Minnesota Schools & Mindfulness
Why All Minnesota Schools Need Daily Mindful Moments
Written by A. Simon - November 2019
Copyright - Minnesota Kid’s Yoga Co. LLC
“I've learned that kids will forget what you said, they may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”―Adapted from Maya Angelou
Who are teachers?
In the teaching world, this quote is circled around quite often! Personally, I had this quote framed on my desk since the first day of my teaching career! I’d reread this quote on days when my lessons didn’t reach students as effectively as I was hoping, or when I needed a reminder to stay positive. The essence of this quote says: “kids won’t remember everything they learn in school, but they will always remember how a teacher supported them emotionally.”
Teachers know, all too well, how some days are an overwhelming grind. Believe it or not, kids don’t always arrive at school, calm as a cucumber, sitting in their desk ready to listen! Enter — a teacher’s masterpiece…
Educators work INCREDIBLY hard to make their classroom an environment in which all children can thrive. Teachers’ clever modifications, unique content beyond curriculum, and seamless classroom management techniques keep kids engaged and focused. Also, teachers arrive at work with an energetic personality, putting their students’ emotional needs first (regardless of how they personally feel). With that said, teachers are true heroes! They not only shape the minds of tomorrow’s leaders, but they emotionally support them too.
In other words, teaching is more an art form, than a profession. I like to think of teachers as “Symphony Directors.” They wave their arms, and use their loving guidance to create harmonious songs. And… they do it everyday without prevail.
How has teaching changed?
Therefore teaching is a lot of work, but it is also one of the most rewarding jobs. For centuries, teachers have loved what they do. However, if you haven’t followed recent news, teachers are protesting (ex. Red for Ed) or are altogether leaving the profession at an alarming rate. Yahoo Lifestyle stated that teachers nation-wide are tired of budget cuts, decreased paraprofessional support, incremental increases in classroom violence, and low salaries. Wall Street Journal reported that in 2018, over 1 million teachers walked away from the profession (which is the largest percentage in our nation’s history).
Teachers report being overly stressed to the extent of their own health becoming jeopardized. Also, most teachers use their own salary (an average of $39,000) to purchase school supplies, or even tooth brushes and clothes for children in need. Further, working over 45 hours a week, managing kids’ mental health issues, physically being harmed, and having little-to-no-time to destress themselves, forces the adults in this profession to quit. Teachers, in short, are over-burdened with too-many “expectations” and not enough “support.” Teachers are over-worked and over-stressed.
How has school changed for kids?
So now that you know teachers are unhappy, what about the students? Readers Digest wrote a compelling article regarding the school system of our modern western world.
“Schools as we know them today are a product of history, not of research. The blueprint for them was developed centuries ago. The top-down, teach-and-test method, in which learning is motivated by a system of rewards and punishments rather than by curiosity, is too often how schools operate even in today’s world. Interestingly enough, many of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs and innovators left school early. In a telling research study by professors Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeremy Hunter, 800 6th through 12th graders, from 33 different schools across the country, were monitored for several weeks. It was discovered that the lowest levels of happiness, by far, were reported when the children were in school. As a society, we tend to shrug off such findings. However we’re not surprised that kids are unhappy in school. Some people even believe that the very unpleasantness of school is good for children...”
With these findings, it becomes evident that kids are frustrated, and are stuck in an environment where emotions are ignored. The Center for Disease Control reported that 1 in every 6 children 2-17 years old is diagnosed with a mental health disorder. School is believed to be a cause of this increased anxiety due to the increase in state standards.
How does mindfulness in schools affect teachers and kids?
So, what does teachers’ stress levels and kids’ mental health have to do with mindfulness? EVERYTHING! Many schools across the nation are mandating mindful moments within their school days! Yoga and meditation is the number one health alternative to medicine in the U.S. 35 million people practiced it in America this year. Further, 9% of all kids have begun practicing meditation since 2012. This growth is increasing day by day… Why? Because research has proven the emotional benefits of it.
States like Florida, Delaware, Oregon, Wisconsin, California and Illinois have already spent millions to work towards implementing mindfulness in its school systems! More states are jumping on board as well.
Mindfulness allows kids and teachers to focus, find joy, and regain their healthy state of thinking. The U.S. National Library of Medicine has a published scholarly article written by Randye J. Semple, Ph.D., Vita Droutman, Ph.D., and Brittany Ann Reid, M.A. stating:
There is a constant rising of expectations on students in K-12 schools, and increased demands on their attention and executive functioning, but students are rarely taught how to pay attention. The high prevalence of childhood affective disorders (approximately 20%) may contribute to deteriorating class climates (Broderick & Metz, 2009) and increasing teacher stress (Roeser, Skinner, Beers, & Jennings, 2012). Relationships between cognitive and affective self-regulation and academic outcomes has been supported by research in neuroscience and educational psychology (Buckner, Mezzacappa, & Beardslee, 2009; Greenberg et al., 2003; Tang, Yang, Leve, Harold, 2012). Prophylactic school-wide interventions aimed at improving social-emotional resiliencies and decreasing emotional and behavioral problems are urgently needed.”
What does Minnesota need to do?
We need to jump on board with the national findings, and create school systems that incorporate mindful moments throughout the day! Many schools nation-wide perform mindful moments on intercoms, where other schools have meditation rooms for students and teachers to use. Some schools adapted popular curriculum like MindUp and SmilingMind, or trained district teachers on mindfulness through Mindful Schools. I believe a little bit of mindfulness can go a long way within our beautiful state. Mental health will only continue to rise amongst our school systems, unless we enact change. I think providing mindfulness in our education systems is essential. We need to teach kids to cope with life in healthier ways. Further, we need to teach emotional regulation through mindfulness. The earlier kids learn these skills, the easier it becomes to learn.
Personally, I am getting certified as a national “Mindful Schools” teacher. In my current studies, I have learned schools are reporting outstanding positive results through the implementation of mindfulness lessons. Further, at a recent “Mindfulness with Purpose” seminar at the University of Minnesota, I discovered that many local companies are requiring employs to take meditation breaks. Companies are discovering if employees have increased mental health, their job satisfaction and their work productivity also increases! Win-win!! Even the United States’ army is jumping on board with mindfulness. I believe it is just a matter of time before mindfulness is a daily word in our everyday world! My hope is that it becomes a word used daily in every Minnesota school.
If you are an educator wanting to learn more about mindfulness, view these links: