Teaching and teachers of mindfulness interventions in Western educational settings:

A qualitative systematic literature review

Authors

  • Narelle Lemon Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
  • Melissa Pinto

Keywords:

mindfulness, teachers, teaching mindfulness, qualitative systematic literature review, education

Abstract

Engaging with mindfulness for educational purposes continues to be a complex challenge.

Mindfulness as a contemplative practice in Western educational contexts, while rising in popularity to support areas such as emotional regulation, awareness, focus, and stress reduction, is a highly ambivalent intervention. Complexity exists around purpose and place in curriculum, teacher experience, and ethics of care. In this qualitative review of 54 studies about mindfulness in Western educational settings specific educational impact/effect was considered. Each study illuminated key understandings about approaches, impact, and challenges associated to the role and place of the teacher in mindfulness interventions. The results highlighted the need to move beyond teachers teaching mindfulness as a tool to support their stress and wellbeing, to a need to think more critically about the purpose of mindfulness in Western educational settings. Illuminated is the need to move beyond seeing mindfulness as a tool or technique to alleviate stress, anxiety or to improve focus and attention that can be delivered by anyone for anyone. Instead, what is recommended is that careful consideration of teacher personal practice and training should be made in order to facilitate a connection back to traditional notions of mindfulness to allow for skills, capacity and experience to be able to transfer to work with young people in educational contexts.

 

Peer-Reviewed Submission

Author Biographies

Narelle Lemon, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

Narelle Lemon is Professor and Associate Dean Education at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. She is an internationally recognised researcher in education and initial teacher education bringing an interdisciplinarity across education, arts, and positive psychology. She engages with narrative inquiry and creative research methods with a recent focus on poetry, photography, and visual narratives. Her particular research expertise and interest relate to fostering wellbeing literacy in K–12 teachers, preservice teachers, and higher degree research students and academics in the higher education sector. Narelle tweets and grams as @rellypops, blogs as Wellbeing Whisperer, and can be found on Apple and Spotify with her various podcasts.

Melissa Pinto

Dr Melissa Pineda-Pinto’s research examines urban nature through diverse justice lenses for achieving sustainable futures. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Trinity College, Dublin, on the project NovelEco, which examines wild ecosystems in cities through forecasting methodologies and policy analysis. Prior to this, Melissa worked on her PhD at Swinburne University of Technology and completed a Masters of Environment from the University of Melbourne. This work is informed by previous architectural and planning experience in the industry and not-for-profit sectors. Her academic experience and interests cut across social research methods, inter-transdisciplinary collaboration, and systems thinking in the context of urban ecosystems, justice, and ethics. 

Downloads

Published

2023-11-29

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2023): Contemplative Perspectives and Practices in Holistic Education

Section

Gallery Walk