Mindfulness in schoolwork: More empathy – less stress
The second year of a project to introduce mindfulness into the work of the Smáralundur nursery school has begun. The first year was spent working exclusively with the staff, who experienced first-hand how to use mindfulness in their daily routine. The children are now being given specific tools to help them better manage themselves and slow their reaction time to stimuli.
Mindfulness introduced into Smáralundur's work
The second year of a project to introduce mindfulness into the work of the Smáralundur nursery school has begun. In the first year, the focus was solely on the staff, who experienced first-hand what it is like to use mindfulness in their daily work. According to Inga Fríða Tryggvadóttir, the head teacher, the staff can already feel that the children are being given certain tools to have better control over themselves and to lengthen their reaction time to stimuli. The local paper, Hafnfirðingur, paid a visit.
Inga Fríða says that two years ago she had a friend give a staff meeting at the nursery school to discuss positive psychology, yoga and her experience of mindfulness. „After listening to her, the staff were very keen to work with this and subsequently we applied for a grant from the Public Health Fund, which we received. After that, the ball started rolling and the first year was dedicated solely to working with the staff. This autumn, all the staff attended a training course with the “The Gift of Now' curriculum, and this winter we will be introducing that curriculum with the children." Both parents and teachers of the eldest children completed questionnaires last September and will do so again this spring. „Then we will see if there is a significant difference in the children's well-being and behaviour. But we can already feel that we are giving the children certain tools to have better self-control and to lengthen their reaction time to stimuli. We are therefore really excited to be entering this second winter of the project.
A significant positive change
In the first year, the work was carried out exclusively with the staff, who experienced first-hand what it is like to use mindfulness in their daily lives. They completed questionnaires before and after the intervention. Between the measurements, there was a significant positive change in three assessment factors; self-compassion, general executive function and perseverance, which increased significantly. Stress and depression were factors that decreased somewhat between measurements. The average on the so-called “happiness question' also increased significantly, from 7.3 to 8.6," says Inga Fríða. This spring, the nursery staff went on a study trip to Tossa De Mar where they took part in a mindfulness course with Bryndís Jóna Jónsdóttir. There, they looked at how to maintain work with mindfulness, worked with the staff team and brought them together.
Guided mindfulness sessions
Last autumn, the staff team attended a teacher training course on the curriculum for children called The Gift of Now – a mindfulness and wellbeing curriculum for nursery and primary schools, by the author Sara Silverton. We learnt about specific themes in the curriculum and also looked at the daily schedule, how we can utilise mindfulness sessions, e.g. whether we could adapt it and give certain elements more space. We have now started targeted mindfulness sessions in the classrooms, where we are exploring the themes from the curriculum. We also use every opportunity in our daily work for mindfulness. After the winter, the questionnaires will be answered again and it will be exciting to see if there is a significant difference in the children's well-being and behaviour,„ says Inga Fríða, optimistic and composed.