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- Herausgeber: Crown House Publishing
- Kategorie: Bildung
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
Written by Kamalagita Hughes, The Mindful Teacher's Handbook: How to step out of busyness and find peace is a practical guide to mindfulness that will empower teachers and school staff to take better care of their well-being and find calm in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of the school setting. When we're on an aeroplane, the on-board safety instructions tell us that in the event of an emergency we should put on our own oxygen mask first - and only then help those around us. The same is true for well-being: we need to look after ourselves in order to be a resource for others. This is especially the case in busy, high-pressure environments such as our classrooms and schools, where burnout is a real concern for teachers and leaders, who all too often relegate their own self-care to the bottom of the to-do list. The Mindful Teacher's Handbook is a practical and engaging resource to help everyone in schools bring mindfulness into their lives in a meaningful way. Mindfulness practice offers simple, straightforward strategies for finding peace and regaining perspective, and has a solid body of evidence that attests to its efficacy. In this book, Kamalagita Hughes provides a lively and engaging blend of top tips, research evidence, case studies, guided meditations and suggested exercises for all - both for those new to mindfulness and for those who want to refresh their practice. Providing a thorough, grounded understanding of mindfulness and its benefits for the school community, the book explores the links between well-being and education and sets out how improved staff and student well-being can cultivate a better teaching and learning environment for all. Kamalagita offers practical strategies that school staff can put into practice straight away - both for their own well-being and that of their pupils - including insightful case studies on how best to bring mindfulness to your school. Suitable for teachers, teaching assistants and school leaders.
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Praise for The Mindful Teacher’s Handbook
This is an easy-to-follow, practical and useful handbook for busy teachers, written by someone who clearly understands both mindfulness and the pressures of the classroom and staffroom. It provides a clear and approachable introduction to mindfulness theory and practice which is enough to help a ‘beginner’ get going and enticing enough to lead on those who take to it (and not all teachers will, of course) into further practice and study. What is particularly novel and helpful is the application of mindfulness practice to the everyday and potentially difficult experiences all teachers will know well, such as transitions, the dreaded inspections and meeting with challenging parents and colleagues.
Katherine Weare, Emeritus Professor, University of Southampton, Lead for Education for the Mindfulness Initiative and author, with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hahn, of the bestseller Happy Teachers Change the World
The work of teaching our young people is one of the most important and impactful jobs to engage in. It is also challenging, stressful and time squeezed. How can teachers look after themselves, remain creative and keep in touch with their love for their vocation in the midst of these pressures? Get this book and allow it to be an ongoing companion to your journey. Keep revisiting the pages. It offers rich resources supporting you to keep your mindfulness practice going and creatively adapt it to you and your life. It also gives you very practical ideas, tailored to the school teaching context, on how to realise the fruits of your mindfulness practice in everyday life – both during routine and high-stress times. If you are a schoolteacher, this book has your back.
Professor Rebecca Crane, PhD, Director, Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University
We all know how stressful it can be working in the education sector. This is a practical book full of great ideas and written by an author who understands the pressures faced by educationalists. Thoroughly recommend.
Simon Pirotte, OBE, Principal and CEO, Bridgend College
As the well-being imperative in schools and colleges grows ever more urgent, The Mindful Teacher’s Handbook has to be a go-to resource for anyone in education who wants to thrive in their role and take meaningful well-being practice in schools to a new and necessary level. Kamalagita acts as our guide as she thoughtfully explores and connects the science, practice and benefits of mindfulness, sharing clear strategies and exercises that are both teacher-friendly and supported by engaging discussions.
Natalie Chyba, Deputy Principal and Well-Being Lead, Howell’s School, Llandaff
B Kamalagita’s vast experience as a mindfulness trainer, teacher of young people and collaborator with schools on their mindfulness journey means that she is in a unique position to write this accessible guide to a more spacious life.
Whether you are new to teaching, a hardened professional with many years of experience, a classroom assistant or a senior leader, this book has something for you. Kamalagita gives us permission to recognise that we are all human and that we share many more of our common day-to-day experiences than we might like to think.
