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Mindfulness in Early Childhood: Developing 21st Century Competencies

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Early Childhood Development and Education in Singapore

Abstract

Mindfulness-based programs and techniques have become some of the most examined and validated prevention/intervention approaches. With the rising movement on holistic education, they are increasingly being used in schools around the world, including in Singapore, to support the development of socio-emotional competencies and cognitive, emotional, and behavioral self-regulation in students. These skills underlie the “21st Century Competencies” regarded to be important for children to survive and thrive in a fast-changing world. This chapter begins with an introduction to mindfulness and how it can be cultivated in young children. This is followed by a discussion of how mindfulness-based practices can foster self-regulation and socio-emotional competencies underlying 21st century skills and how mindfulness in teachers/teaching and parents/parenting can also influence child outcomes. The chapter concludes with a section on recommendations and implications for policy and practice, including a brief discussion of mindfulness in the local school settings and the need for future studies examining systems-level approaches involving teachers and parents.

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  1. Centre for Research in Child Development, Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Kiat Hui Khng

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  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Oon Seng Tan

  2. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Kenneth K. Poon

  3. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Beth Ann O’Brien

  4. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Anne Rifkin-Graboi

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Khng, K.H. (2022). Mindfulness in Early Childhood: Developing 21st Century Competencies. In: Tan, O.S., Poon, K.K., O’Brien, B.A., Rifkin-Graboi, A. (eds) Early Childhood Development and Education in Singapore . Empowering Teaching and Learning through Policies and Practice: Singapore and International Perspectives, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7405-1_9

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