Mindfulness In Education: Why Every School Should be Teaching IT

Format

Individual Presentation

Presenters

Ashley L. BaerFollow

First Presenter's Institution

Forsyth County School District

First Presenter’s Email Address

abaer@forsyth.k12.ga.us

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Ashley has been in education for almost twenty years and is a mental health and wellbeing advocate for both teachers and children. She believes wellness in schools is school improvement. Relationship and connection with students can be increased when teachers use mindfulness as a strategy within the classroom. With a Master's in Special Education, a Bachelor's in Sociology, a certification in Yoga, as well as Mindfulness and Meditation, she uses her unique history of loss, trauma, and being in the foster care system to touch, heal, and connect with students, teachers and admin through Mindfulness. She created a two-year pilot under the supervision of the Superintendent, and GA State University which focused on implementing mindful breathing, and movement strategies into the classroom to build focus and attention, while emotionally regulating students. She believes a culture of mindful breathing needs to be in every district, school and classroom across this country and practiced by every leader, teacher, and student. As one of the founding members of Georgia's first state chapter of COSEM (Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully), Ashley brings a passion and belief that Mindfulness is the foundation of all learning so that all students may feel safe, welcomed, and free to learn and be their best happiest self. In her free times, she volunteers for Persevere, a non-profit, teaching women in prison this foundational life skill of mindfulness and is a meditation teacher on the app Insight Timer, and is a frequent guest speaker on mindfulness as wellness and self-care.

Location

Session Eight Breakouts (Westbrook)

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Relevance

Mindfulness is deeply aligned with "Heart" or building Social & Emotional Skills in students and teachers, and is aligned with the CASEL Core competencies self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Creating a mindful breathing culture improves school climate and creates a sense of community. Nothing is more powerful than a teacher who embodies mindfulness and breathes with students. Sharing this practice regulates the nervous system, focuses the brain, as well as creates connection and builds resilience, and all that needs to happen is breathing. Breathing is our nervous systems love language, and it is free, and available to all humans. Mindfulness is a life skill that transcends all parts of life: communication, self-esteem, decision making, empowerment, and resilience. The mental benefits of relieving stress, boosting immunity, reducing anxiety, improving focus connects mindfulness as a preventive measure for mental and physical health as well. Mindfulness helps address anxiety, and the stressors of daily life, as well as how to move through difficult emotions. I believe it is my moral obligation to offer this practice to students and teachers alike which is why we focus on teaching it to teachers first for themselves, and then how to implement in a classroom. Teachers learn breathing as self-care. Not only can this practice help children, but we can save the teaching profession with this life-changing self-care tool. Teachers can teach academics, but if a student does not want to live, or be here, the academics won't matter. What is more important than the emotional well-being of our most precious resource-our youth? I believe we can change education across this country by creating a mindful breathing culture across all curriculums, grade levels and schools. It starts at the top with mindful leaders.

Brief Program Description

Were you ever asked to pay attention in school? As an educator have you asked students to pay attention? Compare that to how many times you were taught or taught a student to pay attention. Most likely the answer is never. Mindfulness is explicit attention building and emotional regulation. Learn how and why you should create a mindful breathing culture through short experiential practices, activities, and games including breathing activites, and movement.

