Mindfulness-Based Learning
Mindfulness-based learning (MBL) is an embodied way of teaching, leading, and being across all domains in education (emotional, social, content areas, academics, executive functioning, etc.) that focuses on the well-being of the whole self and whole learning community through mindfully cultivating awareness, connection, regulation, and equitable decisions as mindful global citizens.
It elevates and compliments any teaching/leading practices currently in place within schools. Mindfulness-based learning is when we take an inside-out approach with self-awareness through mindfulness and connect it to the explicitly taught educational skills through the outside-in instruction.
The foundation to this way of teaching and leading is what we call an "embodied way of teaching". Embodied teaching means that mindfulness-based learning is more than something you do, teach, or lead, it becomes WHO you are as a teacher or leader. This type of teaching and leading takes time, but has the biggest impact on your students, staff, education as a whole, and most importantly, you.
As a result, all members of your learning community have proactive ways to manage stress and anxiety, positive strategies for improving self-regulation, increased focus and attention, deeper compassion and understanding, and more. All of these benefits create the conditions for students to be ready to learn and increase their academic success at school while preparing them for life beyond school as mindful global citizens.
Educating Mindfully Framework
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Since mindfulness-based learning is based in embodied practices, there is no one avenue or prescribed method to follow. There are many different paths that are differentiated for each person; for this reason, the Educating Mindfully Mindfulness-Based Learning Framework was developed to provide guiding foundational principles around mindfulness-based learning that are holistic in nature, as well as broad and adaptable.
This framework was created to find an accessible way to explore concepts that can often feel abstract. Instead of typical implementation procedures, we offer a reframing lens of cultivating an evolving educational ecosystem. An ecosystem provides a certain sense of stability yet is constantly changing. Every component within the ecosystem is interconnected and provides nourishment for the other components with which it interacts.
(Frank, Rohrbach, Fullerton; Framework Contributors, 2024)
Learn how to integrate the framework through our Mindfulness-Based Learning Self-Guided Program.
Click the button below for supportive resources to help you integrate mindfulness-based learning across settings, especially resources for how to introduce the framework to the adults within your school/district/organization/community (printable, activity sheets, scripts, etc.).
Embodiment
The key word "embodied" varies from past approaches in education--especially for social, emotional, and well-being domains--because it advocates that adults learn and integrate mindfulness-based learning prior to, or alongside, their students.
Integrating embodied practices through mindfulness-based learning offers a sustainable and supportive solution for our evolving educational ecosystem.
Shifting our approach gives permission to educators and leaders to nurture their own well-being as an integral part of the educational experience.
Through Mindfulness-Based Learning, We Become
Mindful Global Citizens
Mindful Global Citizens value the interconnection between themselves and the world by embodying presence, self-awareness, cultural competence, and social justice. They are lifelong learners who take action and advocate for an equitable, ethical, and sustainable society.
(Frank, Rohrbach, Fullerton; Framework Contributors 2024)
Mindfulness-Based Learning
Skill Progression
The mindfulness-based learning skill progression (see below) becomes a continuum for the development of skills across all domains, especially social and emotional, through mindfulness and embodiment. It takes the current foundational awareness of social and emotional learning and moves into connection as a bridge.
