Promoting Children

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Promoting Childrens Academic and Social Success
Through Mindfulness Education

• Molly Stewart Lawlor, B.A.
• Nancy Fischer
• Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, Ph.D.
• Supporting Childrens Social and
• Emotional Health Assessment Tools, Research and
  Practice
• U.B.C
• May 11, 2006

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Session Overview

• Why a strength based approach? A Shift to
  Positive Psychology
• Introduction to Mindfulness
• Introduction to the Mindfulness Education (ME)
  Program
• Curriculum of the ME program
• Nancy Fischer
• The Spring 2005 Pilot of the ME curriculum in
  Vancouver, B.C.

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Why should we be concerned?

• There is a growing concern about childrens
  social-emotional adjustment and mental health
• 15 to 30 of school-age children are at risk
  for successful development and require support
  and assistance (OECD, 1995).
• Approximately 1 in 5 children (20) identified
  with mental health problems (Offord et al., 1991
  Romano et al., 2001).
• 1 in 5 children with mental health problems do
  not receive the mental health services they need
  (Canadian Alliance for Mental Illness and Mental
  Health, 2000)
• 28 of children begin middle childhood with
  significant problems (Advisory Committee on
  Population Health and Health Security, 2004).

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• BACKGROUND
• Making the Case for the Social Side of Learning

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Making the Case For the Social Side of Learning

• A comprehensive mission for schools is to
  educate students to be knowledgeable,
  responsible, socially skilled, healthy, caring,
  and contributing citizens. (Greenberg et al.,
  2003)

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Making the Case . . .

• The aim of education is growth or development,
  both intellectual and moral. (Dewey, 1964, p.
  213.)
• Analytical intelligence (IQ) accounts for only
  10 to 15 of job success and other real-world
  outcomes.
• Human and Social Development is one of the goals
  of the BC school system. BC is leading the way in
  North America by specifying the development of
  social responsibility as a performance
  standard.

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Making the Case . . .

• A growing body of literature suggests that a
  deliberate and comprehensive approach to teaching
  children social and emotional skills can raise
  their grades and test scores, bolster their
  enthusiasm for learning, reduce behavior
  problems, and enhance the brains cognitive
  functions (Education Week, 2003).

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Cognitive Connections

• Because the emotional centers of the brain are
  very connected to the thinking and learning
  centers of the brain, we know that people who are
  better able to control their emotions and moods
  are effective learners (Greenberg, 2004).

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Recent Research Findings . . .

• Changes in academic achievement in Grade 8 could
  be better predicted from knowing childrens
  social competence 5 years earlier than from
  knowing grade 3 academic achievement (Caprara et
  al., 2000).
• Prosocial behaviours exhibited by students in the
  classroom were found to be better predictors of
  academic achievement than were their standardized
  test scores (Wentzel, 1993).
• School interventions that increase social and
  emotional competence result in higher achievement
  levels, although the reverse is not true (i.e.,
  academic enrichment does not increase social
  responsibility) (Coie Krebhiel, 1984).

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• Learned Optimism

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TIME Magazine, Jan. 17, 2005
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Beneficial Outcomes of Happiness

• Research to date suggests that happy people often
  contribute more to their communities, have better
  relationships with others, and are more creative
  in some realms.

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Learned Optimism

• At the turn of this century, there has been a
  shift to the study of the positive aspects of
  human experience.
• Previous focus in psychology has been on
  pathology not on the promotion of the positive
  features of individuals.
• A science of positive subjective experience, of
  positive individual traits, and of positive
  institutions promises to improve the quality of
  life and also to prevent the various pathologies
  that arise when life is barren and meaningless.
• (Seligman Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

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Positive Psychology

• Three constituent parts
• Positive psychological experiences
• Positive psychological traits
• Institutions that enable the first two to occur.

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Positive Psychology

• The field of positive psychology at the
  subjective level is about valued subjective
  experience well-being, contentment, and
  satisfaction (past), hope and optimism (future),
  and flow and happiness (present).
• At the individual level it is about positive
  individual traits -- the capacity for love and
  vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic
  sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness,
  originality, future-mindedness, spirituality,
  high talent, and wisdom.
• At the group level it is about the civic virtues
  and the institutions that move individuals toward
  better citizenship responsibility, nurturance,
  altruism, civility, moderation, tolerance, and
  work ethic.

