Poster for Mindfulness at Work 2014 Conference by Dr Laura Bakosh, Dr. Renee Snow, Dr. Jutta Tobias and Janice Houlihan (Collaboration project: Sofia University, Innerexplorer.org, Cranfield University) #MAWC14

1. Maximising Mindful Learning: An Innovative Mindfulness Intervention Improves Elementary Students’ Quarterly Grades
Dr Laura Bakosh, Dr. Renee Snow, Dr. Jutta Tobias and Janice Houlihan (Collaboration project: Sofia University, Innerexplorer.org, Cranfield University)
For more information, email jutta.tobias@cranfield.ac.uk
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Quasi-experiment in 2 non-private US elementary schools
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93 third-graders participated in daily 10-minute “MBSEL” (Mindfulness-Based Social and Emotional Learning) practice
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98 students were in (waitlist) control group
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MBSEL practice was modelled on MBSR method
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All practice sessions had been tailored to school settings & had been pre-recorded in audio format
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After 3 months, participating students’ grades in reading & science improved statistically significantly
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4 other grades did not change significantly
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Problem behaviour incidents in participating classrooms decreased
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Teachers reportedly benefited from the mindfulness practice also
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No prior teacher training in mindfulness was needed –
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This may be cost effective for resource-constrained non-private schools
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No changes to classroom curriculum were required –
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The short daily practice may be easy to integrate into school operations
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Follow-up research underway currently to ascertain subject-specific effect of MBSEL training &/or other boundary effects of the observed findings.
Research conducted in collaboration with