A familiar lament from many a classroom teacher, but whilst the teacher is concerned about the students paying attention to her instructions, perhaps the real concern should be that they haven't had the opportunity to pay attention to their own physical and emotional state?
The capacity to be mindful of ones current emotional state is something that has come on to the agenda of many schools in an age where its difficult to focus on the self without being bombarded by multiple calls on our attention from a new Facebook status, a retweet,someone +1'ing one of our posts, being ousted as mayor of our local Starbucks, or simply receiving a text or email. Now I love all this stuff, but I want to be able to stay in control of it as well!
Students are managing more information sources and demands on their attention than ever before, but evidence shows that their ability to manage all these stimuli rather than be managed by them has been seriously degraded. Even the Daily Mail agrees and has agreed that there is no gender difference in the degradation. There is even challenge to the idea that any of us can multitask at all!
So if Multitasking, or attempting to multitask is the problem, whats the solution that allows us to stay focused and deal with tasks efficiently as they arrive?
Many would argue that mindfulness as an approach and mindful meditation in particular are the answer to this.
I spent 8 weeks before last summer attending a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course. Two and a half hours of class, plus around 6 hours of practice outside of class, a week, and attendance at a one day silent retreat. How did I fair? well not naturally being a quiet minded chap I absolutely hated it at first; my back was uncomfortable during meditation, I kept falling asleep during the bodyscan, and thoughts just crashed in on me all the time. But as someone once said 'I am not a quitter' so I persisted and with practice I started to enjoy some of the exercises particularly the Bodyscan, mindful walking, and 3 minute awareness of breathing. I started to be able to breathe away my anxieties and stresses, take some minutes to refocus my attention and to be in the moment, however pleasurable or painful that was.
I make no bones about this...it was pretty life changing. I don't practice every day, but I've got a set of tools that allow me to refocus, take care of myself, and ultimately support my wellbeing. I would recommend anyone to take the MBSR course.
But how does that help the kids in school, wheres the time to do a 40 minute, or even a 10 minute meditation? The answer is that there are mindfulness programs to suit every level of school engagement, and most have a growing evidence base around effectiveness with students.
For School Practitioners who have completed the MBSR course programs such as .b and Mindfulness Matters give an in depth introduction to mindfulness practice for children. The Phuket International Academy at Thanyapura uses .b for its secondary students. For its primary students it uses the MIND UP, program which is a gentler introduction around short breathing exercises and some very good neuroscience related to what part of the brain does what, and how you can regulate it.
For those of you that would like to try before you buy! why not go to the Smiling mind website. There are free mindfulness programs for all ages with recordings to listen to and other activities. I'm doing it with my two boys ages 7 and 10 and they love it! Try the rock the boat activity its great
Time will tell how the mindfulness in schools movement develops, particularly in Asia, but given the increasing incidence of mental health difficulties in schools these are approaches are certainly something we should consider. The evidence suggests they would provide an effective framework of support for emotional wellbeing for children and adults in our schools.
