LITERATURE REVIEW
In schools, mindfulness interventions most commonly include meditation practices focusing on breathing and awareness of emotions. According to Follette et al. (2006), “Mindfulness practices provide a method in which people can practice experiencing thoughts and feelings that have been avoided in the past” (p. 58). These studies and interventions have mainly focused on improving students’ behavior (Felver et al., 2013; Greco et al., 2008; Lee et al. 2008; Semple et al. 2010). Students who are suffering from long-term effects of trauma are often found to act out in school, avoid work, fixate on thoughts, and show a lack of flexibility (Follette et al. 2006). These students are more likely than their peers to experience maladaptive
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Social Constructivism is the underlying philosophy of this project. According to Creswell (2013), “In social constructivism, individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live and work” (p. 24). This project will take place in my school, and I will be a participant in the training of staff and ongoing professional development and support for the staff, in addition to seeking and recording their feedback and reflections from the implementation.
Mindfulness practices will begin at the classroom level to support the trauma students and teachers may be experiencing and give them calming and refocusing tools. The program will be implemented over 8 weeks with 2 to 3 sessions per week of mindfulness training with students. Two groups of teachers and classrooms will be compared given the pilot roll-out: one group will not participate in the mindfulness training, and the participating group where the teacher will participate and/or facilitate the mindfulness
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During these observations, I will collect fieldnotes. At the end of the eight weeks, I will hold focus groups for the participating teachers. I will have questions prepared to help facilitate the conversation as needed. My plan for these focus groups is for the conversation to be more teacher directed to highlight and analyze what they find important and choose to discuss, related to the implementation in their classrooms, what they are noticing in their students, and what they are noticing in themselves and the impact on their jobs. Monique M. Hennick (as cited by Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) explains: “Perhaps the most unique characteristic of focus group research is the interactive discussion through which data are generated, which leads to a different type of data not accessible through individual interviews. During the group discussion participants share their views in light of what they have heard” (p. 114)
I will also collect any existing institutional data that can be compared to the previous year. In the Salt Lake City School District, this may include data from Educator’s Handbook, which is a discipline tracking program used. This data will not be sufficient on its own, due to varying degrees and methods of collection between each school year and the level of reporting fidelity at the teacher and school level. However, I believe this data has the potential
Cohen, J. A., & Mannarino, A. P. (2008). Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children and Parents. Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 13(4), 158-162.
The first data base that this reader explored included The California School Dashboard under the DATA QUEST - Ca Department of Education. In this dashboard there were see some interesting findings for example: suspension rates were very high for Rancho Viejo Middle s
Mindfulness Based Interventions The most commonly used mindfulness based Interventions (MBI) used are the mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR), and mindfulness based cognitive therapy (Gu, Strauss, Bond & Cavanagh, 2015). Mindfulness-based stress reduction was originally developed to treat chronic pain patients and was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Lorentz, 2011). The MBSR is a group-based training that is held once a week, over an eight-week period for 2.5 hours per session. A variety of techniques are used to teach mindfulness. A combination of lecture series on mindfulness, group discussions and instructional mindfulness techniques.
The first phase is psychoeducation and parenting skills. In the first sessions we discuss the definition and nature of trauma, the effects of trauma on the brain, how it affects cognitions, behaviors, etc. This treatment approach focuses on trauma—it is in the name. It does not necessarily require a formal PTSD diagnosis, but the psychoeducation does focus on the effects of trauma, and the impact of post-traumatic stress. Essentially, it focuses on the label and “mental illness” of PTSD. Reality therapy would shy away from a focus on illness. Reality therapy would encourage the clinician to avoid the labels and focus on the choices behind the condition (pg. 15). Unfortunately, for victims of severe trauma, the neurological impact is very real. Ignoring it will not help the treatment process.
Three mindfulness interventions scored the highest through a meta-analysis. The three are mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), exposure-based cognitive therapy for depression (EBCT), and acceptance-based behavioral therapy (ABT). Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). It is a person centered experimental and educational group intervention for participants to live more adapted lives (Klainin & Creedy, 2012). It uses mindfulness training, not judging, patience, beginner's mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go. It is an eight-week program that involves mindfulness meditation focusing on moment-to-moment awareness with nonreactive and non-judgmental attitudes. Hatha yoga, body scan, and sitting meditation are several different types of meditations participants practice with this intervention. Exposure based cognitive therapy for depression focuses on creating a healthy lifestyle (Klainin & Creedy, 2012). The EBCT has three phases: stress management, activation/exposure, and consolidation and positive growth. Acceptance based behavioral therapy (ABT) emphasizes on promoting present moment awareness, encouraging acceptance, learning practicing adapted skills, and engaging in actions. The program aims to maintain and enhance adaptive behaviors by using self-monitoring, mindfulness exercise, behavioral assignments, and psychoeducation (Klainin & Creedy,
McCollum and Gehart (2010) conducted a qualitative study examining the impact that mindfulness meditation had for Master-level student therapists in helping them to develop therapeutic presence. A thematic analysis was conducted of the journals kept by each of the 13 student therapists throughout the research study. The themes that emerged included the effects of meditation practice, the ability to be present, balancing being and doing modes in therapy, and the development of acceptance and compassion for themselves and for their clients. The findings suggested that the mindfulness practice aided in their development of qualities reflective of therapeutic
You have taken a lead teacher position in a preschool program. A parent asks you to explain the program’s constructivist philosophy.