Jane Barnes, Deputy Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning and CPD, Manchester
What an uplifting read. The Mindful Teacher’s Handbook is exactly what every teacher needs to have within arm’s reach at all times. It’s easily accessible, taking you through a series of mindfulness exercises which gradually become habit-forming. Since reading the book, I’ve found myself constantly (sometimes unconsciously) going through some of the exercises and enjoying the positive impact mindfulness can have.
Armando Di-Finizio, retired Head Teacher, educational consultant and author of A Head Full of Ethos
The Mindful Teacher’s Handbook is a book for every teacher and leader in an ever-changing world. The book is well timed, as we begin our new curriculum journey in Wales, with a real focus on how we all need to focus on our own health and well-being: we can only care for our students with empathy and love if we ‘mind our own minds’. There is nothing ‘woolly’ about this book; it is written with authenticity and is rooted in classroom experience. The section on using mindfulness as a tool for responding to some of the behaviours we are all seeing in the post-COVID-19 classroom is both refreshing and useful.
Overall, there is a toughness about this writing: an insistence on the absolute need to build in mindfulness that I found compelling and very real. I see a need for this handbook in my school and in every school.
Jennifer Ford, Head Teacher, Treorchy Comprehensive School
I really like this book. What I like about it is that it’s realistic and useful. Kamalagita has written accessibly for the busy teacher-reader and it is full of exercises and systems that support a more mindful approach to the day-to-day stresses of school life. It’ll help teachers rediscover the joy in what they do.
Hywel Roberts, teacher, writer, humourist, author of Botheredness: Stories, Stance and Pedagogy
CAbsolutely delighted to review this informative, evidence-based and helpful handbook from Kalamagita Hughes. Harnessing the principles of a whole school approach to emotional well-being using person-centred approaches, this book is much needed at a time when COVID-19 has exacerbated concerns about children and young people’s mental health and the role of community action. The strategies to promote well-being in our communities will be fundamental to tackling this issue and Kalamagita portrays this beautifully in structured and easy-to-read instructions. The reader will be able to understand the biological reasons, practise and evaluate the outcomes of their interventions and ensure the whole school community benefits from emotional regulation in the promotion of relationships and well-being. A much-needed resource!
Ceri Reed, Director of Parents Voices in Wales CIC
As an educationalist, if you were in two minds about whether mindfulness is for you, fear not. This book is crammed with some fabulous exercises that will help you find peace, balance and a new sense of energy and focus. It’s an easy-to-read, well-planned book which guides you effortlessly through the why, what and how of mindfulness implementation. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and practising many of the techniques. Thank you, Kamalagita, for a lovely magical mindfulness handbook for teachers.
Nina Jackson, International Mental Health and Well-Being Advisor, Teach Learn Create Ltd
If you’ve ever wondered if mindfulness might have something to offer your own well-being or that of your pupils, this comprehensive but accessible book will guide you to a decision. As a busy teacher you’ll appreciate the clear and succinct descriptions of mindfulness, how it can help and why it works, set directly in the context of school/college settings and relevant situations. It’s written for teachers by a teacher whose classroom experience shows through on every page.
Elizabeth Williams, mindfulness teacher and Chair and Education Lead for Mindfulness Wales CIO
Thank you for such a great book for educational professionals. It is certainly a mustread. The book provides a clear insight into mindfulness, starting with its background and how mindfulness can be applied within the educational setting. The practical tips are easily applied to activities within the classroom, especially to self-regulate – for both staff and students! With health and well-being becoming a focus within the new curriculum, this book is a must for all teachers.
Luisa Martin Thomas, Deputy Head Teacher, Cyfarthfa High School, Pearson UK Teacher of the Year 2017–2018, mindfulness advocate D
There is widespread concern about the mental well-being of children and young people. Teachers are such an important influence on their lives. With so many teachers experiencing stress themselves, it is all the more important to have practical ideas to help. This is an excellent introduction to mindfulness, offering many practical exercises to help teachers manage the ‘internal weather’ that daily events frequently stir up. When people feel less stressed, less at risk of burnout and more focused on the purpose that brought them into teaching in the first place, it is also a valuable help for all the children they teach and influence. The testimonies of the people who have benefitted are woven through this straightforward and practical guide.
