Mindfulness Training in Schools –Exploring Experiences

This thesis focuses on mindfulness training as a universal, school-based intervention, a young but rapidly growing field.

Teaching children mindfulness involves introducing them to a way of thinking in which the person is intentionally aware of the present moment and adopts a non-judgemental attitude towards whatever arises.

It has been hypothesised that thinking in this way can increase a person's knowledge of their thoughts and feelings and that this, in turn, supports them to develop control over their response to emotion and action decisions.

Furthermore, social and emotional competence has been linked to achievement in school making the potential of mindfulness training of particular interest to educational psychologists.

The systematic literature review assessed changes reported as a result of teaching children and young people about mindfulness. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria but the diversity encompassed by them made reaching conclusions difficult.

It seems likely that mindfulness training could support young people in a range of areas including paying attention, alleviating suffering and managing behaviour. However, more methodologically sound research is needed before this conclusion can be reached with confidence.

Furthermore, a lack of research exploring the experiences of young people was identified.

The empirical paper sought to further understanding of mindfulness training with young people by seeking the opinions of adolescents and their teachers.

Fifteen 13-14 year old pupils completed an 8-week mindfulness course and a subsequent semi-structured interview. Six staff members attended a focus group. Participants were asked about mindfulness, course content and its impact.

Thematic analysis was conducted on both data sets. The same three over-arching themes were identified for both participant groups:

• 'understanding'
• 'valuing'
• 'applying'

The relationships between these were discussed and reference made to existing literature.

Finally, a framework to support understanding of how young people and their teachers make sense of, and use, mindfulness was proposed.