Mindfulness has an important role to play in schools for school leaders, teachers, support staff as well as for the students. To support student learning, it is important that both teachers and students are able to respond effectively to the challenges of today’s world.
Mindfulness for young people “takes advantage of a natural window of opportunity during childhood, when the neural circuitry that allows us to pay attention, calm ourselves and attune to our own and other’s feelings takes shape”. Professor Richard Davidson, founder of the Center of Healthy Minds, University of Wisonsin
The growing research into mindfulness programs for students and teachers is showing a variety of benefits. Have a conversation with us to see how your school community might benefit.
Benefits of mindfulness for students and teachers
For students the benefits associated with developing mindfulness include:
- Stress resilience
- Cognitive performance
- Executive function
- Decreased anxiety and depression
- Enhanced social skills
- Enhanced self-regulatory capacity
- Reduced mind wandering and distraction
- (Indirectly) improves test scores
Students from Comet Bay College, Coodanup College, Sacred Heart College, Woodvale College and the Peel District have benefited from our school-based mindfulness programs for students.
For teachers the benefits associated with developing mindfulness include:
- Greater satisfaction with their work
- Decreased anxiety and burnout
- Decreased sick leave
- Increased teaching efficiency
- Enhanced behaviour management skills
- Increased coping skills and motivation
- Increased planning and problem-solving
- Increased self-confidence and self-efficacy
Professional Learning is available from taster sessions of 60 mins to multi-week programs. Schools that have benefited from these include: Yule Brook College, Sacred Heart College, Dongara District High School, Burrendah Primary School, Wirrabirra Primary School, Coodanup College and Bold Park Community School.
Interested in checking out some of the research yourself?
Mindfulness in Education Research Highlights from the Center for Greater Good at the University of California, Berkley
Evidence for the Impact of Mindfulness on Children and Young People by Em Professor Katherine Weare, Universities of Exeter and Southampton
Take the next step
Our founder, Kathryn Choules (PhD), has a wealth of experience and knowledge working in the education sector. She has been a lecturer at Deakin University in pre-service teacher education, coordinated education research for Murdoch University, facilitated mindfulness professional development in schools and run mindfulness programs for students in schools in Perth, Western Australia. Qualified through the University of Massachusetts as an instructor of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, she would love to have a conversation with you about bringing mindfulness into your school.
