MINDFULNESS IN EDUCATION
Increasingly more school boards, management teams and teachers see the added value of mindfulness in schools. Most teachers do their work with heart and soul. Most children enjoy learning new things and love to go to school. But too many children and professionals in education experience stress: noisy classrooms, behavioral problems and consistent feelings of ‘too much’ are on the rise, while the much-needed inner calm is on the decline. The ‘on button’ works, but the ‘pause button’ doesn’t.
Good education is not only about the transferal of knowledge; it also influences important values, behavior and the way in which we treat ourselves and each other. Inner calm and mindfulness is needed in order to allow children to perform at their own level . In order to be able to teach well, we also need inner calm, attention and mindfulness. Luckily, you can train this ‘mindfulness muscle’.
Developing conscious attention
The development of conscious attention is the basis for every form of learning. ‘Mindfulness’, or practicing conscious, focused attention, influences children’s learning. Practicing conscious attention can be compared with tuning a musical instrument before you play it. Why should we not tune our learning instruments before we use them? An increasing number of boards, management teams and teachers are at the forefront of a rapidly growing movement to give mindfulness a permanent place in the 21st century school curriculum. Because in doing this, you not only stimulate learning. You also stimulate self-confidence, creativity, compassion and the executive functions. The brain comes to rest, impulsive behaviour and stress reactions decrease. There is calm. Calm and concentrated attention. Something every child deserves. Read more about the benefits of meditation on the (child’s) brain.