Summary

The Mindfulness in Education presentation will teach the power of the practice of mindfulness in education for building resiliency, focus, executive function, while reducing behavior, and boosting academics. Learn how to practice, and why every human needs it especially our children. Learn informal and formal practices designed for home and school use, and how to begin building a mindful breathing culture in your school. A brief description of the pilot program, the involvement of Ga State University, and how Forsyth County went from a pilot program to training teachers all over their district, and even other counties and states. Learn how to implement this practice in life and a classroom. Ashley will include a short history of her own personal story of survival and how she used mindfulness to address her anxiety, and difficult emotions from a childhood of loss, and trauma and coming out of the foster care system which she believes helped her resiliency. In addition, Ashley will share the why behind bringing a practice of mindfulness as an attention building and executive function strategy, SEL, and how it is critical for learning for any classroom teacher. This session will include the science and nature of the brain, the nervous system, brain waves, and how stress blocks learning. Ashley will show Mindful Movement as well as Mindful breath strategies in this practical presentation using tools for implementing mindfulness in short effective ways. Using a breathing ball, and a focus bell and using games and kinesthetic movements with breath Ashley will teach how simple and time-efficient these strategies can be used to address the distracted mind while teaching direct SEL. This session will be experiential in nature as the best way to learn mindfulness is to feel it first. This session will teach practices that educators or any audience member can walk away with to incorporate in their daily life, or class.

Evidence

I am beginning my second study with GA State University. This time looking at Teacher Efficacy after Mindfulness. I am attaching my first study with them.

Evaluation Report: July 2021

Evaluation Report Part 1: Impact of the Mindful Breathing Program on Mental Health and Social-emotional Functioning

Evaluation Report Part 2: Perception of the Mindful Breathing Program

Table of Contents

General Study Information. 3

Overview of Research & Significance. 3

Program Description. 3

Research Objective. 4

Evaluation Report Part 1 – Quantitative. 5

Purpose. 5

Participants. 5

Recruitment. 5

Inclusionary criteria. 5

Measures. 6

(1) Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM; Greco et al., 2011). 6

(2) Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988). 6

(3) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). 6

Data Analysis. 6

Quantitative Findings. 7

Coal Mountain Elementary School 7

Lakeside Middle School 7

Denmark High School 9

Evaluation Report Part 2 – Qualitative. 11

Purpose. 11

Participants. 11

Data Source. 11

Data Analysis. 11

Qualitative Findings. 11

Theme 1: Reason for Interest and/or Participation. 12

Theme 2: Prior Experience/Perspectives. 13

Theme 3: Program Content. 15

Theme 4: Applications of Strategies. 17

Theme 5: Impact of Program.. 19

Theme 6: Importance of Program.. 23

Theme 7: Implementation Barriers and Challenges. 24

Theme 8: Access to Information/Findings. 25

Theme 9: Recommendations and Feedback. 25

References 28

General Study Information

Overview of Research & Significance

Learning and practicing mindfulness have been shown to benefit people of all ages, especially individuals needing help with attention, anxiety, or emotional regulation (Broderick & Jennings, 2012; Broderick & Metz, 2009; Perry-Parrish et al., 2016). In recent years, there has been an upsurge in the application of mindfulness-based interventions to promote psychological health and wellness in children and adolescents. Approaches with significant empirical support include dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT; Segal et al., 2002).

Youth who are at risk of experiencing stressors may rely on effective coping strategies to manage negative emotions. As such, mindfulness practices have been found to reduce stress and facilitate self-regulation by redirecting the individual’s awareness towards his or her thoughts, emotions, and body states (Broderick & Metz, 2009; Zylowska et al., 2008). More specifically, several studies suggested that adolescents who participated in a mindfulness curriculum demonstrated improvement in emotional regulation (Broderick & Metz, 2009), in ADHD symptoms (Zylowska et al., 2008), and in the prevention of risky behaviors (Broderick & Jennings, 2012).

Program Description

The Mindful Breathing Program (MBP) is a school-based curriculum that teaches elementary through high school students the skills they need to help them develop and improve their attention and focus, as well as provide other cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. Students from three schools in the Forsyth County School District were given the option to participate in the program as an elective. During the 2020 Fall Semester (August to December), classes were offered to students at Lakeside Middle School during 90-minute blocks, two to three times a week. During the 2021 Spring Semester (January to May), classes were offered to students at Denmark High School in a similar format as those at the middle school level. Due to scheduling differences at the elementary level, fourth and fifth-graders at Coal Mountain Elementary participated in the program five days a week for 20 minutes per session.

