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Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education: Fostering the Resilience of Teachers and Students

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Abstract

Over the past decade, training in mindfulness—the intentional cultivation of moment-by-moment non-judgmental focused attention and awareness—has spread from its initial western applications in medicine to other fields, including education. This paper reviews research and curricula pertaining to the integration of mindfulness training into K-12 education, both indirectly by training teachers and through direct teaching of students. Research on the neurobiology of mindfulness in adults suggests that sustained mindfulness practice can enhance attentional and emotional self-regulation and promote flexibility, pointing toward significant potential benefits for both teachers and students. Early research results on three illustrative mindfulness-based teacher training initiatives suggest that personal training in mindfulness skills can increase teachers’ sense of well-being and teaching self-efficacy, as well as their ability to manage classroom behavior and establish and maintain supportive relationships with students. Since 2005, 14 studies of programs that directly train students in mindfulness have collectively demonstrated a range of cognitive, social, and psychological benefits to both elementary (six studies) and high school (eight studies) students. These include improvements in working memory, attention, academic skills, social skills, emotional regulation, and self-esteem, as well as self-reported improvements in mood and decreases in anxiety, stress, and fatigue. The educational goals, target population, and core features of ten established mindfulness-based curricula are described. Finally, the need for more rigorous scientific evidence of the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions in K-12 education is discussed, along with suggestions of specific process, outcome, and research-design questions remaining to be answered.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Pat Ansay, Raymond Dewar, Paul Jones, Myla Kabat-Zinn, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Susan Kaiser-Greenland, Suzie Shaw, Nimrod Sheinman, Dennis Shirley, Angela West, Cheryl Harlan, and Trisha Stotler for their support and insightful comments. No funding or institutional support was received for this project. The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Broad Street Psychotherapy Associates, 45 Broad Street, Westfield, MA, USA

    John Meiklejohn

  2. University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Catherine Phillips

  3. Toronto, ON, Canada

    M. Lee Freedman

  4. Wheaton College, Norton, MA, USA

    Mary Lee Griffin

  5. StressedTeens.com, San Jose, CA, USA

    Gina Biegel

  6. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Andy Roach

  7. Pennsylvania State University, State College, University Park, PA, USA

    Jenny Frank

  8. Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor, Wales, UK

    Christine Burke

  9. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Laura Pinger

  10. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Geoff Soloway

  11. Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Roberta Isberg

  12. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Erica Sibinga

  13. Mindful Schools, Oakland, CA, USA

    Laurie Grossman

  14. Still Quiet Place, Menlo Park, CA, USA

    Amy Saltzman

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  1. John Meiklejohn
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Correspondence to John Meiklejohn.

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Meiklejohn, J., Phillips, C., Freedman, M.L. et al. Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education: Fostering the Resilience of Teachers and Students. Mindfulness 3, 291–307 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-012-0094-5

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