mental strength
Mindfulness helps children cultivate focus and emotional wellness, amid their world of distraction and overstimulation. Rather than telling students this is for their mental health, we can position the habit to support what’s important to them, like sports, identity and relationships.
Let’s enable children and adolescents with this lifeskill.
mindfulness in the classroom
The path mindfulness took – from hospitals to classrooms – has spanned over 40 years.
stress reduction in hospitals
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn created and introduced the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course in a hospital setting back in 1979. It is now available around the world. The program aims to help patients cope with stress, pain and illnesses.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was published in 2002. The course was designed to help prevent relapse in patients who have recovered from depression. It was a cumulative effort by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale, partially based on MBSR. This successful therapy continues to be used today.
ask about school curriculum.
support for schools
Mindfulness appeared in US schools as a professional development option. It helped teachers cope with the demands of teaching. It seemed natural to extend the mind training and its benefits to students.
Megan Cowan from Mindful Schools started teaching to children in 2007. Around that time, across the Atlantic, British teachers Richard Burnett, Chris Cullen and Chris O’Neil planted the seeds of “.b” – a mindfulness program for the classroom. The Goldie Hawn Foundation partnered with publisher Scholastic to release the MindUP guided curriculum for teachers in 2011.
Karen Jensen
students benefit too
There are numerous ongoing studies seeking to measure and duplicate the benefits of mindfulness in schools. At the last count, the Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) lists over 65 completed research articles and their results.
I got started on teaching mindfulness because I wanted my own children to benefit from this lifeskill. I highlighted how mindfulness helps in the classroom in Rafflesian Times, a school magazine. I taught my first class in 2014.
testimonials
mindfulness in Singapore
Highlighted by mass media, interest is high from schools and corporations, from families and adults. Most of the inquiries I have received are about stress, mental wellness, emotional balance and resilience.
character development
“Mindfulness” drew a blank or a restrained response when I first started. It’s better now. Instead, Singapore-based educators and school administrators can understand and relate with Character and Citizenship Education (CCE). Within CCE, key domains like self-awareness, self-management and responsible decision-making are exactly the learning outcomes from mindfulness training.
Joan Walsh Anglund
emotional balance
The Ministry of Education (MOE) of Singapore provides a framework for Social & Emotional Learning (SEL). Schools have the autonomy to incorporate or blend forms of mindfulness lessons into curriculum time. I have been invited to teach mindfulness at top schools like Raffles Institution, School of The Arts (SOTA) and the German European School Singapore.
packed school day
How can we enable the child without scheduling in yet another activity? Ideally, they should receive regular opportunities to practice in schools (like sports/physical education), and at home.
I came across a news report of recess time instructions being broadcasted over the PA system. Another school had planned for a shortened MBSR program. Some institutions offer ad-hoc mindfulness programs, led by volunteers or paid instructors. I myself have taught in schools and student centres.
After school hours, there are limited private organisations and teachers, both religious and secular. They offer mindfulness-infused programs — usually on weekends or school holidays.
the mindful teacher
MOE had also invited Prof. Dennis Shirley, author of “The Mindful Teacher”, to present to Singapore teachers in 2014. He emphasized the need for new ways to help the younger generation enjoy their learning journey. He made this point in context of modern challenges in education. He based this on three decades worth of research evidence on educational change that was then presented as “The Fourth Way.”
How to get started? MOE offered five suggestions on page 12 of Contact – The Teachers’ Digest” issue 26 (April 2017).
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mindfulness in Asia
Asia is a culturally diverse region. Depending on definition, Asia can have 10-48 countries, each with a different national language. Most have a dominant religion. For Thailand and Myanmar, it’s Buddhism; Pakistan and Indonesia, Islam; Philippines, Catholicism, and so on.
are religious lessons mindful?
It appears that religious lessons and practices during school hours, coupled with formal curriculum, deliver both the emotional regulation and values that bind society.
From these contemplative traditions, the pause (through prayers, reflection and meditation) offers sensory and mental respite, and cultivates gratitude — similar outcomes to that from mindfulness training. The Quiet Time for Christians; the state of ‘khushu’ in Islam; chanting sutras in Buddhism.
In Singapore and the rest of Asia, children grow up surrounded by contemplative traditions. It is practically their birthright to embrace a stronger mind-body connection.
widespread SEL curriculum
The education systems in Asian countries are continually keeping abreast with international developments. The inroads paved by educators around the world can only serve to accelerate adoption of best practices, including that of complementary SEL and mindfulness lessons (eg. Philippines Department of Education Edukasyong Pagpapakatao – Character Education, Delhi’s Happiness Curriculum, teacher training on resilience-building in schools by Hong Kong’s Education Bureau).
十年之计，莫如树木；
终身之计，莫如树人。
If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed;
if in terms of 10 years, plant trees;
if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.
Confucius
open-minded schools
As a mindfulness instructor, I’m delighted that international schools in the region have started mental balance programmes (eg. Phuket International Academy & United World College South East Asia). Some even incorporate mindfulness as a pillar of their character development culture, such as Global Sevilla School in Indonesia.
The children (and teachers) of these schools are privileged to be able to train their mind while getting an education in their adopted country.
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