Mindfulness Education Research in Middle School Classrooms

Research

Purpose: Develop and pilot test the efficacy of an in-person, teacher-led, mindfulness education program, Moment, for helping middle school students cope with school-related stressors.

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Students participating in mindfulness program

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OVERVIEW

Mindfulness has been conceptualized as being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present moment.

The main purpose of this project was to create and evaluate the feasibility of teaching mindfulness skills to 6th grade students with the goal of improving their social and emotional skills with the ultimate goal of positively impacting learning and work habits. This age group was chosen to study, because they experience a major life transition when moving from elementary to middle school.

During the grant, investigators iteratively created the Moment program, where children are taught mindfulness skills include learning to be aware of their bodies, thoughts, feelings, and interpersonal interactions. Teachers were will be trained to teach children mindfulness via mindful journeys, mindful movements, breathing and real-world applications.

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In order to integrate the program into the typical school day, each lesson was designed to last for approximately 15 minutes and would be taught daily over a period of four weeks (equaling 20 lessons). Daily practice may provide strategies for children to use for managing each day through awareness of the self and others. These sessions took place during the beginning of Health Education class. The efficacy of the program was tested in a small randomized trial.