Teacher Perceptions of Mindfulness in Education

This research study explores teachers’ perceptions of mindfulness interventions in Toronto classrooms. As mental health education gains greater priority in Ontario schools, mindfulness has taken the forefront as one of the key approaches of addressing student well- being. Through face-to-face interviews, I was able to collect information from three teachers utilizing mindfulness in their classrooms and their beliefs around the strengths and weaknesses of mindfulness for student well-being. The interview process elucidated that all teachers felt mindfulness would benefit the emotional regulation of their students and would contribute to students’ abilities to achieve relaxation and to strengthen cognitive skills such as listening and focus. The challenges of utilizing mindfulness in the classroom included the limited time and place for mindfulness implementation within the curriculum and academic day and the greater need for mindfulness teacher training in order to effectively transmit mindfulness pedagogy in a meaningful way