Mindful Learning

Mindfulness is increasingly being used in educational environments as a proven way to help students: • learn more effectively • develop personally • enhance their physical and emotional health, and • deal with study and exam-related demands. Written by two leading experts with many years of personal and clinical experience, Mindful Learning provides practical insights and exercises on how to apply mindfulness in any educational setting. The result is a book that clearly sets out how you can: • manage stress • improve performance • enhance communication • develop more meaningful relationships • unlock creativity • improve mental flexibility and problem-solving ability, and • use technology wisely. Whatever your age, whatever your learning environment, mindfulness can make a positive difference, and Mindful Learning shows you how.

Radical in its implications, this original and important work may change forever the views we hold about the nature of learning. In The Power of Mindful Learning, Ellen Langer uses her innovative theory of mindulness, introduced in her influential earlier book, to dramatically enhance the way we learn. In business, sports, laboratories, or at home, our learning is hobbled by certain antiquated and pervasive misconceptions. In this pithy, liberating, and delightful book she gives us a fresh, new view of learning in the broadest sense. Such familiar notions as delayed gratification, ”the basics”, or even ”right answers”, are all incapacitating myths which Langer explodes one by one. She replaces them with her concept of mindful or conditional learning which she demonstrates, with fascinating examples from her research, to be extraordinarily effective. Mindful learning takes place with an awareness of context and of the ever-changing nature of information. Learning without this awareness, as Langer shows convincingly, has severely limited uses and often sets on up for failure.With stunning applications to skills as diverse as paying attention, CPR, investment analysis, psychotherapy, or playing a musical instrument, The Power of Mindful Learning is for all who are curious and intellectually adventurous.

Discover 101 classroom-tested answers to the question, "How can I make my teaching more effective?" This second edition provides 101 research-based instructional strategies that teachers can immediately implement in the classroom to meet heightened accountability mandates and improve student achievement. Each technique is compatible with brain-based teaching styles and has a proven history with students of diverse ages, languages, abilities, and socioeconomic status. This revised edition features new strategies and graphics based on the latest research on improving learning, a greater emphasis on teaching students in special populations, and a reorganized structure that puts specific information at your fingertips. With ready-to-use forms, checklists, updated resources, this indispensable manual will help you provide meaningful learning experiences to promote every student's academic success

Mindfulness for Young Adults: Tools to Thrive in School and Life is an interactive experience designed to enhance mindful awareness and to aid in teaching and learning the principles and practice of mindfulness. Blending theory, research, and practice to offer a comprehensive program for young adults to build well-being tools, each of the book's five modules includes engaging information, strategies, meditations, and activities designed to deepen understanding and application of mindfulness. It includes practical techniques to cope with emotions, work with thoughts, navigate stress, build resilience, make aligned choices, and be more present in life and relationships. In addition to the reflection and meditation activities found at the end of each module, the text also features a "resources" section complete with a mock exam, tips for course design, and resources for further study. Designed for both students and instructors, this workbook can be used independently or in the classroom as either a textbook to an introductory mindfulness course or as a supplement for teaching well-being practices in any discipline.

This book provides original ideas and practical recommendations for educators in a post-pandemic world. We live in a world that has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Students around the globe have been besieged by disruptions that threaten not only their academic learning but also their mental, emotional, and interpersonal well-being. In the midst of pressing and mounting challenges, how can schools ensure the total wellness of all their students? Beyond reactive, piecemeal, and short-term measures, how can schools enact mindful education that pays attention to wholeness in every student? Extending the current research on well-being and mindfulness, this book draws insights from Confucian and Christian traditions. These two traditions have been selected as they are widely seen to represent, and have impacted, Eastern and Western civilisations respectively for millennia. Informed and inspired by Confucian and Christian perspectives, this book proposes that mindfulness is an orientation towards wholeness, where one experiences he (harmony) and shalom (peace). Mindful education is realised through: A school community of ren (humanity) and agape (love); A transforming curriculum that centres on dao (way) and imago dei (god’s image); Empathic teachers who are motivated by shu (putting oneself in the other’s place) and the Golden Rule (do to others as you would have them do to you); and Self-directed learners who develop themselves through xiuji (self-cultivation) and spiritual disciplines. Applying ancient wisdom to contemporary settings, this book on promoting student well-being through mindful education is a useful resource for policymakers, educators, researchers, and general readers.