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Shifting Gears Moving Toward a Focus on
Promoting Health

• Positive Disposition
• A major predictor of subjective well-being is
  temperament, but only a portion of this
  predisposition appears to be genetic.
• The other component seems to be a learned
  positive outlook on life, encompassing hope,
  trust, self-esteem, and optimism. Both individual
  child-rearing as well as broader cultural factors
  are likely to be at work.

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• What is Mindfulness?

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The Raisin/Hershey KissExercise
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What is Mindfulness?

• Mindfulness has been defined in several ways by
  researchers and scholars within academic
  literature.
• Commonly, mindfulness is considered to be a state
  of being aware of and attentive to the present
  moment.

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Mindfulness Defined

• Jon Kabat-Zinn (1990) defines mindfulness as
  paying attention in a particular way on
  purpose, in the present moment and
  non-judgmentally.

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Mindfulness Defined

• Ellen Langer (1993) describes mindfulness as a
  state of mind in which one is sensitive to
  context and draws novel distinctions and examines
  information from new perspectives.
• Langer asserts that education practices that
  encourage mindfulness create more effective and
  enjoyable learning environments for students.

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Mindfulness-based practices within the ME
curriculum

• The ME Program utilizes activities that foster
  both of the aforementioned components of
  mindfulness in a developmentally appropriate
  manner for elementary school-aged children.

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Cultivation of mindfulness

• Mindfulness-based interventions draw on practices
  developed within the Buddhist tradition.
• In recent years, these meditation practices have
  been used for therapeutic means without requiring
  any commitment to Buddhist religious doctrines.
• Growing evidence that mindfulness training has
  beneficial outcomes in the treatment of a variety
  of psychological and physical ailments
  (Kabat-Zinn, 1990 Krazner, 2004 Segal et al.,
  2003).

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• What is the Mindfulness Education (ME) Program?

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Mindfulness Education (ME)

• The Mindfulness Education (ME) program is
  designed to foster children's
• problem solving ability,
• self-regulation,
• goal setting,
• prosocial behaviours.

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ME Program

• The ME program was created to help children
  understand the ways their minds work, and how
  their thoughts and feelings affect their behavior

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More about ME

• Based on the book "Mind Power for Children - The
  Guide for Parents and Teachers authored by Nancy
  Fischer, and John Kehoe, author of bestselling
  book "Mind Power into the 21st Century.
• The research was supported by Goldie Hawns
  Bright Light Foundation
• brightlightfoundation.net

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Mindfulness Education Theoretical Framework

• The Mindfulness Education Program (ME) can be
  considered an early intervention strategy that
• Is guided by positive psychology (Seligman
  Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).
• Fosters the fundamental needs (autonomy,
  belonging competence) as outlined by
• Self Determination Theory (Deci Ryan 1985).
• Utilizes Cognitive-Behavioural techniques.
• Incorporates mindfulness-based practices.

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Components of the ME Program

• Week 1 Introduction to Mindfulness
• Week 2 Learning About Affirmations
• Week 3 Concentrating on Positive Emotions and
  Outcomes
• Week 4 Learning How to Eliminate Negative
  Thinking
• Week 5 Acknowledging One another
• Week 6 Team Work Understanding Goal Setting as
  a Group
• Week 7 Having a Healthy Body
• Week 8 Making Friends Interpersonal
  Relationships
• Week 9 No Problems . . . Only Opportunities
• Week 10 Celebrating Successes

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The ME Program Consists of 5 Main Techniques

• 1) Quieting the Mind Listening Game/ Soft Belly
  Breathing
• 2) Focused Attention Mindful of sensation,
  thoughts and feelings
• 3) Focused Intention Affirmations
  Visualization
• 4) Handling Negative emotions and Negative
  thinking
• 5) Acknowledgment of self and others.

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• Evaluating the Mindfulness Education Program
  for Children in Vancouver
• Spring, 2005

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Research to Practice UBC VSB Partnership
The Mindfulness Education Program for Children
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Hypothesis

• It was hypothesized that, when compared to
  children in a control group, children who had
  experienced the ME program would show significant
  positive changes from pretest to posttest in
  their self concept, positive emotions, mindful
  awareness, and teacher-rated behaviors.

