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MindUp for Success
2-10-2015
A recent article published by TIME reminds me of something very dear to my heart – teaching children how to increase their social and emotional competencies along with boosting their academic aptitude. Research conducted here in the Lower Mainland showed that students in grades 4 and 5 who participated in a program called MindUp had 15% better math scores than their peers in the same schools. In addition, they showed 24% more social behaviours and were 24% less aggressive. After completing the program’s fifteen lessons and engaging in a core practice of deep breathing three times daily over a period of four months, these students outperformed a control group in cognitive and emotional control, had lower stress levels, and higher degrees of optimism, empathy, and mindfulness. The social and emotional benefits may have been expected but the jump in math scores was a happy revelation.
For me, it illustrates that when children are in safe learning environments they thrive. One interpretation that can be drawn from this study is that by purposefully teaching children how to self-regulate through programs like MindUp, teachers spend less time in classroom management and discipline, which frees up more time for actually teaching. Today’s schools can be stressful places. MindUp reduces stress by giving students easy to understand tools that allow them to respond to potential triggers with thoughtful attention instead of relying on automatic pilot reactions, which typically lead to adult intervention. Dr. Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, one of the authors of the study, phrases it this way “By adding this on, you not only create more academically capable, successful students, but actually create more caring, less stressed, kind students.”
In fact, it seems that it’s not only the students who are empowered. Anecdotal accounts from the teachers show that they also learned how to calm down and be more aware of what was happening internally and interpersonally with their students and themselves. The teachers reported feeling less stressed. This has important implications as teaching is frequently sited as being among the most stressful of all occupations and according to the 2007 “Staying@Work Canada Review” 72% of Canadian long-term disability claims and 82% of short-term claims are linked to mental health issues often exacerbated by stress.
This report will hopefully propel teachers to at least give the MindUp program a try. Some teachers still view social and emotional health as outside the realm of the classroom, but when studies such as this one show direct academic enhancement it becomes hard to argue against their inclusion.
It’s hard to ignore MindUp’s success. Since inception in the early 2000s, over 400,000 children in schools around the world have benefited from the straightforward but effective lessons. The program rests on four key aspects: understanding how our brains work, learning how to take “brain breaks” to quiet one’s mind; integrating mindful practices like breathing and meditation; and understanding perspective taking. Although it draws upon some basic Buddhist principles, MindUp is a non-religious program suitable for all students. Goals of MindUp include increasing focused attention, improving communication skills, enhancing accurate perceptions, and creating a vibrant school culture – areas that everyone can benefit from. Children are taught how to reflect without condemning themselves or others. This facilitates emotional healing and nurtures a healthy sense of self-worth. MindUp demonstrates that we can change our thoughts, which then change our feelings and behaviours. It follows an experiential approach and provides opportunities for children to experience how good it feels to show empathy and kindness towards others. MindUp bonds the class together as a supportive community of learners who care for and about each other. It is designed to be simple for classroom teachers to implement with an instructional manual that explains how to get children to tune into their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. The teachers who resist programs like MindUp just might be the ones who need it most.
The so-called “soft skills” are often pushed aside in favour of the “hard” academic skills like literacy, math and science. As we engage in more research such as the above-mentioned study, we are learning how inextricably and intricately linked these soft skills that promote social and emotional health are to the development of cognitive skills, reasoning abilities, self-efficacy and ultimately success – both in school and in life.
Zainab Dhanani can be reached at z_dhanani@yahoo.ca. To read the full study “Enhancing cognitive and Social-Emotional Development Through a Simple-to-Administer Mindfulness-Based School Program for Elementary School Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial” go to http://news.ubc.ca/2015/01/26/mindfulness-based-programs-in-schools-making-a-positive-impact-ubc-study/. To read the TIME article, “Mindfulnes Exercises Improve Kids’ Math Scores” go to http://time.com/3682311/mindfulness-math/. For more information on MindUP www.thehawnfoundation.org/mindup
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