CHAPTER 8: SCHOOl-BASEd MindFulnESS PROTOCOlS • 175mindfulness skills experienced better well-being and less stress at the 3-month follow-up
(Kuyken et al., 2013).
Mindful Schools
Mindful Schools is an organization that offers a series of courses and year-long certi-
fication designed for those who are interested in integrating mindfulness with youth
education (www.mindfulschools.org). Content includes the basics of mindfulness medi-
tation; how to work with thinking that arises while practicing mindfulness; techniques
for meeting and navigating intense emotions; and practices that cultivate positive states
of mind such as gratitude, kindness, joy, and compassion (www.mindfulschools.org).
Coursework is online with continuing education units available for mental health profes-
sionals. The program offers a K–5 curriculum (30 modules for ages 5–12), a middle and
high school curriculum (25 modules for ages 12–17), student workbooks, a manual on
facilitation and classroom management, summaries of neuroscience concepts, and pro-
gram evaluation tools. This certification program is designed for educators interested in
deepening their personal practice and playing an active role as a mindful leader in their
school community.
The research on this program includes one small published pilot study and a larger
unpublished program report. In the smaller 2010 pilot study, Liehr and Diaz (2010) found
that the Mindful Schools elementary grades curriculum (studies on ages 8–11) reduced
depressive symptoms among minority children. Researchers randomized 18 minority chil-
dren at a summer camp to either mindfulness or health education (Liehr & Diaz, 2010). An
instructor led ten 15-minute lessons from the Mindful Schools curriculum. The mindfulness
group showed significantly more reduction in depressive symptoms than the control group.
Anxiety results were in the same direction but not significant (p = .07).
Mindful Schools partnered with the University of California, Davis, to conduct a
randomized-controlled study involving 937 children and 47 teachers in three Oakland
public elementary schools (Smith, Guzman-Alvarez, Westover, Keller, & Fuller, 2012).
The Mindful Schools curriculum was taught to educators (Smith et al., 2012). The in-class
program included 15 lessons, lasting 15 minutes, taught two to three times per week over
6 weeks. Content included mindful breathing, listening, test-taking, and empathy. The
program report indicated that the intervention produced statistically significant improve-
ments in paying attention and participation in class activities versus the control group. The
full program report is available at http://www.mindfulschools.org/pdf/Mindful-Schools-Study-
Highlights.pdf.
Other Mindfulness Program for Schools
The following table provides an additional reference list of mindfulness programs for
schools (see Table 8.1). As you research programs that might work for your district, look
carefully at the research considerations listed at the beginning of this chapter. Think about
acceptability and feasibility. Look at costs and what resources you might have to adapt or
create your own program using a combination of formal and informal techniques.