The framework for MBP was based on Daniel Rechtschaffen’s book, The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well-Being in Teachers and Students. The district’s Health and Wellness Coach, who implemented the MBP, was trained on Rechtschaffen’s method at the Omega Institute in New York. In addition to mindfulness instruction, breathing techniques, exercises, group discussions, other social-emotional learning components related to the physical, mental, emotional, social, and global well-being were incorporated.

Regardless of the participants’ age group, the instructor adhered to the ABC (Action, Breath, Connection) format for every session. Each class began with a “check in” called Flow and Tell during which each person had the option to verbalize to the group, “In this present moment, I feel________.” The individual would share his/her/their state of emotion, mood for the day, and/or the reason. According to the instructor, this exercise allowed class participants to accept one another and to acknowledge the state of their emotions. Next, the instructor led the students to do a movement to get them “in their bodies”. This exercise may range from a mindful movement, a deep stretch, an active breath, or a yoga pose. Following the movement was a five-minute “Mindful Sit” or breathwork, a form of meditation. Thereafter, through the use of connective language, the instructor led a class discussion about how the movement made them feel or what they noticed during the “Mindful Sit”. Every Friday, the instructor ended the week with a 30-minute guided meditation or Yoga Nidra during which students laid down with blankets and eye pillows.

Additionally, students learned different meditation techniques such as Loving Kindness, body scans, bell listening, counting of the breath, and meditation of the senses. In addition, they also learned different kinds of breath and breath work, such as Animal breaths (movement connected to the alphabet and animals), Breath of Joy, Ha Breath, Bellows Breath, Square Breathing, and Arrow Breathing.

Beyond the ABC class format, the instructor incorporated lessons about the science supporting mindfulness, the brain, and the benefits of mindfulness on the brain. Other lessons included understanding different emotions, how the body responded to these emotions, and strategies for managing anxiety. Further, students learned and practiced mindfulness through a variety of activities, such as Mindful Walking, Mindful Movement, Mindful Coloring, Mindful Eating, and Mindfulness in nature. In addition to these activities, games such as Diversity of Thought, Dr. Distraction, mindfulness-attention games, and memory games were incorporated.

Research Objective

This was a two-part study which included access to a body of quantitative data and qualitative data collection. The purpose of the quantitative component of the study (Evaluation Part 1) was to evaluate whether participation in the MBP resulted in improved student outcomes related to mental health and social-emotional functioning. The purpose of the qualitative component of the study (Evaluation Part 2) was to evaluate whether students, parents/caregivers, and educators perceived the MBP as acceptable, meaningful, and effective.

Evaluation Report Part 1 – Quantitative

The Impact on Mental Health and Social-emotional Functioning

Purpose

The purpose of the quantitative component of the study was to evaluate whether participation in the MBP resulted in improved student outcomes related to mental health and social-emotional functioning.

The quantitative research question to be addressed in this part of the study was:

1. Does participation in the MBP result in improved social-emotional functioning?

Participants

Participants in this study were elementary, middle, and high school students from one school district in the state. These students voluntarily chose to participate in the MBP at their schools. Other participants in the study included teachers and parents whose students/children participated in the MBP. At the elementary school-level, a total of 12 students completed two outcome measures, Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM; Greco et al., 2011) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988). At the middle school-level, a total of 21 students completed the CAMM (Greco et al., 2011), PANAS (Watson et al., 1988), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). At the high school level, a total of nine students completed the CAMM, PANAS, and SDQ.

Recruitment

Researchers recruited participants through the school district’s MBP Health & Wellness Instructor. A flyer describing the study was sent to each family whose child was a participant in the MBP, as well as to teachers whose student was a participant in the MBP. Individuals who were interested in participating in the study were provided with researchers’ contact information. Contact between potential participants and researchers occurred via email and/or phone. Individuals who responded were asked to participate in consent and assent procedures.

