Evidence on Whether Mindfulness Should Be Practiced in Schools

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Existing Data on Practicing Mindfulness-Based Programs
Mindfulness Programs Tried in Schools
Mindfulness-Based Interventions Applied to Students
Challenges and Limitations
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The ability to be fully present, aware of where people are and what they are doing, and not unduly reactive or overwhelmed by what is happening around them is known as mindfulness. Every person has the ability to be mindful, and one only needs to understand how to access this trait rather than try to summon it up. Early in the new millennium, mental health specialists with training in and exposure to mindfulness started to appear in the educational system. According to a recent study, mindful education teaches children how to relax their minds and bodies (McKeering & Hwang, 2019). This can help lessen the harmful impacts of stress and improve students’ capacity for sustained engagement, enabling them to stay on track academically and steer clear of behavioral issues.

According to research, mindfulness meditation encourages metacognitive awareness, reduces rumination by disengaging from perseverative cognitive activity, and improves attentional abilities through improvements in working memory. In turn, these cognitive improvements support efficient emotion-regulation techniques (Axford et al., 2022). The development of such evidence basis has a lot of potential, according to mindfulness science. Nevertheless, there are two significant limitations to the study, according to recent investigations. These include methodological issues and the absence of a generally accepted definition of mindfulness.

Existing Data on Practicing Mindfulness-Based Programs

The number of schools and instructors served by Mindful Schools, which promotes mindfulness education, increased between 2013 and 2016 ( Dunning, Ahmed, et al., 2022). Argos Gonzalez, head of teaching at Mindful Schools, claims that the company is assisting 35,000 instructors per year while working with 245 schools to establish mindfulness programs that cater to individual requirements in their schools and communities ( Dunning, Tudor, et al., 2022). By diversifying the cohort of students in their instructor certification program, Gonzalez says they are aiming to increase equity in a field that has historically been linked with white instructors in the United States. This year, approximately 65% (Cuijpers, 2022) of Mindful Schools’ relationships are with organizations that work with Title I schools, improving access for students from lower-income families.

Mindfulness Programs Tried in Schools

The MYRIAD (My Resilience in Adolescence) Project is the largest Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial designed to examine the effects of a school-based mindfulness intervention on the mental health of young adolescents. Young people who get mindfulness as a universal intervention in schools have been shown to experience beneficial results, according to meta-analyses of the research in this area (Kuyken et al., 2022). According to research, the mental health of the youth is deteriorating; thus, teaching them skills like those in mindfulness training would assist their mental health in a convenient and affordable manner (Tudor et al., 2022). Additionally, making it general lessens the stigma that may prevent young people from receiving specialized therapies.

The Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), founded by educators from some of the best-performing schools in the nation, strives to enhance children’s lives by genuinely and positively impacting their mental health and well-being. MiSP is the most reputable supplier of mindfulness training and curricula for schools, having been in business for ten years (Schuman-Olivier et al., 2020). The curriculum has already helped 350,000 primary and secondary students succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. Another strategy is universal School-Based Mindfulness Training (SBMT), which combines Psychoeducation, the application of traditional teaching techniques, and extremely brief mindfulness exercises (Montero-Marin et al., 2022). It is being offered by educators who have undertaken specialized training.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions Applied to Students

Recently, both in study and practice, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) has grown in popularity. Meditation techniques like sitting meditation or physical exercises like yoga are used to cultivate mindfulness. These methods assist in calming the mind, honing its ability for concentration, and broadening its range of focus (Baer et al., 2021). Practitioners are advised to use an anchor, such as their breath, to keep their attention on the present. The focus is gradually pulled back to the current moment experience when the mind wanders (Montero-Marin et al., 2021). The practitioner makes an effort to simply watch, without changing or passing judgment on, his or her experience of the present moment.