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is one of the most commonly utilized interventions for children (Cary & McMillen, 2011). TF-CBT is a highly structured intervention consisting of 90-minute weekly sessions. The clinician works with the client through eight competencies, including psychoeducation, relaxation, affective expression and regulation, cognitive coping, trauma narrative development and processing, gradual exposure, joint parent/child sessions, and enhancing future development (Cary & McMillen, 2011). TF-CBT has an extensive history and many variations. Clinicians utilize a number of other cognitive behavior treatments that have been adapted to meet the needs of traumatized children (Cary, & McMillen, 2012; Smith et al., 2007). While there are a number of cognitive behavior treatments, TF-CBT has received the highest classification rating for supported and effective treatment from many studies (Cary, & McMillen, 2012; Kauffman Best Practices Project, 2004).
middle of paper ... ... (1998), The handbook for Focus Group Research (London, Sage) P. Hellgren (1998), 'Theoretical and Experiential Knowledge in Teacher Education,' European Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 11 No.s 2-3 A. Johnson (1996), 'It's good to talk' The Sociological Review vol.44 R.A. Krueger (1994), Focus Groups 2nd Edition. A Practical Guide for Applied Research (London, Sage) S. Pearce (1995), 'Needs assessment: constructing tacit knowledge from practice,' International Journal of Lifelong Education Vol. 14 no. 5 D. Stewart and P. Shandasani (1990), Focus Groups.
Establishing a professional learning community in a school requires a big commitment from all school staff. Many educators have experienced that creating a professional learning community in a school is an effective way to have more students succeed in school. It is very essential for all educators to share their beliefs and values with other colleagues because they know the importance of unifying these elements in a learning community. In this essay, I will be providing the analysis of my school, personal experiences supporting the analysis, areas to lead change, role of diversity, and ways to approach parents explaining issues in school.
In the United States 20% of the adult population report that they are living a flourishing life (Keyes, 2002). However, a high percentage reports feeling as if they are ‘‘stuck’’ or ‘‘want more’’ and are yet not diagnosable with a mental disorder (Fredrickson, 2008). Because happiness has been found to be the source of many desirable life outcomes e.g. career success, marriage, and health, it is of importance to understand, how languishing individuals can reach this ideal state: How can well-being be enhanced and misery reduced (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). Over the past decade, research in the field of positive psychology has emerged to provide evidence-based methods to increase an individual’s psychological well-being, through so called positive psychology interventions (PPI’s). PPI’s are treatment methods or intentional activities used to promote positive feelings or behaviour. PPI’s vary from writing gratitude letters, practicing optimistic thinking and replaying positive experiences. A meta-analysis of 51 independent PPI studies demonstrated significant results in the effectiveness of PPI’s increasing well-being (49 studies; r = .29) (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).
Living in the present allows me to live and tend to my thoughts and emotions that I often suppress or ignore. Working as a school counselor, I think that I will use mindfulness to help students with anxiety, behavior problems, and depression. I hope to use mindfulness in the future as I teach students how to use mindfulness in their own lives so that they can exist in the present and connect their mind with their body. Through using mindfulness in sessions with students and possibly in the classroom setting, I will give them a tool to help manage and become more self-aware of the thoughts and emotions they experience so they can learn how to better tend, express and manage them. However, without practicing mindfulness myself I would not have understood its power in the work of my client’s
The learning environment connects the classroom to the community through a democratic approach. This community based learning brings the world into the classroom so students can implement social change and challenge social inequalities. The curriculum focuses on student experience and taking social action on real problems such as hunger, violence, and discrimination. It is important to instruct students to explore in group settings so they can work together to analyze and develop theories that can help each other and make a real different in the world. As a future educator, it is important to not only to teach my students the issues in our world, but how we can work together to find
Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory (Kearns, 2010) advocates that students play an active participant role in their own learning and I firmly believe that children are not just empty vessels waiting to be filled with just my personal knowledge. Children’s diversity in learning can bring new perceptions to even a well-balanced curriculum; to this end my approach to curriculum planning is flexible and adaptable as children’s needs and abilities are constantly changing (Arthur et al.