Inclusionary criteria

Inclusion criteria for student participants were: 1) Enrolled in elementary, middle, or high school, 2) Participated in the MBP, and 3) Whose parents/caregivers had given consent for participation in study.

Inclusion criteria for teacher participants were: 1) Taught and/or mentored a student who participated in the MBP and 2) Taught/mentored at the same school as his/her/their student.

Inclusion criteria for parents/caregivers was: 1) Had a child who participated in the MBP.

Measures

Researchers sought consent from all participants to be granted access to district-collected data on the described measures below. Quantitative data were collected by the school district as part of the MBP from participating students on all three of the following measures:

(1) Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM; Greco et al., 2011)

The CAMM is a unidimensional measure of mindfulness (Kuby et al., 2015). Data from the CAMM were collected prior to MBP participation and at the conclusion of the program from participating students.

We hypothesized an increase in CAMM scores after participation in the Mindful Breathing Program.

(2) Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988)

The PANAS comprises of two scales: one scale measures positive affect and a second measures negative affect. Data from the PANAS were collected prior to MBP participation and at the conclusion of the program from participating students.

We hypothesized an increase in scores on the Positive Affect scale, an indication of more positive emotions (e.g., joy) following participation in the MBP (Riopel, 2021). With regard to scores on the Negative Affect scale, we hypothesized a decrease following MBP participation which would suggest fewer negative emotions (e.g., anger or sadness) (Riopel, 2021).

(3) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997)

The SDQ is a brief screening questionnaire that includes five subscales: Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity/inattention, Peer Relationship Problems, and Prosocial Behaviors. The first four subscales (Emotional, Conduct, Hyperactivity, and Peer) are combined to form the “Total Difficulties” subscale. Data from the SDQ were collected prior to MBP participation and at the conclusion of the program from participating students.

We hypothesized a decrease in the Total Difficulties, Emotional, Conduct, Hyperactivity, and Peer subscales scores and an increase in Prosocial scores following MBP participation.

Data Analysis

School-wide data were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests to ascertain if there was significant change over time (before and after the program implementation). Excel was used to calculate all t-tests.

Quantitative Findings

Data were collected prior to analysis using quantitative research. The results are shown and organized below by school-level.

Coal Mountain Elementary School data were collected in January 2021 (pre) and April 2021 (post) for the following two measures:

1. CAMM (N = 12)
   1. The mean CAMM score in January was 18.67, and the mean CAMM score in April was 27.25, showing an increase in pre- vs. post-scores. The increase in scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₁ = -3.24, p = 0.004).
   2. PANAS (N = 12)
      1. Positive Affect: The mean PANAS score in January was 32.17 and the mean PANAS score in April was 37.33, showing an increase in pre- vs. post-scores. The difference in positive affect scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₁ = -2.82, p = 0.008).
      2. Negative Affect: The mean PANAS score in January was 26.92 and the mean PANAS score in April was 18.08, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. There was a significant difference in negative affect scores (t₁₁ = 5.94, p < 0.001).

Lakeside Middle School data were collected in August 2020 (pre) and December 2020 (post) for the following three measures:

1. CAMM (N = 18)
   1. Three of the 21 students from Lakeside Middle School did not complete the post-questionnaire, therefore, only 18 students were included in this analysis. The mean CAMM score in August was 19.56 and the mean CAMM score in December was 27.72, showing an increase in pre- vs. post-scores. The increase in scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₇ = -3.72, p = 0.0009).
   2. PANAS (N = 19)
      1. a. Positive Affect: Two of the 21 students from Lakeside Middle School did not complete the post-questionnaire, therefore, only 19 students were included in this analysis. The mean PANAS score in August was 28.11 and the mean PANAS score in December was 36.89, showing an increase in pre- vs. post-scores. The increase in scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₈ = -4.79, p < 0.001).
      2. Negative Affect: Two of the 21 students from Lakeside Middle School did not complete the post-questionnaire, therefore, only 19 students were included in this analysis. The mean PANAS score in August was 24.26 and the mean PANAS score in December was 16.11, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₈ = 5.20, p < 0.001).
      3. SDQ (Some participants were excluded from this analysis because they did not complete the post-questionnaire; however, other students were excluded from only a few subscales because they did not complete all questions within those subscales. The number of participants is shown below beside the subscale.)
         1. Total Difficulties (N = 16)