Jenny Edwards, CBE, Health Advisor, Mindfulness Initiative
This is an opportunity for educators to learn more about mindfulness, whether they practise regularly or are new to the field. This book’s welcoming atmosphere offers a wealth of information and explains mindfulness in a clear, simple and factual way. The author’s education background ensures that this resource is not only relevant but useful, with specific examples for the busy periods of the academic year. Many case studies are included from all areas of education which ensures that users are able to make the most of an activity or idea from the outset. A useful resource to use in the world of education for years to come – thank you, Kamalagita.
Nia Brodrick, Mental Health Project Officer (2018–2019), ColegauCymru
This is a superb toolkit for all staff whether you are new to the profession, an experienced teacher or member of the school leadership team. What I love about the book is that regardless of your perceptions or thoughts about mindfulness, there is such a strong focus on well-being and responding (not reacting!) to the busy school lives that we all lead. The layout is very easy to navigate, and each chapter has excellent activities that are so simple to implement without a huge amount of preparation. Highly recommend this as a book of choice for anyone working in a school environment. I will definitely be dipping in and sharing with colleagues – wonderful to have all this rich material at our fingertips!
Shirley Drummond, Head Teacher, St Helen’s College
For Susan and Meurig Hughes, the best teachers I ever knew.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all the teachers, heads and teaching assistants that I have taught over the last eight years; your commitment to your vocation and compassion for those you care for has inspired me. Heartfelt thanks to those of you who were generous enough to share your stories on how mindfulness has impacted on your teaching life; these have formed the backbone of this book.
Thanks to Stella Gunningham for her wonderful illustrations that illuminate the book. I am deeply grateful that you found the time to create these on top of a full-time teaching job and busy family life.
Many thanks to David, Karen and Beverley at Crown House Publishing, for giving me the opportunity. Particular thanks to my editors Daniel and Ting who made the writing of the book a smooth and straightforward process.
Thanks to my colleague Sofia Pereira, for allowing me to drop everything in the last week and focus on the book – I knew things would be in safe hands. Last but not least, thanks to my husband, Vishvapani Blomfield, who not only steadied me when I doubted but gave his practical knowledge of writing, editing and publishing. To my son, Leo, for understanding when Mum was busier than usual. And to my dog, Tessa, who kept me walking and sifting the ideas.
Contents
An Introduction to Mindfulness
Ancient Wisdom Supported by Modern Science
A group of adults sit together in silence in a room.
They are setting themselves up before the start of the day. They are focusing on their breath and, as they do so, they notice that they are feeling calmer and more centred. The spaces between their thoughts become more noticeable, the urges to plan the day or review what’s gone on begin to subside. There may be background noise or hubbub, but this doesn’t bother them; they know this is par for the course.
Their minds wander off, but they’ve learnt to notice this and bring them back to the breath. They know that they can settle and recentre themselves again. But they are not in an ashram or a Buddhist temple, they’re at work: in school, in a business, in the military or even in prison.
When I started to practise mindfulness meditation 25 years ago, it was still niche, put in a category with yoga, chakra cleansing, something New Age or ‘hippy’. At the time, New Labour were campaigning to become the new government, and public perception would probably have identified mindfulness as something more to do with the campaigning Natural Law Party with their yogic flying, a technique where meditators jumped up and down in full lotus position. The public would have shaken their heads in disbelief if anyone had said that, 20 years later, politicians would be practising mindfulness in Parliament.1
Mindfulness is not a new practice; it’s a human capacity that goes back over 2,500 years. It’s a natural capacity that we can all cultivate that has become associated with authentic happiness. Most ancient religions and philosophies have a history of contemplative traditions. However, mindfulness has now exploded into the wider public eye, particularly in the last decade, as mindfulness practices have been combined with modern psychological theories to create secular practices that have been the subject 2of thousands of scientific trials.2 The scientific element has helped us have a clearer understanding of how our brains work – but, more importantly to us as human beings, it shows us how our minds work. It helps us understand the complex jumble of thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories and impulses, moment to moment. It’s also shown that we can train our minds to focus, be aware, and cultivate compassion and wise attitude.
