Mindfulness Practice in the Classroom

During a recent meeting between a few of our team members and their PDS Coordinator, the topic of behavior management strategies was discussed. The PDS Coordinator mentioned that 95% of teachers who resign during the first five years of teaching leave due to the stress of behavior management issues in the classroom. We wondered if brain breaks could alleviate some of this professional burnout if they effectively reduce off-task and oppositional behaviors. While conducting our literature review, we came across an article that addresses this very question! 

The article is called Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education: Fostering the Resilience of Teachers and Students, by J. Meiklejohn, C. Phillips, M. Freedman, M. Griffin, G. Biegel, A. Roach, and A. Saltzman. It posits that both teachers and students can benefit from the calming, focusing, and self-regulating effects of mindfulness practice.

Regarding teachers:

"The brain regions that are impacted by
mindfulness training are implicated in executive functioning
(EF) and the regulation of emotions and behavior. Executive
functioning is an umbrella term for cognitive processes such
as planning, working memory, attention, problem solving,
verbal reasoning, inhibition, mental flexibility, multi-tasking,
and the initiation and monitoring of actions (Chan et al. 2008).
In essence, evidence-based research is indicating that mindfulness
training fosters enhanced resilience and more optimal
brain function in adults." (Page 5)

Regarding students:

"Napoli et al. (2005) conducted a randomized control trial (RCT) with 194 first to third grade students, from nine classrooms in two elementary schools, using the Attention Academy Program (AAP).
Students were randomly assigned to attend AAP or no
intervention. The AAP lasted for 12 sessions over 24 weeks
for 45-min per session and included sitting, movement, and
body-scan meditations as well as relaxation exercises.
Compared with control students, AAP participants showed
reductions in test anxiety and improvements in teacher-rated
attention, social skills, and objective measures of selective
attention." (Page 9)

The goal of our action research project is to find out if brain breaks--which can take the form of mindfulness practices, such as breathing exercises--have a positive impact on student behavior. If these breaks help the teacher, too, and thereby positively affect teacher retention rates in the profession, then all the more reason to incorporate them!

The full article is available here.