Psychoeducation on emotions and mindfulness are practices incorporated in MBIs, along with particular mindfulness exercises such as awareness of breath, mindful body scans, and awareness of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. MBIs are frequently given in conjunction with whole-class instruction or focused intervention (Bennett et al., 2022). Additionally, MBIs are provided in a number of formats, such as by the research team or a teacher. This is commonly delivered as lengthy single-session workshops or multi-session programs, with a range of activities and exercises incorporated, which past evaluations have found to affect MBIs’ efficacy. Positive psychological traits like mindfulness, meta-awareness, and self-compassion have been demonstrated to increase with MBI use (Crane et al., 2020). MBIs have also been demonstrated to lessen problematic thought patterns and emotional reactivity linked to psychopathology, including rumination, worry, and emotional reactivity.

Challenges and Limitations

The potential negative effects of mindfulness are frequently disregarded. Some persons may experience an increase in stress response, negative emotions, dissociation, and even sleep inability as a result of practicing mindfulness (Hinze et al., 2021). Before recommending mindfulness, like with any intervention, its possible hazards must be well comprehended. Even the operational definition of mindfulness is up for controversy, which is made more challenging when it takes into account the range and depth of prior experience in mindfulness meditation that a person may have ( Dunning D.L. et al., 2019). Furthermore, when mindfulness is mentioned in culture and the media, the distinction between the terms meditation and mindfulness frequently gets lost in translation.

Lack of consensus over the most fundamental operational definitions of mindfulness meditation may have made media manipulation simpler. Early findings from scientific studies are frequently sensationalized and published before those studies have the chance to be replicated and subsequently confirmed (Maloney et al., 2020). However, overstating and inflating the possible advantages of a potential therapeutic approach in the media ultimately serves no one. It is risky and harmful to society to portray mindfulness as a cure-all for a variety of human flaws when there is no solid data to back up these assertions (Medlicott et al., 2021). Patients and aspiring mindfulness practitioners should be aware of these present restrictions and think about using mindfulness meditation in addition to their existing, medically supervised therapy as a potential treatment option.

In order to assess and analyze trends within knowledge domains, new methodologies are needed given the fast expansion of research literature production. The use of bibliometrics to analyze the literature on mindfulness has so far been constrained to a single journal’s short time frame, a certain type of publication, or a specific research issue (Toniolo-Barrios et al., 2020). Therefore, in order to clarify historical developments, developing trends, and active research topics within this rapidly expanding field of scientific knowledge, a more extensive and thorough bibliometrics review of the mindfulness literature is necessary (Strauss et al., 2021). The search approach used in this study constrained the search by only including peer-reviewed literature written in English. Although a thorough search was done, it is erroneous to say that the review is exhaustive because papers written in other languages or articles published in different formats, such as unpublished theses, were excluded.

Conclusion

Mindfulness in schools has many scientifically proven benefits to both physical and mental health and well-being. The use of meditation techniques in the current health care system and school setting is also possible in order to treat a wide range of symptoms related to both physical and mental problems. The practice of mindfulness can assist instructors in identifying their emotional patterns and actively controlling their behavior so that they respond how they would like to rather than instinctively.

The MBIs that were used and the degree of detail reported varied significantly. Many studies found that using manuals or curricula to execute MBIs was beneficial; however, in these instances, the description of the intervention was heavily reliant on the manuals, and as a result, little information was supplied in the articles. In most cases, the manuals mentioned might be purchased or obtained after receiving training. This review’s assessment of the content of MBIs was hampered by the dependence on “hidden” information, which also illustrates the tension between science and the commercialization of MBIs in schools. There are serious ramifications for scientific integrity when there is a lack of transparency in scientific publications.

Studies have also shown that daily mindfulness and yoga practices benefit teachers’ blood pressure, physical symptoms, positive affect, classroom management, distress tolerance, and mindfulness. They also prevent a blunting of the cortisol awakening response that was observed among control group teachers at the end of the school year. However, there is still a significant amount of knowledge that is unknown to the world on matters concerning mindfulness. Further research, specifically longitudinal studies, should be carried out to detect any development in the field. It should also be done with the aim of detecting changes in the characteristics of individuals both at the group and personal levels.

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