i. The mean Total Difficulties score in August was 19.06 and the mean Total Difficulties score in December was 10.06, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Total Difficulties scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₅ = 5.51, p < 0.001).

1. Emotional (N = 16)

i. The mean Emotional score in August was 5.81 and the mean Emotional score in December was 2.56, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Emotional scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₅ = 5.17, p < 0.001).

1. Conduct (N = 17)

i. The mean Conduct score in August was 3.00 and the mean Conduct score in December was 1.29, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Conduct scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₆ = 3.37, p = 0.002).

1. Hyperactivity (N = 16)

i. The mean Hyperactivity score in August was 6.81 and the mean Hyperactivity score in December was 3.69, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Hyperactivity scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₅ = 4.71, p = 0.0001).

1. Peer (N = 17)

i. The mean Peer score in August was 3.35 and the mean Peer score in December was 2.59, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. However, the difference in Peer scores was not statistically significant (t₁₆ = 1.70, p = 0.054).

1. Prosocial (N = 17)

i. The mean Prosocial score in August was 7.65 and the mean Prosocial score in December was 8.88, showing an increase in pre- vs. post-scores. The increase in Prosocial scores was found to be statistically significant (t₁₆ = -2.18, p = 0.022).

Denmark High School data were collected in January 2021 (pre) and April 2021 (post) for the following three measures:

1. CAMM (N = 9)
   1. The mean CAMM score in January was 12.56 and the mean CAMM score in April was 26.56, showing an increase in pre- vs. post-scores. The increase in scores was found to be statistically significant (t₈ = -4.03, p = 0.002).
   2. PANAS (N = 8)
      1. Positive Affect: One of the nine students from Denmark High School did not complete the post-questionnaire, therefore, only eight students were included in this analysis. The mean PANAS score in January was 24.50 and the mean PANAS score in April was 37.25, showing an increase in pre- vs. post-scores. The increase in scores was found to be statistically significant (t₇ = -6.35, p = 0.0002).
      2. Negative Affect: One of the nine students from Denmark High School did not complete the post-questionnaire, therefore, only eight students were included in this analysis. The mean PANAS score in January was 31.13 and the mean PANAS score in April was 18.63, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in scores was found to be statistically significant (t₇ = 5.78, p = 0.0003).

1. 3. SDQ (Some participants were excluded from this analysis because they did not complete the post-questionnaire; however, other students were excluded from only a few subscales because they either did not complete all questions or circled/chose multiple answer choices within those subscales. The number of participants is shown below beside the subscale.)

1. Total Difficulties (N = 7)

i. The mean Total Difficulties score in January was 18.71 and the mean Total Difficulties score in April was 8.86, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Total Difficulties scores was found to be statistically significant (t₆ = 3.50, p = 0.006).

1. Emotional (N = 8)

i. The mean Emotional score in January was 7.38 and the mean Emotional score in April was 2.88, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Emotional scores was found to be statistically significant (t₇ = 5.08, p = 0.0007).

1. Conduct (N = 8)

i. The mean Conduct score in January was 1.38 and the mean Conduct score in April was 1.00, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Conduct scores was found to be statistically significant (t₇ = 2.05, p = 0.04).

1. Hyperactivity (N = 7)

i. The mean Hyperactivity score in January was 6.86 and the mean Hyperactivity score in April was 2.71, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. The decrease in Hyperactivity scores was found to be statistically significant (t₆ = 3.92, p = 0.004).