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Defines each mindfulness-based learning skill
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Shows how mindfulness amplifies each SEL competency as it is currently understood
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Becomes a proactive approach to social and emotional skill developement for adults and children across all domains in education (not just social and emotional learning)
SEL Skill MBL Skill
Supportive Research & Resources
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Educating Mindfully's Mindfulness-Based Learning Self-Guided Program
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CASEL’s Guide To Schoolwide SEL Implementation, especially Focus Area 2: Strengthening Adult SEL
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Chapter 5 of The Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Integrating Theory and Research Into Practice
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Braun, S., Greenberg, M., Roeser, R., Taylor, L., Montero-Marin, J., Crane, C., Williams, J., Sonley, A., Lord, L., Ford, T., Team, T., & Kuyken, W. (2024). Teachers’ Stress and Training in a School-Based Mindfulness Program: Implementation Results from a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of School Psychology, 104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2024.101288
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Braun, S. S., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., & Roeser, R. W. (2020). Effects of teachers’ emotion regulation, burnout, and life satisfaction on student well-being. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 69, 101151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2020.101151
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CASEL. (2020). Fundamentals of SEL. CASEL. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/
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Cipriano, C., Strambler, M. J., Naples, L., Ha, C., Kirk, M. A., Wood, M., Sehgal, K., Zieher, A., Eveleigh, A., McCarthy, M. F., Funaro, M., Ponnock, A., Chow, J., & Durlak, J. (2023). Stage 2 Report: The State of the Evidence for Social and Emotional Learning: A Contemporary Meta-Analysis of Universal School-Based SEL Interventions. OSF Preprints. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/mk35u
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Division of Adolescent and School Health. (2023, December 5). Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being in Schools. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/mental-health-action-guide/index.html
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Domitrovich CE, Bradshaw CP, Greenberg MT, et al. Integrated models of schoolbased prevention: logic and theory. Psychol Sch 2010;47:71–88
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Dunning, D., Griffiths, K., Kuyken, W., Crane, C., Foulkes, L., Parker, J., & Dalgleish, T. (2019). Research review: the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents – a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12980
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Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions: Social and Emotional Learning. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
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Durlak, J., Mahoney, J., & Boyle, A. (2022). What we know, and what we need to find out about universal, school-based social and emotional learning programs for children and adolescents: A review of meta-analyses and directions for future research. 148, 765–782. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000383
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Espelage, D. L., Rose, C. A., & Polanin, J. R. (2015). Social-Emotional Learning Program to Reduce Bullying, Fighting, and Victimization Among Middle School Students With Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 36(5), 299–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932514564564
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Granziera, H., Martin, A., & Collie, R. (2023). Teacher well-being and student achievement: A multilevel analysis. Social Psychology of Education, 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-022-09751-1
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Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The Prosocial Classroom: Teacher Social and Emotional Competence in Relation to Student and Classroom Outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693
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Jones, S. M., & Kahn, J. (2017). The Evidence Base for How Learning Happens. American Educator, 17–21. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1164389.pdf
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Kuyken, W., Ball, S., Crane, C., Ganguli, P., Jones, B., Montero-Marin, J., Nuthall, E., Raja, A., Taylor, L., Tudor, K., Viner, R.M., Allwood, A., Auckland, L., Dunning, D., Casey, T., Dalrymple, N., De Wilde, K., Farley, E.-R., Harper, J., … Williams, J. (2022). Effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision on teacher mental health and school climate: results of the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ Mental Health, 25(3), 125-134. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmental-2022-300424
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Lantieri, L., & Zakrzewski, V. (2015). How SEL and mindfulness can work together. Greater Good Magazine. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_social_emotional_learning_and_mindfulness_can_work_together
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Lawlor, M. S. (2016). Mindfulness and social emotional learning (SEL): A conceptual framework. In Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Integrating Theory and Research into Practice (pp. 65–80). New York, NY: Springer New York : Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3506-2_5
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NCES. (2023, December). Press Release—Eight Percent of Public School Teachers Left Teaching in 2021, a Rate Unchanged Since Last Measured in 2012—December 13, 2023. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/12_13_2023.asp
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Oberle, E., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2016). Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students. Social Science & Medicine, 159, 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.04.031
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Schonert-Reichl, K., Buote, D., Baelen, R., Lovett, J., Al-Khalaf, M., Thoursby Bourke, K., Galloway, C., Parker, A., & Baghdady, A. (2023). Leveraging the evidence on the relationship between teacher and student well-being in learning and teaching: A scoping review and educator and student interviews. Qatar Foundation. https://www.wise-qatar.org/app/uploads/2023/11/2023-wise-report-leveraging-the-evidence.pdf
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Tudor K, Maloney S, Raja A, et al. Universal mindfulness training in schools for adolescents: a scoping review and conceptual model of Moderators, mediators, and implementation factors. Prev Sci 2022. doi:10.1007/s11121-022-01361-9. [Epub ahead of print: 10 Mar 2022].
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Williams, M., Kuyken, W., Blakemore, S.-J., & Dalgleish, T. (2024). Call to Action: Where to Next? MYRIAD Project. https://myriadproject.org/what-we-did/call-to-action-where-to-next/