensitive, flexible and extremely humorous. She made it clear that if you didn't do your home practice, you could still come along to the next session and it would be ok.

Mindfulness changes the dynamic

We now have approximately 70 staff that have completed the eight-week course. �e general vibe is that introducing mindfulness was a good decision and there is a different feeling among those mindful participants. I have noticed that relationships have improved between colleagues. �ere is more understanding and a shared collective that we all still work tirelessly, daily, in busy demanding jobs, but we have time to connect through a few words or just a smile. I can see the difference, we have changed the dynamic of our academy.Since those early days in 2016, I have qualified as a MiSP .b mindfulness practitioner and now deliver the .b courses to students at the academy. Mindfulness is built into the curriculum. All of our year 7 students have one hour every �ursday in which I teach them

Jo Price, Director of Corporate Services, University of Kent Academies Trust (UKAT) explains her conversion to mindfulness and its value to staff, students and the communityAlways vigilant for personal development opportunities, I had frequently read and heard about the benefits, indeed wonders, of mindfulness and how meditation was like going to the gym, but working out the brain instead of your biceps.I signed up to an eight-week course (two hours every Sunday evening) at my local Quakers community hall. Alongside nine other adults I discovered yoga mats, Teapigs liquorice and peppermint tea and the benefits of regular meditation. I confess: I never found nirvana, I can't say that my mind didn't wander throughout the various practices. But I can say that I found something very special that had been missing in my life: kindness and compassion and a real sense of being ok – what some might call inner peace.

New perspective on challenges & successes

Truthfully this course really did change my life. It gave a new perspective on my challenges and successes. Ultimately it gave me a very new way to live and be, that's the crux of mindfulness, learning to just ‘be’ with whatever life brings your way. I was genuinely amazed by the shift in my thinking and perspective. What was really impressive was that this shift was shared by the group: my mindfulness counterparts had similar stories

of finding a new sense of wellbeing at work, at home, with family and friends. �e changes were really significant for everyone that attended. I was really taken aback that such a course could create this much positive change, across a diverse section of everyday people attending for two hours on a Sunday evening! How was it possible that over a period of only eight weeks, we really could change our perspective on life? Our mental health had improved, and most importantly, we were enjoying our daily life with a sense of fulfilment. I quickly realised that this really was a gift, a gift that deserved sharing. So I took on my next exciting challenge – to bring mindfulness to my place of work, to offer students and staff the tools to live a happier, more balanced and easier way of life. Maybe this was my nirvana moment, I wanted to bring mindfulness to our schools ASAP – in the present moment.Inspired, enthused and mindfully proactive, I met with the Executive Principal of UKAT, Judy Rider and shared my enlightenment (without my yoga mat and new love for Teapigs liquorice and peppermint tea) and managed to convey my thoughts with clarity and vision. �is was that mindfulness could be a great investment for Brompton Academy students, staff and the wider community. Gifted with an executive principal who was innovative and not afraid to think outside the box, I was given the go-ahead to grow my idea and was tasked to make it happen.

Case Study:Mindfulness - opening the doors to mental health and wellbeing

www.mindfulnessinschools.org | [email protected]

Young people find a toolkit to calm down, to focus, to concentrate, to

understand what stress is. And they are learning to

be ok when it's not ok.

With a little research, mainly using the wonders of the internet, I was led quickly to the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), a non-profit organisation teaching secular mindfulness to students, teachers, parents and carers using the .b (dot-be) courses. �ey are an established organisation and they know their beans when it comes to offering mindfulness in schools. �rough MiSP I was able to locate a qualified and experienced tutor and we started with our first mindfulness .b course on a Wednesday after school. It was a success, students really enjoyed the course (particularly tasting and eating chocolate mindfully). I could see the benefits quickly as students warmed to the easy mindful techniques of FOFBOC (feet on floor, bottom on chair) and 7/11(relaxation breathing) and were receptive to the excellent teaching materials with easy watchable animations.I offered several 20-minute presentations to staff to introduce the concept of mindfulness. We quickly had our first cohort of 13 staff signed up ready for their eight-week course in October 2016. �e tutor, Lorraine Millard, was a real find, a qualified psychotherapist and mindfulness practitioner who also happened to be employed by our lead sponsor, the University of Kent. Lorraine knew how to pitch the course to a group of enthusiastic teachers and support staff. She was compassionate, sensitive, flexible and extremely humorous. She made it clear that if you didn't do your home practice, you could still come along to the next session and it would be ok.