1. Peer (N = 8)

i. The mean Peer score in January was 3.63 and the mean Peer score in April was 2.88, showing a decrease in pre- vs. post-scores. However, there was no statistical difference in Peer scores (t₇ = 1.11, p = 0.152).

1. Prosocial (N = 7)

i. The mean Prosocial score in January was 7.86 and the mean Prosocial score in April was 7.86, showing no difference in pre- vs. post-scores. No statistical difference found in Prosocial scores (t₆ = 0, p = 0.5).

Evaluation Report Part 2 – Qualitative

Perception of the Mindful Breathing Program

Purpose

The purpose of the qualitative component of the study was to evaluate whether students, parents/caregivers, and educators perceived the MBP as acceptable, meaningful, and effective.

The qualitative research question to be addressed in this part of the study was:

1. Do students, parents/caregivers, and educators perceive the MBP as acceptable, meaningful, and effective?

Participants

All participants from the quantitative Part 1 of the study were recruited for phone interviews during the qualitative Part 2 of the study. Of the participants recruited, seven students, six parents/caregivers, and one teacher consented to do the interview.

Data Source

Data collection involved conducting a series of phone interviews with participating students, their parents/caregivers, and their classroom teachers regarding their perceptions of the MBP and its impact. Interviews lasted between 10 to 45 minutes. The research staff asked the interview questions and followed up with additional questions as needed to clarify participants’ responses. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed prior to analysis using the consensual qualitative research methods.

Data Analysis

Consensual qualitative research (CQR) techniques were applied to analyze transcribed data from all interviews. The CQR process involves incorporating multiple perspectives, consensus among team members, and the continual return to the raw data throughout the process of determining broad domains, summarizing domain data into concise terms, and conducting cross-analysis to develop common patterns in the findings (Hill & Knox, 2021). Common themes from the discussion were drawn from the transcription and organized to help inform summary of themes and findings.

Qualitative Findings

Nine major themes emerged from the qualitative analysis. Two of the major themes comprised of subthemes. Major themes and subthemes are described and supported with participants’ quotations below. Sentence fillers (i.e., “um”, “like”, “you know”, and “kinda”) from quotations were removed to maximize clarity for the reader.

Theme 1: Reason for Interest and/or Participation

This first theme illustrated the impetus behind interviewees’ initial interest in learning more about the MBP and the reasons for program enrollment. One teacher whose students participated in MBP reported hearing about the program through another teacher. Student participants reported finding out about the MBP through their teachers or school counselors. Other students shared that their moms had initiated their interest in the program and discussed with them about enrolling in MBP. Parents/caregivers learned of the program from professionals who worked with their child or from student support teams. One parent, in particular, shared that her child was evaluated by the school psychologist, and it was from this evaluation that recommendations were made for her child to participate in some form of mindful practice. Another parent learned about the MBP through her child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Team. Several parents/caregivers taught at their children’s schools and learned of the program directly from the MBP instructor. It was through these professionals and administrators that these parents became interested in mindfulness and explored how MBP could benefit their child.

Both parent/caregiver and student interviewees revealed specific reasons for why they felt the MBP would be beneficial. Some participants shared that they had struggled with ADHD and inattention. Others revealed that they were looking for ways to manage their stress and anxiety, while others needed an outlet to cope with trauma and associated stress. One parent reported that her child was struggling in class and would react to his teacher’s directives with negativity and opposition. The parent had hoped that the MBP would help him regulate emotionally and learn strategies to adapt to classroom demands. Below are quotes from interviewees regarding their initial interest in MBP and what they hoped to gain from it.

“One of the reasons why I really wanted him to be in Mindfulness was for emotional regulation.”

“I was mainly looking for ways to cope with my anxiety and ADHD because I’ve struggled with that in recent years. I was talking to my counselor about it. She was like, Hey, we have this really cool program. I think it be great for you. You’re just the type of person that would need it and that would benefit from it. And I was interested, and that’s when I decided to join the class.”

