Use of Mindfullness Mediation to Increase Attentiveness in the Inclusive Classroom
Format
Poster Presentation
Location
Harborside Center East and West
Strand #1
Social & Emotional Skills
Strand #2
Mental & Physical Health
Relevance
This presentation will fit in Stand 2 most closely. It easily relates to school climate; caring curriculum; academic resilience; and life skills.
Brief Program Description
Mindfulness meditation is a technique used to promote a sense of calmness. A child (or adult) is trained to silently focus on relaxed breathing and living in the present moment. Relaxation techniques have been shown to enhance attention-to-task across many demographic criteria.
Summary
Use of Mindfullness Mediation to increase attentiveness in the inclusive classroom. A technique of mediation referred to as “mindfulness meditation” can used to promote a sense of calmness. A child (or adult) is trained to silently focus on the immediate environment. They concentrate on their relaxed breathing and the idea of living in the present moment. Thoughts of past or future events are to be metacognitively acknowledged and dismissed. Those thoughts can be addressed at some other time. The poster will outline the steps needed for training students. Relaxation techniques have been shown to enhance attention-to-task across many demographic criteria. Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco is in a neighborhood with so many severe criminal actions that they found themselves needing to employ a full time grief counselor. The school started started a twice daily “Quiet Time” mediation approach in 2007. In their first year alone, suspensions fell by 45% and in four years the rate of suspension was lower than average for the city. GPA’s improved and absenteeism dropped. Interestingly, the students at this school reportedly were among the highest in San Francisco in their level of happiness, according to the annual California Healthy Kids Survey. Meditation and other relaxation technique has been shown to increase attentiveness and lower acting out behavior. No school based approach is 100% successful with all students but short mediation sessions have good results and needs little, if any, additional expenditures. It can be done with groups, classrooms, or school wide. Most schools should be able to develop their own in-service training. Quick references (more will be available at the session): cs.oxfordjournals.org/content/32/3/150.short http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Meditation-transforms-roughest-San-Francisco-5136942.php
Evidence
cs.oxfordjournals.org/content/32/3/150.short This open access quick read reference has an abstract of a July 1, 2010 article by Betsy Wisner, Barbara Jones, and David Quin in Children and Schools:A journal of Social Work Practice, vol. 32, no.1, pp 150-159. It has an overview of meditation and relaxation ideas, literature review, and a discussion of implications. The full title is School-based Meditation Practices for Adolescents: A Resource for Strengthening Self-Regulation, Emotional Coping, and Self-Esteem http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Meditation-transforms-roughest-San-Francisco-5136942.php This January 12, 2014 article is provided by sfgate.com, which is the San Francisco Chronicle’s site that is available to the general public without a subscription. It was the source of the statistics provided in the summary.
Biographical Sketch
Thomas F. Strauser has a Bachelor or Arts Degree from Thomas Edison State College ,Trenton, NJ with emphasis areas in Education, Mathematics, and Psychology. He is beginning a graduate program in School Counseling
Edward B. Strauser, is a doctoral level school psychologist and retired professor of education at Armstrong State College, Savannah, GA
Keyword Descriptors
meditation, attentiveness, anxiety reduction
Presentation Year
2015
Start Date
3-3-2015 4:00 PM
End Date
3-3-2015 5:30 PM
Recommended Citation
Strauser, Thomas F. and Strauser, Edward B., "Use of Mindfullness Mediation to Increase Attentiveness in the Inclusive Classroom" (2015). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 116.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2015/2015/116
Use of Mindfullness Mediation to Increase Attentiveness in the Inclusive Classroom
Harborside Center East and West
Mindfulness meditation is a technique used to promote a sense of calmness. A child (or adult) is trained to silently focus on relaxed breathing and living in the present moment. Relaxation techniques have been shown to enhance attention-to-task across many demographic criteria.
