Three Mindful School Leaders

Kirsten Olson, Ed.D., PCCEARCOS 2013

1

Corwin Press 20142

Valerie Brown, ordained by Thich Nhat Hahn as a Member of the Tiep Hien Order in 2003,

Former lawyer, Now retreat leader and leadership coach

My co-author!

3

“MINDFULNESS IS AWARENESS, CULTIVATED

BY PAYING ATTENTION ON

PURPOSE, IN THE PRESENT MOMENT,

NON-JUDGMENTALLY.”-JON KABAT-ZINN

Professor of Medicine Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, and founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic

4

5

WHY PRACTICE MINDFULNESS?

6

•The “separated self ”

•Human biology: fight, flight, freeze

•New understandings of cognitive implications of stress

•Positive neuroplasticity (Rick Hanson)

7

“THE UNTRAINED MIND IS LIKE A YOUNG PUPPY, RUNNING WILD THROUGH THE HOUSE,

SOILING THE FURNITURE, AND DESPITE ITS PLAYFULNESS, UPSETTING EVERYONE AND RULING THE ROOST.”

-KARUNA CAYTON, THE MISLEADING MIND (2012)

8

• Helps train attention, focus, creativity

• Helps create self-awareness, better self-management

• Can build more positive mental habits in place of old ones

• “Well-being is a choice.”

MINDFULNESS BENEFITS

9

Free mindfulness practices available...

10

LEADER #1Breath practice 3 times a day

Superintendent of large public school systemon West Coast: budget shortfall due to state fiscal crisis

and performance pressures intensifyingas school population becomes more diverse

11

LEADER #2Daily Meditation

Daily Breath PracticeDaily Body Scan

Asks Staff to Begin Meetings With a Pause

Chief Academic Officer of charter school in urban Northeast.Highly competitive charter school environment; her network of her

charter schools have declining test performance.

12

LEADER #3-Mindfulness central PD focus for 2 years

-Key Staff Members Participated in MBSR or MINDFUL SCHOOLS program

-Brings mindfulness leaders to campus for lectures/retreats-Students involved/trained in mindfulness practices

Independent K-12 in mid-West.

13

PRACTICE!

• Most require support to get started

• Hard to know “if it’s working...”

• Keep going

• Small commitments that build

• Mindfulness apps

• Many free online meditation programs

Susan Piver Open Heart Project

http://susanpiver.com/

open-heart-project/

14

Resources To Get Started

• Search Inside Yourself, Chade-Meng Tan (2012)

• Mindfulness For Beginners, Jon Kabat-Zinn (2012)

• Mindful Schools http://www.mindfulschools.org/resources/healthy-habits-of-mind/

• A Hidden Wholeness, Parker Palmer (2004)

• Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness, Deborah Schoeberlein (2009)

• Mindfulness in Education Network http://www.mindfuled.org http://www.mindfuled.org

• Mind and Life Institute http://www.mindandlife.org

• UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22

• Be The Change, Ed and Deb Shapiro (2009)

• Sounds True Meditation and Guided Practice catalog http://www.soundstrue.com/shop/Meditation-and-Guided-Practices/browse/2

• Insight Meditation Centers and Retreats http://www.dharma.org/meditation-retreats

• Review of mindfulness apps http://www.mindful.org/mindful-magazine/mindfulness-apps

15