Brief history of secular mindfulness
Despite being an ancient contemplative tradition, mindfulness as we recognise it in this form stems from the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn from his time at the University of Massachusetts in 1979. Jon was a child of the 1960s, and like most baby boomers was captivated by the potential for meditations and philosophies from the East to change society. But he was also a research scientist – and therefore when the opportunity came to teach some of these practices in the context of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, he started to collect the data. The first mindfulness course in this mould was provided for people in intense chronic pain or with terminal illnesses. They had been dealt their final card; the doctors had said there was nothing more they could do for their pain or illness. In a bold move, Jon Kabat-Zinn started to teach these participants gentle yoga and mindfulness meditation. While their symptoms didn’t go away, the participants realised that the stress, despair and hopelessness that they felt about their condition was layering on more tension and suffering to an already difficult situation. By learning and practising these techniques, they discovered that although the symptoms continued, they could choose to respond to these in a way that didn’t add more suffering and tension and therefore free their minds and find some peace.3 In this way, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) was born.
In the late 1990s, a team of clinical psychologists went over to visit Jon Kabat-Zinn in the Stress Reduction clinic to observe and train in MBSR delivery. Their research showed that if someone had depression once, then they would be likely to experience it again. Seeing how depression robbed people of their lives, they were keen to find a way of helping people train their minds to handle difficult thoughts and emotions when they were well before another relapse into depression. This team of Mark Williams, John Teasdale and Zindel Segal created mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), which 3has been approved by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK for the prevention of recurrent depression since 2004 and is offered routinely by the NHS. Clinical trials have shown that MBCT is at least as effective for treating clinical depression and anxiety as taking anti-depressants.4
These are the two main roots from which most secular mindfulness programmes spring, and there are now hundreds of mindfulness-based programmes out there. In the last decade, cutting-edge employers like Apple and Google have offered mindfulness training to employers to help them manage stress and to thrive, notably Google’s programme with the catchy title ‘Search Inside Yourself’.5 But it’s not just for the cool kids in Google and Apple.
‘Meditate like a Marine for pumped up mental muscle!’ is an attention-grabbing headline from an article pointing to the fact that the US Marines have been taught mindfulness to prepare for combat. In deployment, mindfulness is found to help soldiers stay calm during crisis and mitigate the effect of post-traumatic stress disorder.6
In the last decade, mindfulness has been taught by the NHS, in schools, in workplaces such as Tata Steel, Jaguar Land Rover and HSBC,7 and in prisons and probation settings with a small-scale research on impact carried out by the National Offender Management System.8
In 2015, the Mindfulness Initiative worked with a cross-party parliamentary group to look at the efficacy and potential impact of mindfulness in the workplace, healthcare, criminal justice and schools. The result was the UK Mindful Nation Report,9 which was 4a real game-changer in terms of the public perception of, and willingness to approach, mindfulness.
I am hoping that you are coming to see that mindfulness is not the preserve of woolly headed navel-gazers, as I thought, but of ordinary people like you and me.
Why education?
The links between well-being and education for staff and students have been high up on the agenda of schools and colleges, the inspectorate and policymakers lately. This is because a clear link has been made between young people’s well-being and their ability to learn.10 You will know this from your own experience: if a young person is struggling, has issues at home or school, they can’t settle and learn as well as one who has a stable home life or enjoys meaningful friendships at school.
Approximately 25% of young people have a recognisable mental health disorder, with 10% needing specialist help. What’s heart-breaking is that 50% of mental health issues are established by the age of 15 and 75% before the age of 25.11 And three-quarters of young people across the age span do not receive the help they need.12 Most child and adolescent mental health services are bursting at the seams and cannot cope with the higher demand. This is before we get to low-level anxiety or stress symptoms that can quickly escalate into something more serious if not caught and addressed. The need for taking this seriously is even more pressing in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, where many young people have missed out on the stability and structure of school and college, have been isolated from friends and peer groups, and are living in a societal atmosphere of fear and worry. This serious gap in the provision for young people mean that the parents, schools and colleges pay the price.
