Mindfulness in Secondary Schools
Learning Lessons from the Adults, Secular and Buddhist
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.v28i1.79Keywords:
Mindfulness, Buddhist, Secular, School, Adolescent, EducationAbstract
This paper explores the adult mindfulness landscape, secular and Buddhist, in order to inform an approach to the teaching of mindfulness in secondary schools. The Introduction explains the background to the project and the significant overlap between secular and Buddhist practices. I explain what mindfulness is and highlight a number of important practical differences between the teaching of mindfulness in the adult world and in schools. ‘Balancing Calm and Insight’ looks at mindfulness through a lens infrequently explored in the therapeutic literature, and suggests that a slight shift in the centre of gravity towards Calm might be appropriate. ‘Defining Objectives’ considers how difficult it is to clearly articulate the objective of mindfulness in schools given a new context in which it functions as neither clinical application nor spiritual practice. A range of alternatives is considered. ‘Building a Scaffolding’ explains the importance of context in both Buddhist and secular practice. To succeed, mindfulness should be nested within a broader framework of understanding, or what Kabat-Zinn calls a ‘scaffolding’. I suggest that perhaps the best ‘scaffolding’ for mindfulness in schools is its sense of possibility. ‘Ethics and Community’ describes how ethics are more important in secular mindfulness than they at first appear. The shape ethics might take in a school context is considered, then an assessment of the role of the teacher and what equivalent there might be for what Buddhists call sangha, or Community.
References
Analayo. 2003. Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications.
Baer, R.A., ed. 2006. Mindfulness-based Treatment Approaches — Clinician’s Guide to Evidence Base and Applications. London: Academic Press.
——— , G.T. Smith and K.B. Allen. 2004. ‘Assessment of Mindfulness by Self-Report – The Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills’. Assessment 11 (3): 191–206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1073191104268029
Bays, J.C. 2006. ‘Mindfulness — The Heart of Buddhist Meditation’. Inquiring Mind 22 (2): 4–7, 28, 29.
Bögels, S., B. Hoogstad, L. van Dun, S. de Schutter and K. Restifo. 2008. ‘Mindfulness Training for Adolescents with Externalizing Disorders and their Parents’. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 36: 193–209.
Brown, K.W. and R.M. Ryan. 2003. ‘The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84 (4): 822–848. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822
Burke, C.A. 2009. ‘Mindfulness-based Approaches with Children and Adolescents: A Preliminary Review of Current Research in an Emergent Field’. Journal of Child and Family Studies 19 (2): 133–144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10826-009-9282-x
Carrette, J., ed. 2005. William James and the Varieties of Religious Experience. Abingdon: Routledge.
Carson, J.W., K.M. Carson, K.M. Gil and D.H. Baucom. 2006. ‘Mindfulness-based Relationship Enhancement (MBRE) in Couples.’ In Mindfulness-based Treatment Approaches — Clinician’s Guide to Evidence Base and Applications, edited by R.A. Baer, 309–331. London: Academic Press.
Copley, T. 2008. Teaching Religion. Exeter: University of Exeter Press.
Cousins L.S. 1984. ‘Samatha-yana and Vipassana-yana.’ In Buddhist Studies in Honour of Hammalava Saddhatissa, ed. Dhammapala, D. et al, 56–68. Nugegoda, Sri Lanka: Hammalava Saddhatissa Felicitation Volume Committee.
Cox, C. 1992. ‘Mindfulness and Memory’. In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, edited by J. Gyatso, 67–108. New York: State University of New York Press.
Crane, R. 2009. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. East Sussex: Routledge.
Department for Education and Skills. 2007. Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning for secondary schools (SEAL) — Guidance booklet: DfES Publications.
Dryden, W. and A. Still. 2006. ‘Historical Aspects of Mindfulness and Self-Acceptance in Psychotherapy’. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy, 24 (1): 3–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10942-006-0026-1
Fontana, D. and I.Slack. 1997. Teaching Meditation to Children. Dorset: Element Books.
Gethin, R. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 2001. The Buddhist Path to Awakening. Oxford: Oneworld.
Gilpin, R. 2008. ‘The use of Theravada Buddhist practices and perspectives in mindfulness based cognitive therapy’. Contemporary Buddhism 9 (2): 227–251. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14639940802556560
Goldstein, J. and J. Kornfield. 1987. Seeking the Heart of Wisdom. Boston: Shambhala.
Gombrich, R. 1996. How Buddhism Began. London: Athlone.
Griffith, P.J. 1992. ‘Memory in Classical Yogacara’. In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, edited by J. Gyatso, 109–131. New York: State University of New York Press.
Gunaratana, H. 1991. Mindfulness in Plain English,. Massachusetts: Wisdom.
Gyatso, J., ed. 1992. In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. New York: State University of New York Press.