Mindfulness changes the dynamic

We now have approximately 70 staff that have completed the eight-week course. �e general vibe is that introducing mindfulness was a good decision and there is a different feeling among those mindful participants. I have noticed that relationships have improved between colleagues. �ere is more understanding and a shared collective that we all still work tirelessly, daily, in busy demanding jobs, but we have time to connect through a few words or just a smile. I can see the difference, we have changed the dynamic of our academy.Since those early days in 2016, I have qualified as a MiSP .b mindfulness practitioner and now deliver the .b courses to students at the academy. Mindfulness is built into the curriculum. All of our year 7 students have one hour every �ursday in which I teach them

how to be more mindful, more resilient, more balanced and ultimately to be a bit more in touch with the beautiful world that we live in. It’s working. Young people can quickly find a toolkit to calm down, to focus, to concentrate, to understand what stress is. And they are learning to be ok when it's not ok.I also run the .b course with students that have been identified as vulnerable: maybe they are having a difficult time at home, maybe they are exhibiting signs of anxiety, stress or depression and they are not coping. �ese groups are working really well and the young people are learning that they cannot always change their circumstances but they can change how they respond.Sometimes, I am accompanied by my dog Monty, who is a professional mindfulness hound. He is known for his epic moments of relaxation and meditation (sleep) and the young people adore him. I use him to demonstrate focus and concentration: as he is very ball focused, he also knows a trick or two. Monty’s addition to teaching .b has been truly magnificent. Whoever said never work with children and animals is missing out.To date, mindfulness at UKAT is built into our curriculum, on offer to staff during training and development schedules and made available to students who need it most. Mindfulness is also delivered in the evenings to our parents/carers and the local community. We are developing a hub of healthy mindsets and opening the doors to mental health and wellbeing.

Originally published in SSAT JOURNAL 1

- Spring 2018


My only thought when I first learned about the Paws b programme was not how, but when I would be able to introduce it into the Junior School. Whilst the decision to do so was not without its challenges, on reflection it has proved more worthwhile than I could ever have imagined.

�e first step in the process is developing an appreciation of what mindfulness can offer young children. Look it up! �e potential benefits are as profound as they are far-reaching. �e second step involves choosing how well you want mindfulness to be done. In that sense, I know of no better means of introducing the benefits of mindfulness into schools than the MiSP programmes. Step three - if you reach the conclusion I did - is deciding whether you want to buy in Paws b trained deliverers indefinitely or whether your ambitions are to develop a team of in-house trained colleagues.I opted for the latter in the hope that we could build a sustainable and organic model that would allow us to introduce mindfulness through Paws b lessons into our timetable, so that all children could benefit. For that to happen it was important to make it as easy as possible for staff to meet the first prerequisite of applying to train with MiSP – to complete an 8 hour introductory course in mindfulness with a recognised provider. Over the last 3 years we have offered 2 such courses to staff, and most recently the online course, and over 45 colleagues have completed the course. 8 of those, myself included, went on to complete our Paws b training; one of whom received a distinction for her MA �esis on the benefits of Paws b lessons. 5 more have completed their .b training. �is now allows us to deliver the lessons to all of our Year 5 & Year 6 pupils each year, six half hour lessons in Yr 5 over six weeks &

the second six lessons again in Yr 6. It also means that we can deliver the .b course to our entire Yr 7 cohort from September. Mighty oaks from little acorns grow, and so it’s proved to be at Solihull School. �e momentum of interest in the emotional wellbeing of pupils and the resolve of my colleagues to do all they can to help children to thrive has taken me, very pleasantly, by surprise – sparked in no small measure by so many staff having a deeper understanding of how mindfulness can be of great benefit to them professionally and personally.�at same momentum explains why five colleagues were hugely energised after completing Penn Resiliency training and over 65 colleagues to date, across the Junior and Senior School, have voluntarily completed the Mental Health Youth First Aid course this year.Whilst I too share the concerns about the mental health problems besieging our young children and bemoan the fact that the industry of cure is exponentially larger than the industry of prevention, mindfulness is, I believe, every bit as much about learning how to live in the present moment in order to cultivate the personal space to thrive; as it is a clinically proven means of dealing with deficit.

Case Study:Nurturing emotional wellbeing


�e momentum of interest in the emotional wellbeing of pupils and the resolve of my colleagues to do all they can to help children to thrive has taken me by surprise.

