Thich Nhat Hanh Mindfulness in Education: Happy Teachers Will Change The World

[JeffreyPflaum]

Mindfulness/Self-Awareness techniques work to develop and improve all the "self-words" you can imagine along with expanding academic skills, especially through the skill of visualization, that is a necessity for reading, writing, thinking, and creativity. I know my own project--running for many years in a tough inner-city school/district with great students--was extremely successful because we "practiced" contemplation to music two to three times a week. You also need a writing component for kids to describe their contemplated inner experiences followed up by discussions with classmates/teacher along with evaluations to see where they're at emotionally, socially, intellectually, and psychologically. Throughout the school year I used relevant quotations based on the majority of the students' writings/discussions to organize and make sense of their inner/outer experiences. The ultimate goal is to make the journey in and out: students get into their heads and then take it out to connect/communicate with others/classmates. I'm still in communication with many of my former students--now adults in their 40s and 50s--on Facebook and even in real life. The key also, for my work, is that the students "bought into" what I was trying to in the 70s. "Music listening" made the difference for my circumstances and eased the kids into peaceful self-journeys that are not always fun and pleasant and can be really challenging.