5The evidential link between young people practising mindfulness and their well-being is well researched.13 The results are promising. A summary of benefits are as follows:14
Mindfulness benefits many aspects of psychosocial well-being including positive mood, empathy and connectedness across all ranges.It impacts aspects of physical well-being in the young such as blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol and improvement in sleep.It helps reduce student mental health problems including burnout, depression and stress with emerging evidence for impacts on anxiety, trauma, eating and sleep disorders.It impacts social and emotional skills and self-management including emotional literacy, regulation resilience and relational skills such as sociability.Mindfulness impacts on aspects of learning and cognition, executive function, attention and focus, and cognitive flexibility.There is a small amount of emerging evidence of impacts on academic performance and results on test of achievement and grade scores.There is also a small amount of emerging evidence for impacts on behaviour, such as students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Mindfulness is a relatively low-cost intervention that can help prevent low-level issues escalating into higher ones. But it also allows young people to thrive, to be at their best and value their talents. In an uncertain future, with issues such as an ecological crisis and the rise of artificial intelligence on the horizon, young people will be inhabiting a very different world to ours. We don’t know the content of the future, but giving them the skills of focus, resilience, flexibility and creativity, as well as being able to relate, be emotionally intelligent and empathic, will give them the best chance to them face it.
6
How can mindfulness help school staff?
I have just made the case for the benefits that mindfulness can bring to young people. So why is this book for teachers and school and college staff?
Figures from the Teacher Wellbeing Index, a current and well-respected document report, states that three-quarters of teachers experience work-related stress, with nearly half reporting depression, anxiety or panic attacks at work. At any one time, more than half are considering leaving the profession due to poor health and figures reported are higher for senior leaders.15 There is a national teacher shortage, with dropping numbers recruited for initial teacher training, and one in seven of these leave the profession within the first year.16 We are losing our most experienced teachers, and we can’t recruit and sustain new ones. It’s a tragedy for the profession and, most of all, for the young people who are so in need of the support, encouragement and care that an effective teacher or teaching assistant (TA) can bring.
You don’t need me to tell you this because I imagine that you are experiencing this every day on the front line. If you’re reading this, the chances are that you already know that something needs to change, that it is increasingly difficult to keep on going in the ways that the education system is currently demanding.
So here’s some good news. Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to:
Increase teacher/school/college staff well-being including a sense of a purpose, self-care, compassion and physical health.17Help reduce school staff mental health problems, such as burnout, depression, stress and anxiety.Improve the ability to self-regulate, to pay attention and be more in the moment and find calm.Help school staff stand back from gripping thoughts and emotions, and respond more flexibly and creatively in the moment.Allow school staff to be more effective in the classroom, focusing on concepts and processes rather than content and behaviour, and stay on task rather than be taken off track.Help school staff to relate to students with increased empathy and create calmer and more focused classroom environments.187
The most valuable aspect to me was the knowledge of how I could take time to calm myself in a very frantic environment and how simple that was to do.
(Secondary school teacher)
I’m happier, my staff are happier, my pupils are happier!
(Primary school head teacher)
Putting on the oxygen mask first
Anyone who works in a school is in the caring profession – and therefore they are motivated to act by the needs of another. However, for any carer, exhaustion and burnout is a real concern. On an aeroplane, we are told in the safety instructions that in the event of an emergency we should put on our own oxygen mask first and then help the other. The same goes for well-being: we need to look after ourselves in order to give and be a resource for others. It sounds counterintuitive and you may feel guilty or self-indulgent for focusing on yourself. But this tendency of being other-oriented needs balance, as your needs are important too.
My top suggestion? Put staff well-being at the top of the agenda. Start with the adults!
(Lynburn Primary School, Fife19)
8Excuses that crop up
‘I just want to be able help the kids!’ Any school staff member will have the young people they care for as top priority. However, to effectively introduce young people to mindfulness, you need some understanding of what mindfulness is (and what it isn’t) and some experience of practising it yourself. Put simply, mindfulness is the art of becoming present, truly present, and this takes practice. This is because mindfulness is caught, not taught