“I guess we had gone through a rather traumatic family experience about two years ago, and so, there’s big emotions attached to that.”

“I really needed to focus on my focusing during school. I could tell that I was getting off topic easily and I wanted to help with that.”

“I was just hoping to get out of it…. a strategy of how to calm myself down. Like if I had a panic attack or an anxiety attack of how just to bring myself down instead of working myself more up.”

Theme 2: Prior Experience/Perspectives

The second theme focused on interviewees’ familiarity and experiences with mindfulness prior to their involvement as well as their current involvement with MBP. It also assessed whether the MBP impacted their opinion or perspective about mindfulness.

Subtheme 2a: Experience, Knowledge, & Involvement

In general, student participants reported having very little to no experience with mindfulness before enrolling in MBP. Those with limited knowledge about mindfulness shared that they either learned about mindfulness vaguely from a friend or had practiced yoga at home with a parent. A few students, on the other hand, shared that they had participated in the MBP the year before with the same instructor, and from this class had learned about mindfulness.

“I heard of yoga. I’ve done a little bit of yoga with my mom, but never really anything that’s actually like mindfulness and breathing and stuff like that.”

“I personally didn’t know about it. I had heard from a friend that did it last year…, but I didn’t even really know what it was.”

“Well, I did it last year in fourth grade. So, I think I did it before that. It was with the same instructor….”

Parent interviewees shared that their knowledge and/or experience with mindfulness were related. For example, several reported having done guided meditation exercises via videos or having heard about mindfulness through their child’s social-emotional learning (SEL)curriculum from school. Other parents, however, revealed teaching their child grounding techniques to manage inattention and self-regulate.

“I have video fitness on demand type thing, and they would have mindfulness, exercises are guided meditation things. Just a very general, magazine article kind of…exposure to it.”

“We would talk about when you feel really out of control, or if you feel like you’re losing it in class. We talked about, like name three things that were near you. So, it would be like my pencil in my hand, my feet on the ground, you know, and my butt in my chair. So, it’s kind of like that grounding.”

Some parents who were teachers in the district reported that they were familiar with breathing techniques from their personal yoga practice and had incorporated these breathing exercises to help their students during class. Others shared that they had attended a two-week training on mindfulness and wanted to incorporate the techniques in their classrooms. One parent/teacher shared that she had used strategies from prior training on brain-based education and research to inform her about mindfulness and its benefits.

“Just having practiced it myself, I know having done- I haven’t done specifically mindfulness breathing, but I’ve done, like yoga breathing, and been in a yoga classroom, and just felt that piece of serenity around me. I know having done some yoga myself when I have a kid that’s extremely stress, I help them implement those breathing practices.”

“I knew that mindfulness incorporated breathing as well. And I thought, ‘Wow, well that movement piece.’ Your brain is learning was really interesting to me. And it was all based on understanding the brain. Then the breathing piece was like, ‘Huh, this is intriguing.’ I think I might have done a little bit of research. I think I found whatever that website called…. I think Mindfulness.org or something.”

“I went to a virtual training for two weeks. It wasn’t a particular plan for teachers to implement mindfulness. It was more like… Gosh, it was intense. It was more like what movements and what breath happen to these parts of the brain, and, you know, how this can reverse the amygdala response to this, that, or the other thing. Okay. So, after my training last year, starting making those connections between the movement and breath that I learned how it effects everything. I started connecting it to the classroom in certain areas as need.”

Subtheme 2b: Perspectives

With regard to change in perspectives about mindfulness, one parent reported no change while another said she believed it was important to incorporate mindfulness into daily activities for children. Parents who also taught at their children’s schools noticed observable changes in their children. They themselves participated in classes from the MBP instructor and became completely bought-in. In addition, they voiced the need for their schools to make the progra