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Participants

• 243 children from the 4th to 7th grades
• ME Program, n 140 (71 boys, 69 girls)
• Comparison, n 103 (55 boys, 48 girls)
• Mean Age 11.42 years (SD .99),
• range 9.34 to 13.41
• 58 English as a first language, majority of the
  remaining were Chinese.
• Students were drawn from schools across a range
  of socioeconomic status.

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Outcome Measures

• Self
• Self-concept (General and School Self-Concept)
• The Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ
  Marsh, 1993)
• Emotions
• Introspection Self-Reflection-Rumination
  Questionnaire (RRQ Trapnell Campbell, 1999,
  modified by Lawlor, 2005)
• Affect Scale (PANAS Watson, Clark, Tellegen,
  1988)
• Prosocial Behaviours
• Prosocial Social Responsibility Goals Scale
  (Wentzel, 1994)
• Mindful Awareness
• The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS
  Brown Ryan, 2004, modified by Benn, 2004)
• Teacher Ratings of Behaviours
• The Teachers' Rating Scale of Social Competence
  (Kam Greenberg, 1999)

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Teacher Training

• One full day of inservice training to 12
  elementary school teachers who volunteered to
  take part in the training.
• Training conducted by program developer (Nancy
  Fischer)
• Basis of selection for training
• Willingness to do the program.
• Another teacher in same school also volunteered.
• Intermediate grade teachers were given preference
  because of the focus of the research.
• Wait-list control.

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Results
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Changes in General Self-Concept from Pretest to
Posttest
Note significant interaction
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Changes in Self-Reflection from Pretest to
Posttest (statistical trend)
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Changes in Positive Affect from Pretest to
Posttest (statistical trend)
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Changes in Optimism from Pretest to Posttest
(statistical trend)
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Changes in Prosocial Goals from Pretest to Post
test
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Changes in Mindful Awareness from Pretest to
Posttest
Note significant interaction
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Teacher Reported Improvements in Behaviours at
Posttest
A Aggressive behaviours B
Oppositional/dysregulated behaviours C
Attention concentration D Social emotional
competence
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Future Directions

• ME Program
• Extending to both public and independent schools
  in Vancouver and surrounding school districts.
• Development of primary, intermediate, and middle
  school curriculum.
• ME Research
• Further evaluations of program outcomes and
  implementation fidelity.
• Examine program impact on stress reactivity
  (cortisol).

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Fall 2006 Research Plan

• Investigating the effectiveness of the ME program
  on students psychological well-being, and
  physiology (stress hormone - diurnal cortisol
  patterns) and academic success.
• RCT pre and posttest design
• Approximately 60 children from 2 intermediate
  elementary school classrooms (one program one
  control)
• Funding from the Mind and Life Institute (10,000)

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• Thank you!
• Questions?

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Relevant Websites

• Bright Light Foundation
• www.brightlightfoundation.net
• Positive Psychology
• http//www.positivepsychology.org/
• Mind and Life Institute
• www.mindandlife.org
• Open Circle (Stone Center)
• http//www.open-circle.org/landing.asp

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New Books on Positive Psychology

• Authentic Happiness Using the New Positive
  Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting
  Fulfillment, by Martin E.P. Seligman   
  Character Strengths and Virtues A Handbook and
  Classification, by Christopher Peterson and
  Martin E.P. Seligman (Editors)    Flourishing
  Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived,
  Edited by Corey L.M. Keyes and Jonathan
  Haidt     Good Business Leadership, Flow, and
  the Making of Meaning, by Mihaly
  Csikszentmihalyi     Human Accomplishment The
  Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences,
  800 B.C. to 1950, by Charles Murray    Optimal
  Human Being An Integrated Multi-Level
  Perspective, by Kennon M. Sheldon    The Paradox
  of Choice Why More Is Less, by Barry
  Schwartz    Positive Psychology in Practice,
  Edited by P. Alex Linley and Stephen Joseph   
  The Progress Paradox How Life Gets Better While
  People Feel Worse, by Gregg Easterbrook    A
  Psychology of Human Strengths, Edited by Lisa G.
  Aspinwall and Ursula M. Staudinger    Pursuing
  Human Strengths A Positive Psychology Guide, by
  Martin Bolt    The Resilience Factor 7
  Essential..., by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté