I currently have found three research articles on the study of the effectiveness of mindfulness in the classroom. Although, I do not see that they are the most effective sources thus far, I will continue to search for research that is closer to my topic of mindfulness in the kindergarten classroom.
A common thread through out the articles and others that I have read is that they tend to see that the regular practice of mindfulness training is beneficial but that the research results were difficult to gauge. The obvious issue being that each individual comes with a varying need for the meditation and then are participating in a way that in and of itself cannot be gauged. Students may appear to be participating that may not be. Also, the outcomes were based on interviews and questionnaires that, again, may not tell the full story. In a study conducted in Dublin, Ireland with 63 students ranging from ages 11-12. Four teachers committed to teaching the mindfulness program to these students who are known to be living in poverty. Four teachers were given a CD with 25 audio meditation practices. Students kept self-reflective journals and interviews were given for students to communicate their views on the impact that the practice had on their perceived levels of stress. The results showed that students had a decrease in their perceived levels of stress. Costello, E. & Lawler, M. (2014). A study of 63 homeless middle school students, who were instructed in mindfulness training over a three month period, were trained by a mindfulness specialist and were evaluated using three methods; The Child Acceptance and Mindfulness Measure (CAMM), The Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y), and the Self-Compassion Scale for Children (SCS-C). This study was conducted in order to help students to cope with their emotions, encourage compassion, and enhance their ability to focus.The outcomes of the evaluations suggest that the students benefited from the mindfulness practice. Viafora, D., Mathiesen, S., Unsworth, S. (2014). 49 college students ranging from ages 20 to 50 in New Zealand were given 28 mindfulness lessons for 5-7 minutes before each class. 7 of these students were male and 42 were female. Data was collected through informal feedback, class discussions, and questionnaires at the end of their assignments. Student responses had mixed outcomes. When asked if they would like to continue to practice mindfulness before each lesson, 7 male participants said yes, 28 women said yes, 7 were negative and 7 were uncertain. Mapel, T. (2012). While all studies tend to make a positive case for the mindfulness training, it is hard to understand to exactly what end. My driving question seeks to understand what effects mindfulness practice has on the ability to learn. Many studies seem to relay that students feel better and have a lowered sense of stress once the practice is undertaken. I am attempting to prove that this lowered stress can then have a determined outcome on achievement. Seminal Researchers that I need to now find: Germer, Siegel, Fulton, Moore, Santorelli, Meiklejohn, Schoeberlein References: Costello, E & Lawler, M (2014). An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Mindfulness on Perceived Levels of Stress Among School-Children from Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds.Volume 6, Number 2, November 2014 pp 21-39 Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, 2073-7629 Viafora, D., Mathiesen, S., Unsworth, S. (2014) Teaching Mindfulness to Middle School Students and Homeless Youth in School Classrooms. J Child Fam Stud (2015) 24:1179-1191 DOI 10.1007/s10826-014-9926-3 Mapel, T. (2012) Mindfulness and education: Students’ experience of learning mindfulness in a tertiary classroom. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies. Vol. 47, No.1, 2012 Viafora, D., Mathiesen, S., Unsworth, S. (2014)
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