Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.
Buddha
Mindfulness is undoubtedly a complex and mysterious phenomenon. However, due to the increasing demands of our modern world, it is now crucial to find moments of peace, and thus the term ‘mindfulness’, has evolved into a buzzword internationally. In our world of education, it is something we are fiercely familiar with. Rightly so, research claims that the benefits are endless, including the capacity to lessen anxiety and anguish.
Neither of these (or any other mental health condition) are demons we want to imagine our children having to battle alone. We are certainly not strangers to the importance of looking after and caring for their mental health and well-being. Time and time again, we have certainly found ourselves having been tasked with finding innovative and creative ways to support children in learning how to develop coping mechanisms to support their mental health. These have often been unveiled through a plethora of different strategies from body scans and yoga to the daily mile. We have even witnessed the birth of the term ‘mindfulness-based intervention’ or our MBIs and I couldn’t possibly name all of these!
So, let’s just take a moment to reflect upon the chemistry of these strategies or interventions.
Firstly, as noted above, they are certainly in abundance. But how do they formulate in practice? What attitudes does the word intervention evoke? Sometimes, I have found, these mindfulness-interventions are spoken about in ways that make them appear to be something ‘dished out’ to a child, almost in the same way the highly acclaimed ‘wet paper towel’ gets distributed to our medical emergencies. I am by no means exempt. In my classroom, I have previously conducted action research into the impact of MBIs on a specific group of learners with a cocktail of characteristics. This project was influenced by a multitude of research papers already out there and perhaps, you could argue, there is a place for this. However, for me, it is less about whether it is a small group or the whole class and more about culture. Most importantly, what is our why? That rationale underpinning what mindfulness practices evolve into within our classroom philosophies and in that becoming a pedagogy in its own right.
What does this move from prescribable practices towards pedagogy look like?
Firstly, I think we have have three aspects to consider here:
For me, all three of these go hand in hand; ultimately reliant on the success of the other. Together, they create what I believe to be the potential of a mindfulness pedagogy… Now to the matter of how!
Our act of learning:
I believe this begins with how we create habits for mindful-minds. It would be both exhausting and unsustainable for teachers to have to try and shoehorn extra lessons in mindfulness practices and more than likely risk it dropping off the radar when the demands of other curriculum-things crop up. However, if we think about habits, we are thinking about ways we can ensure our own (this is important!) and our children’s ability to be mindful habitually. This is where my link with classroom culture and environment begins…
Our environment:
Our environment must allow the time and space for mindful habits to be developed.
This can be created in a variety of ways with lots to be considered here:
How often do you allow and encourage your children to be in the moment? What does your day start like and end like? How often are your children asked about what they are grateful for? How do you foster confidence? How many opportunities are children given to speak about what they are proud of? Do children know about and how to celebrate affirmations? How are their different senses brought to life? How do we help them to notice the little things?
The answers to these are in abundance. I have slowly and steadily started developing some of my own solutions. This started with my use of music within the classroom. This is now a regular addition to our learning environment, but sometimes whilst it plays, the children draw, write, doodle whatever they want, making time for their ears to do the noticing. We have a gratitude jar that persistently overflows and we make time to talk about something, anything infact, that we are proud about (me too, it has to be modelled!) Sometimes we focus on our breathing, especially after a wild and windy playtime, and this helps the classroom reclaim some calmness. I have begun to make sure that we do talk about our affirmations and that children both understand what these are and why they are important.
Our well-being:
And herein lies the link to well-being. In some respects, as much of a strand of the pedagogy, it is in its own right, I do believe it relies on getting the other two right! If we create mindful habits through our compassionate and thoughtful learning environment, we set out children up to work, play and importantly develop relationships. Connecting with other people and developing good relationships are important for our own and our children’s mental wellbeing. When we get this right, our school environments become the loving and accepting places we wish them to be. I believe it is then we inevitably unlock the potential to successfully look after and care for everyones mental health and wellbeing.
Final thoughts...
So in short, developing a mindfulness pedagogy can potentially unlock the principles of mindfulness in becoming something that underpins and enhances a school’s culture. I think this could simply begin with ensuring that staff and children alike understand and appreciate the importance of and purposes of mindfulness in both a sense of practice and experience.
With us on the dawn of easing out of yet another lockdown never has there been more of an important time to evaluate and consider what this truly means for our children and communities. What I have put forward today, I do not believe is particularly radical, but certainly worth a thought. After all, who doesn’t want their children to be masters of mindful habits, learning in a climate where they can flourish, and ultimately be able to build the relationships that are so important in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of everyone.