Hammond, J., D. Hay, et al. 1990. New Methods in RE Teaching: An Experiential Approach. Harlow: Oliver and Boyd.
Harvey, P. 1990. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hart, W. 1987. The Art of Living — Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka. Maharashtra: Vipassana Research Institute.
Huppert, F.A. and D.M. Johnson. 2010. ‘A controlled trial of mindfulness training in schools: The importance of practice for an impact on well-being’. Journal of Positive Psychology 5 (4): 264–274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439761003794148
Kabat-Zinn, J. 1994. Wherever You Go There You Are. London: Piatkus.
———. 1996. Full Catastrophe Living: How to Cope with Stress, Pain and Illness using Mindfulness Meditation. London: Piatkus.
———. 2000. ‘Indra’s Net at Work: The Mainstreaming of Dharma Practice in Society’. In The Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Science and Our Day-to-Day Lives, ed. G. Watson, S. Batchelor and G. Claxton, 225–249. York Beach: Weiser.
———. 2005. Coming To Our Senses. London: Piatkus. Keown, D. 1996. Buddhism — A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
———. 2005. Buddhist Ethics — A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kristeller, J.L., R.A. Baer and R. Quillian-Wolever. 2006. ‘Mindfulness-based approaches to eating disorders.’ In Mindfulness-based Treatment Approaches — Clinician’s Guide to Evidence Base and Applications, edited by R.A. Baer, 75-91. London: Academic Press.
Kuan, Tse-fu. 2008. Mindfulness in Early Buddhism. London: Routledge.
Linden, W. 1973. ‘Practicing of Meditation by School Children and their Levels of Field Dependence-Independence, Test Anxiety, and Reading Achievement’. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 41 (1):139–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0035638
Linehan, M.M. 1993. Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder. New York: The Guildford Press.
Marlatt, G.A. and J.L. Kristeller. 1999. ‘Mindfulness and Meditation’. In Integrating Spirituality into Treatment: Resources For Practitioners, edited by W.R. Miller, 67–84. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Mendis, N.K.G., ed. 1993. The Questions of King Milinda — An Abridgement of the Milindapañha. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society.
Miller, W.R., ed. Integrating Spirituality into Treatment: Resources For Practitioners. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Ñanamoli, Bhikkhu. 1999. Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purication (Buddhaghosa). Seattle: BPS Pariyatti Editions.
Ñanamoli and Bodhi, Bhikkhus. 1995. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston, MA: Wisdom.
Nhat Hanh, Thich. 1976. Miracle of Mindfulness. Boston, MA: Beacon.
Nyanaponika Thera. 1962. The Heart of Buddhist Meditation. Maine: Samuel Weiser.
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. 2004. Religious Education: The Non-statutory National Framework, London: QCA Publications
Rhys Davids, T.W. and W. Stede. 1925. The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary. Oxford: The Pali Text Society.
Segal, Z.V., J.M.G. Williams and J.D. Teasdale. 2002. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression. New York: Guilford Press.
Semple, R.J, and Lee J. Miller. 2006., ‘Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for children.’ In Mindfulness-based Treatment Approaches — Clinician’s Guide to Evidence Base and Applications, edited by R.A. Baer, 143–166. London: Academic Press.
Speca, M., L.E. Carlson, M.J. Mackenzie and M. Angen. 2006. ‘Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as an intervention for cancer-patients.’ In Mindfulness-based Treatment Approaches — Clinician’s Guide to Evidence Base and Applications, edited by R.A. Baer, 239-261. London: Academic Press.
Thanissaro, Bhikkhu. 1997a. The Path of Concentration and Mindfulness. Access to Insight website: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/concmind.html
Thanissaro, Bhikkhu. 1997b. One Tool Among Many. Access to Insight website: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/onetool.html .
Thompson, M. and J. Gauntlett-Gilbert. 2008. ‘Mindfulness with Children and Adolescents: Effective Clinical Application’. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 13 (3): 395–407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1359104508090603
Vipassana Research Institute. 1994. Sayagyi U Ba Khin Journal. Maharashtra: Vipassana Research Institute.
———. 1996. Mahasatipatthana Sutta Seattle: Vipassana Research Publications of America.
Wallace, B.A. 2008. ‘A Mindful Balance’. Tricycle 17 (3): 60–63, 109–111.
———. 2009. Mind in the Balance. New York: Columbia University Press.
Walshe, M. 1996. The Long Discourses of the Buddha. London: Wisdom.
Warren Brown, K. and M. Ryan. 2003. ‘The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (4):822–848.
Williams, J.M.G. 2008, ‘Mindfulness, Depression and Modes of Mind’. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 32 (6): 721-733. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10608-008-9204-z
——— , J.D. Teasdale, Z.V. Segal and J. Kabat-Zinn. 2007.The Mindful Way Through Depression. New York: The Guildford Press.
——— , with Tribe, A. 2000. Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