We are now experiencing what is being called ‘the mindfulness revolution’, as increasingly people become aware of the benefits of mindfulness in all aspects of daily life. This book focuses on individuals, couples, families, groups and businesses to provide a practical guide for using mindfulness to enrich relationships and more effectively manage the stresses associated with dispute resolution and conflict. The authors clearly and engagingly explore how we can use mindfulness to: • develop a more compassionate, friendly relationship with ourselves and others • increase awareness of our own and others’ relational patterns • calm and soothe our emotions and be there for others • communicate more effectively • enhance connection and empathy • reduce defensive patterns, allowing for more authenticity, and • work effectively within families and larger systems such as workplaces. Case studies are included throughout to highlight key principles, as well as practical exercises to enable the reader to develop their mindfulness skills.

A new educational paradigm for youth mindfulness. “If you are a teacher, or an educator, or involved in school administration and curriculum development, the book you hold in your hands has the potential to transform your life, the lives of your students, and the life of the school itself, as well as education in America.”—Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, from the Foreword With attention spans waning and stress on the rise, many teachers are looking for new ways to help students concentrate, learn, and thrive. The Way of Mindful Education is a practical guide for cultivating attention, compassion, and well-being not only in these students, but also in teachers themselves. Packed with lesson plans, exercises, and considerations for specific age groups and students with special needs, this working manual demonstrates the real world application of mindfulness practices in K-12 classrooms. Part I, Why Mindful Education Matters, explains what mindfulness is, the science behind its benefits for students and educators, and the inspiring work that is already underway in the Mindful Education movement. In Part II, Begin with Yourself, we are reminded that in order to teach mindfully, we need to be mindful. Here teachers will learn the when, where, and how of mindfulness so they can effectively embody its practices with their students. Mindfulness practices offer teachers self-care and attention skills that prepare them to teach with greater energy and mastery. Discover how simple exercises can help manage stress, focus attention, develop compassion, and savor positive experiences in everyday life. Part III, Cultivating a Mindful Classroom, explores the qualities of a mindful teacher, the ingredients of a mindful learning environment, and helpful skills for appropriate, supportive work with cultural diversity, student stress and trauma, and varying age groups and developmental stages. Finally, in Part IV, Mindful Education Curriculum, we learn eighteen ready-to-use mindfulness lessons for use in schools. These practical exercises, designed to foster skills like embodiment, attention, heartfulness, and interconnectedness, can be readily adapted for any age group and population, and the author draws from his extensive personal experience to offer a wealth of tips for introducing them to students in real-time. Decades of research indicate the impressive benefits of mindfulness in social, emotional, and cognitive development, and as an antidote to emotional dysregulation, attention deficits, and social difficulties. This book invites teachers, administrators, and anyone else involved in education to take advantage of this vital tool and become purveyors of a mindful, compassionate, ethical, and effective way of teaching.

A structured curriculum of classroom-ready lessons, practices, and worksheets for actualizing a powerful new educational paradigm: student mindfulness. This workbook offers a step-by-step curriculum of classroom-ready mindfulness lessons for personal and professional development. It’s a trove of fun, easy activities specially designed to help educators engage K-12 students and cultivate mindful attributes like attention, compassion, and well-being. Rich with simple and effective tips, techniques, worksheets, and guided exercises developed through extensive on-the-ground experience with real students and teachers, The Mindful Education Workbook empowers readers with all the tools they need to integrate mindful education in the school day.