by Deb Alter
It isn’t easy being a student these days. While trying to stay focused on their coursework, kids are constantly responding to texts, e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Pressure from high stakes tests, sports teams, extracurricular activities, and for some, work, add more stress. Young people face emotional and social issues every day, like peer pressure, temptations, bullying, and sometimes home issues. Students’ lives are cluttered and there are many distractions.
[private]In earlier days when there was a kerfuffle at school, everyone went home, the air cleared, and by the next day it didn’t loom so large. Today, because of social media, those altercations can follow kids home.
Hoosick Falls Central Schools is introducing an initiative called “Mindful Education” this fall to help students manage stress and keep their focus on the things that are most important and meaningful in their lives.
Many researchers have described the increasing number of pressures and distractions on school kids. HFCS administrators have been reading these studies and considering their recommendations for quite some time.
Last summer, the Student Support Team, comprised of the two school psychologists, Corie Linehan and Jessica Etien, guidance counselors Judy Woodard and Jessica Balch, and elementary social worker Lisa Bundrick, nurses Jane Conte and Jan McGuire, and Dean of Students Mario Torres, led by Co-chairs Amy Netti (Elementary Principal) and Kristin Philpott (Director of Special Education), discussed the problem, and saw a definite need to have a social-emotional component in the curriculum that would help students build coping skills. Students, they believed, needed help learning to keep their focus on learning.
Of all the research and programs they looked at, Mindful Education was the movement that seemed to make the most sense; Superintendent Facin agreed.
Mindfulness initiatives have been incorporated into school curricula in many schools across the country. Although there are no local area models that the HF Student Support Team are aware of, there are some districts in states as close as Vermont and Massachusetts that have implemented mindfulness learning practices. Schools in California that have integrated mindfulness practices have seen a dramatic decrease in discipline problems, improved attendance rates and increased student engagement in their learning.
On May 22, all school personnel were introduced to mindful education during an all-day Professional Development day, and they were impressed. They have agreed to a 10-minute extension of the school day in order to integrate the practices as a regular part of every school day. According to Superintendent Ken Facin, the staff are on board with the initiative.
There are many ways of practicing mindfulness Some of the staff members have introduced some of these practices in their classrooms already, and everyone will incorporate it in the fall. A quiet moment, relaxation techniques, and deep breathing exercises are simple things that teachers will be doing in their classrooms to help students clear their minds of the tumult in order to focus on learning. Such practices have been around for centuries, primarily in Eastern cultures. People who practice yoga do it. What is new is using these mindfulness practices in schools with kids.
There will be two five-minute periods, one at the beginning of the school day, and another after lunch, in which there will be a few moments of quiet reflection and calm breathing to help kids refocus their minds on learning. Teachers can also apply the practices in their classrooms at whatever level she or he and the students are comfortable with. In other schools that have tried this approach, it has become a normal part of the school day activities, an activity that both students and teachers look forward to.
At the Staff Development Day, all school personnel were introduced to Dr. John J. Pelizza, Ph.D. who spoke to the group about the reasoning and science behind mindful practices. He is currently a Professor of Health Education at The Sage Colleges. Dr. Pelizza is a leading authority on wellness, change process, stress management, productivity, team building and personal growth.
Dr. Roberta Bennett, another presenter, is a recently retired, board-certified neurologist and psychiatrist (board certified 2000-2011) with a long-time interest in mindful practices. She will continue to work with the District on the implementation of the mindfulness initiative.
Dr. Bennett says that schools trying to improve student performance have sometimes “reached a plateau” because the pressures on students are creating too much inner turmoil that keeps them from concentrating on their schoolwork.
She explained that the research shows that social media, violence in the news, high stakes tests, sometimes even family relationships, cause us to shut down the part of the brain that helps us learn. The external world is fast-paced, glittery and attention grabbing, and sometimes terrifying. “It’s the way the world is now, and it’s here to stay. It constantly pulls at us, demanding that we turn our attention outward, causing a lack of awareness of our own internal states.”
“Mindful practices are a way for us to balance our internal and external worlds in a way that works for all.”
“This is fantastic,” she continued. “From the last 20 years of research about the brain, it turns out that mindful practices are very effective in strengthening the part of the brain that controls awareness and attention, “ she said.
At the Staff Development Day, teachers and other staff members had the opportunity to try some of the breathing and other mindfulness exercises and were impressed with how effective even just that small experience could be. Others were skeptical, but kept an open perspective.
According to Netti, there was lots of positive feedback when the staff realized that “it is not hard to do and it has a positive impact.” She added that, “the kids will be calmer, classroom management will be easier, and teaching will be less stressful, more effective and more satisfying.”
“We’re hoping for a chain reaction,” said Netti, “positivity can spread really fast.” Staff buy-in is important, Netti and Philpott explained. The majority will jump right in, but there will be support for those who feel they need it. There will be more training during the year; some teachers have already signed up to be trainers. Bundrick has prepared a power point for teachers and has already been into some of the elementary classes to help teachers get started. The guidance counselors have been doing some of the practices with students already.
Netti pointed out that mindful education is really an extension of the “morning meetings” in the HF elementary classrooms that were implemented this past year. Morning meetings are a regular, designated time at the beginning of each school day to aid kids and teachers in getting focused on that day’s learning and activities.
As for how they expect the students to react, Philpott said, “It will be easier for the younger kids. They are less inhibited and always excited to try anything. We think the older ones will grow into it.”
Teachers are supportive. Meg Conner, one of the junior/senior high school art teachers, said, “I think the Mindful Education initiative will be a positive thing for our students. Any new approach like this is bound to be met with some resistance, but I think once people understand that the goal is simply to help kids stay focused and develop tools to cope with stress, then it won’t seem so radical. Kids are under a lot of pressure these days, both socially and academically, so I think if we can help them learn healthier ways to deal with it, then we’re doing the right thing.”
Once Mindful Education has been implemented full scale in the upcoming school year, the Support Team and school administrators will be collecting data to assess how the infusion of mindful practices in school is affecting discipline issues, crisis referrals, attendance, and academic performance. Staff and students will participate in pre- and post-implementation surveys. Staff, students and parents will be a part of the implementation process. There will be parent outreach, including informational meetings, Q and A forums, and training for those who are interested in learning mindfulness practices and breathing techniques to use at home.
Superintendent Facin believes that mindful education will make a big difference in students’ lives. “There is an adolescent mental health crisis developing in this country. This is a positive way to help students reduce stress. With the mindfulness initiative in place, we’ll have calmer and more thoughtful kids,” he explained. “Though mindfulness exercises have been practiced in Eastern cultures for centuries, it is also based on neuroscience and serious scientific research. It has proven to be effective in so many places and situations. Why not in our school?”[/private]