I hear you gasp… and I have to say that was my first reaction too.
BUT… let’s not be too quick to disregard mindfulness as a tool to improve student outcomes.
As educators we need to be available to guide the students in our care. Modelling appropriate behaviour when we can and supporting them when they struggle to achieve this by providing the tools they need. Mindfulness is a tool which we could use to compliment our mentoring practice helping our students to develop appropriate responses in difficult situations.
Firstly, let’s consider what mindfulness is...
Jon Kabat-Zinn explored the idea of using a non-religious form of meditation to treat chronic pain. Findings confirmed that this positively impacted his patients in a variety of ways including the reduction in the pain they were experiencing. Kabat-Zinn called this Mindfulness, defining it as “The awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, in Purser, 2015).
I have been considering whether mindfulness could be useful when working with students who exhibit challenging behaviour, as it would seem that research supports this as an approach. The idea of mindfulness being intentional and ‘in the moment’ could be key to positively impacting challenging behaviour, where individuals need to be attentive, aware and accepting. Developing students skills to observe when they are struggling to behave in an appropriate way, acknowledging the need to change their behaviour and accepting that there is a need to operate effectively in social environments can have a positive impact on challenging behaviour. In this way I can see a strong connection between mindfulness and self-regulation.
According to Alin Cuncic (2019) there are a variety of ways to define self-regulation. I agree with Cuncic that self regulation means that as individuals we need to acquire the ability to control our behaviour, our emotions, and our thoughts. This can be a natural acquisition for most individuals but a challenge for some. Lacking the ability to control ourselves in difficult situations and navigating those situations in an appropriate way can make our daily lives tough.
In navigating any given social situation, you as an individual have three options for response: approach, avoidance, and attack. How an individual responds determines how the situation will play out and, where the result involves challenging behaviour we need to consider our next steps.
Could mindfulness be our next step?
I can already identify a number of issues which could be addressed through the incorporation of mindfulness in our classrooms. Equipping students with the tools to control their anger and anxiety can help them to react to difficult situations with more appropriate responses. Ultimately we are providing an environment where all of our students can feel safe and secure helping them to move forward.
I think I am beginning to see that mindfulness could be beneficial for all students but particularly those who exhibit challenging behaviour. And, as mindfulness is a whole group activity it can also remove the stigma for those students.
Do you agree?.... Comment, Like or share.
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