This webpage contains downloadable PDF files of the Garrison Institute's Annual Reports.
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Two hundred and nine pupils were randomly allocated to either a cognitive behaviourally based stress management intervention (SMI) group, or a non-intervention control group. Mood and motivation measures were administered pre and post intervention. Standardized examinations were taken 8–10 weeks later. As hypothesized, results indicated that an increase in the functionality of pupils’ cognitions served as the mechanism by which mental health improved in the SMI group. In contrast, the control group demonstrated no such improvements. Also, as predicted, an increase in motivation accounted for the SMI group's significantly better performance on the standardized, academic assessments that comprise the United Kingdom's General Certificate of Secondary Education. Indeed, the magnitude of this enhanced performance was, on average, one-letter grade. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
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<p>Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) is a professional development program designed to reduce stress and improve teachers' performance. Two pilot studies examined program feasibility and attractiveness and preliminary evidence of efficacy. Study 1 involved educators from a high-poverty urban setting (n = 31). Study 2 involved student teachers and 10 of their mentors working in a suburban/semi-rural setting (n = 43) (treatment and control groups). While urban educators showed significant pre-post improvements in mindfulness and time urgency, the other sample did not, suggesting that CARE may be more efficacious in supporting teachers working in high-risk settings. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure and 1 footnote.)</p>
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<p>Mindfulness is a missing dimension in current school physical activity programs (e.g., physical education, intramural, and interscholastic physical activities). School physical activity programs are a key vehicle used in developing healthy active lifestyles among children and youth; however, the absence of mindfulness in these programs has given rise to numerous problems (such as body-mind dualism and stress) that interfere with attaining program objectives. This paper discusses what mindfulness is, why it is needed, and how mindfulness can be integrated into school physical activity programming. The integration of mindfulness can help develop a healthy lifestyle for a whole child; in turn, our school physical activity programs can be re-conceptualized and transformed to deliver this objective on a perpetual basis.</p>
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This article explores the concept of interiority as it relates to education and contemplation. Primarily, four general dimensions of consciousness related to learning are examined: presence, clarity, detachment, and resilience. The direct experience of these states and processes are described and explored in light of contemporary research on the neuro-physiologic correlates of various contemplative practices. This neurophenomenological approach considers the evidence and argument for the value of contemplation in education.
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The website of the inaugural International Symposia for Contemplative Studies held in Denver, CO, in April, 2012. The website contains information on the symosia including the schedule of speakers and abstracts of the papers presented.
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<p>An introduction to the special issue of Teachers College Record on Contemplative Practices and Education.</p>
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<p>This study reports on an intervention involving massage, yoga and relaxation delivered to young children with identified emotional and behavioural difficulties, and at risk of exclusion. Children (n = 126) were invited by the head teacher to participate in the Self‐discovery Programme (involving massage, yoga, breath work and relaxation) with parental consent. A total of 107 children aged 8–11 years were given consent by their parents to participate in the study and completed all measures. Children were allocated by the head teacher into the Control (n = 54) or Intervention (n = 53) Groups. The Control Group did not take part in the Self‐discovery Programme. Both groups continued to receive any additional support provided. Results indicate that children in the Intervention Group showed improvements in self‐confidence, social confidence, communication and contribution in the class. Children in the Intervention Group were noted by teachers to use skills learned on the Self‐discovery Programme during the school day.</p>
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This course will be an elective internship course for J.D. students enrolled in the College of Law. Students will enroll contemporaneously in a field placement where they will be supervised by practicing attorneys. Field placements can act as a bridge between the worlds of a law student and lawyer. Placing contemplative practice in the context of the practice of law offers students a unique opportunity to consider professional values at the heart of law. I would like to develop a course that would give law students in the program the basis for developing the steadiness within so that they can handle their challenging profession with dignity and integrity. The course would encourage the knowledge that they are who they are first, and that being a lawyer is just one of their talents that, used wisely with their other skills, can give them a satisfying, rather than struggling life. The course will introduce students to the foundations and practices of several disciplines through texts, meditation practice, experiential “homework” and journaling. The goal is to encourage students to have experiences not only in class but also on the job in order to introduce them to the value of contemplative practice within the context of law practice.
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This paper briefly reviews the evidence for multistore theories of memory and points out some difficulties with the approach. An alternative framework for human memory research is then outlined in terms of depth or levels of processing. Some current data and arguments are reexamined in the light of this alternative framework and implications for further research considered.
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<p>In this article, we review the appropriateness of ‘mindfulness’ as an educational goal and explore what it means to cultivate mindfulness as a disposition, that is, as an enduring trait, rather than a temporary state. We identify three high-leverage instructional practices for enculturating mindfulness: looking closely, exploring possibilities and perspectives, and introducing ambiguity. We conclude by exploring what it might look like to cultivate the trait of mindfulness within individual classrooms. This report includes a review of an experimental study of ‘conditional instruction,’ which explores mindfulness as a state, and then draws on a series of qualitative case studies of ‘thoughtful’ classrooms to provide an example of conditional instruction as it might serve to develop a disposition of mindfulness.</p>
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<p>The role of contemplative practice in adult education has a long history if one includes traditional monastic education in Asia and the West. Its use in American higher education is, however, more recent and more limited. Nonetheless, on the basis of evidence from surveys and conferences, a significant community of teachers exists at all levels of higher education, from community colleges to research universities, who are using a wide range of contemplative practices as part of their classroom pedagogy. In addition to existing well-developed pedagogical and curricular methods that school critical reasoning, critical reading and writing, and quantitative analysis, this article argues that we also require a pedagogy that attends to the development of reflective, contemplative, affective, and ethical capacities in our students. The significance of these is at least as great as the development of critical capacities in students. The rationale for the inclusion of contemplative modalities is articulated within this context. On the basis of considerable experience in teaching at Amherst College, I present an "epistemology of love," which emphasizes a form of inquiry that supports close engagement and leads to student transformation and insight. This approach to knowing is implemented in the Amherst College first-year course, Eros and Insight. It includes a specific sequence of contemplative exercises that are practiced by students and integrated with more conventional course content drawn from the arts and sciences. Our experience shows that students deeply appreciate the shift from conventional coursework to a more experiential, transformative, and reflective pedagogy.</p>
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<p>The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for the integration of mindfulness interventions into school counseling. Mindfulness practices currently are neither widely known nor well utilized in the school counseling environment. Implementation of mindfulness in schools may help students increase academic performance, develop social skills, and learn coping mechanisms to enhance their personal quality of life. By helping students learn to embrace and practice self-awareness, school counselors empower students to take ownership of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. In this article, historical foundations, basic tenets, current research, applications for school counseling, multicultural considerations, and implications are discussed.</p>
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