Mindfulness: (an excerpt) A Guide for Teachers By Dr. Amy Saltzman :
Personal and Professional Benefits of Developing a Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness training decreases burnout and fatigue, and compassion, empathy and effective communication increases.
A recently published paper, by Patricia Jennings, Ph.D. and Mark Greenberg Ph.D., outlines how stress reduction and mindfulness programs which support teacher social‐ emotional competence, enhance the classroom environment and learning, as well as student social‐emotional development. Based on their preliminary work, the Department of Education has funded a 1.2 million dollar grant to further investigate these effects.
In summary, practicing mindfulness can decrease your stress and enhance your well‐being. This in turn will improve the learning environment in your classroom and make you a more effective teacher. Developing a personal practice can offer significant benefits to you and your students, even if you choose not to share the practices with them in an explicit way. And teaching mindfulness is like teaching anything else: to teach with excellence you must know and be passionate about the subject. Since mindfulness is an experiential discipline, to offer it with integrity, the teaching must come out of your own practice.
How Do I Practice Mindfulness?
Whether you want to develop a mindfulness practice to enhance your own well‐being or in preparation for sharing the practices with students, below are some suggestions on how to do so.
Read
Schoeberlein, Deborah. Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfully: A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything.
Wisdom Publications, Somerville, MA 2009.
Brady, Richard, and Irene McHenry. Tuning In: Mindfulness in Teaching and Learning.
Friends Council on Education, Philadelphia, PA, 2009.
Enroll in a professional training.
Establish a devoted daily practice, preferably with weekly support from a local (or online, if necessary) instructor and community.
Maintain your daily practice for a minimum of one year
Participate in at silent meditation retreat
Devote as much time as you need to in‐depth exploration of your intentions, skills and challenges
in sharing mindfulness with children.
Get additional support or supervision as needed.
Enjoy the journey.