Mindfulness Intervention
Results from the Teacher and Student Responses
What is the Mindfulness Intervention?
At the beginning of Spring 2017 semester, counselors at a small rural charter school in North Carolina implemented a mindfulness room intervention for their high school students. Students are able to enter the room to use "mindfulness tools" when they are feeling stressed or need a break from one of their classes. Students are allowed to spend 10 minutes in the room, no cell phones allowed, and utilize a manual that describes focused breathing techniques, progressive muscle relaxation, and identifying thoughts, sensations, and emotions for the purpose of becoming more aware of how one perceives the environment around them.
These techniques are beneficial for promoting psychological health and well being for children and adolescents, and these techniques are becoming increasingly popular as a tool to get students refocused and on track with academic progress.
Teacher Responses
Importance of Mindfulness Practices
Interest for Professional Development
"Other" responses indicated "maybe", and "I would like a summary of what will be covered".
Permission to Use the Mindfulness Room Intervention (Self-Directed)
These results indicate that some teachers feel that students are capable of using the mindfulness room alone (self-directed) versus with a counselor or another faculty member (guided).
Permission to Use the Room (With a Counselor Present)
This feedback provides great insight for how important teachers feel that the role of an adult actively engaging in mindfulness techniques with a student, or teaching the student mindfulness techniques, is in regards to using the room most effectively (as compared to utilization of the room in a self-directed manner).
What Our High School Teachers Think of the Mindfulness Room so Far
Now: Student Results!
Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure
The Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure was administered to 56 students. Out of the 56 students, 45 fully completed the assessment as instructed. N = 45. Mean CAMM score was 23.56. Minimum CAMM score (less mindful) indicated was a 5, and maximum score (more mindful) indicated was 38. Data is further represented by the graph below.
Use of Mindfulness Room
Students were asked to self-report if they utilized the mindfulness room, and if so- how many times. Possible options were 0 times, 1-2 times, 3-4 times, or 4+ times. Students also indicated that they have utilized the room, but not for the purpose of achieving mindfulness. Other use of room was for homework completion, eating lunch, assignments for an online class, and before school/during lunch.
Findings
There was a moderate negative correlation between time spent using the room and score on the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure. The higher the CAMM score (higher scores indicating more mindfulness) the less the room was utilized by students. The lower the CAMM score (less mindful) the more the room was utilized. This may indicate that students who are using the room would benefit from more concrete mindfulness training techniques. The effectiveness of the room intervention should be tested again in the future, to determine if the students' mindfulness scores improve after a more formalized intervention.