“You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf,” Jon Kabat-Zinn sagely opined, nor by extension should we expect a young child to learn how to surf by chucking them into a great big wave. Ideally, we’d start on land and progress to mild mannered waters before expecting them to straddle choppy seas. Why therefore do educators and health professionals find themselves at the crisis end of the equation far too often, deploying flotation devices in the hope that children will cling on until a big wave runs its course?Because, in my view, the opportunity to boost the emotional immunity of young children is too often overlooked. To achieve this, I believe, we need to teach children how to think, not what to think.�is is why, for me, the Paws b programme offers so much more than you might expect beyond age appropriate meditative practice. It is a hugely well resourced and well thought out series of lessons for 7-11 year olds, that complements greatly the valuable lessons positive psychology has learned about how we can help young people to thrive. If you are already discussing the differences between fixed mindsets and growth mindsets with your pupils, learning about parts of the brain and their functions through Paws b lessons reinforces what they need to know about neuroplasticity. When they learn how to manage their amygdali and how to ground themselves after a wobble, they address the genesis of the resilience training we have introduced into our curriculum. And when, in the final lesson they learn about how to grow happiness, they tick many of the boxes that positive

psychologists such as Martin Seligman advocate for human beings to flourish, which we also teach the children about in our curriculum wellbeing lessons.We now invite parents to join us for a mindfulness seminar each year, to familiarise themselves with the nature of mindfulness and the content of the Paws b programme and a colleague runs a co-curricular Mindfulness Club for pupils each week. �e reception of pupils, parents and colleagues has been very positive. Even for many of those pupils who don’t practise meditation as part of their daily routines, often offer the caveat that they don’t - just yet.My sincere hope is that should any of our pupils reach the point of ‘yet’, that they will have had a very valuable experience of mindfulness to fall back on. Furthermore, I hope that those in our community who have already embraced it, are more mindfully happy than they would otherwise have been.

Mark Penney - Solihull Junior School


Trained Teacher




THE EVIDENCE FOR MINDFULNESS IN SCHOOLSFOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Katherine WeareEmeritus Professor, University of Southampton,Honorary Visiting Professor, University of Exeter

[email protected]

OVERALL FINDINGSTaken together, the evidence suggests that such short, focused, classroom based MBIs in school settings:

• Are popular (“acceptable”) with students and teachers and show very little evidence of any adverse effects.

• Can reliably impact on a wide range of indicators of positive psychological, social and physical wellbeing and flourishing in children and young people.

• Have most often been measured in relation to psycho-social health and wellbeing/ mental health, and aspects of cognition, where they reliably show small to medium impacts in both domains.

• Show promising emerging evidence for impacts on academic grades, on problem behaviour, and on physical health and wellbeing, but the numbers of group studies are too small to claim a reliable impact as yet

Psycho-social outcomes/ mental health• MBIs in school settings most often measure psycho-social aspects of wellbeing and this is where the evidence is strongest. They typically show between a small and medium impact (including on social and emotional skills, psychosocial wellbeing, and mental health).

• They typically show small to medium impact on the signs and symptoms of child and adolescent depression in a school context, across the age ranges, including on underlying ruminative and suicidal thoughts (10 studies, 7 of them Randomised Control Trials (RCTs). There is some evidence of greater impact on those with a higher level of difficulty, and support-ive evidence from work in clinical contexts.

• They typically show small positive effects on anxiety, across all age ranges (6 studies, 3 of them RCTs).

research intomindfulness

Trained Teacher




• They typically show small to medium impacts on stress, in terms of both perceptions and dysfunctional reactions, across age ranges (5 studies RCTs).

• The majority of evaluations of MBIs in schools have included some kind of measure of social and emotional skills, and have generally found reliably positive, small, impacts.

• They generally show small to medium impacts on emotional self-regulation (13 studies, 7 of them RCTs, 2 control trials), small to medium impacts on the development of caring and com-passion (10 studies) self-perception and self-care (5), relationship skills and empathy (5).

Cognition• An increasing number of MBIs measure aspects of cognition, and the evidence is becoming fairly convincing that they typically have a small to medium impact.

• Sixteen MBIs showed impacts on aspects of cognition, learning, executive function and cognitive processes, particularly on the ability to focus and sustain the attention.

• Six included evidence for a small to medium impacts on academic grades.

• Two found evidence for impacts on meta-cognition (thinking about/reflecting on thought processes).

Behaviour• Only a few group-based MBIs in school settings have measured impacts on behaviour. There is more evidence from single case studies and in clinical and community contexts, including parenting.

• Studies of various kinds with children in arrange of settings show early, promising evidence for impacts on problem behaviour, with small to medium impacts on aggression, hostility and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (5 studies).

Physical health• There is promising early evidence for impacts on signs of physiological health. There are not as yet enough studies to calculate overall significance.

• Six MBIs, 4 of them RCTs have shown impacts on physiological indicators of health and wellbeing in children and young people including heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol production and sleep quality.

• Two MBIs showed a positive impact on eating problems, one on obesity prevention.

To read the complete research paper please go to: https://mindfulnessinschools.org/research/

what is mindfulness - cpdbee€¦ · this is because we believe that teachers of mindfulness need...

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