Fostering a Growth Mindset: Elementary Teacher Experiences Using Mindfulness Practices

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore the experiences of eight elementary school educators in Saskatchewan using mindfulness within their classrooms, and their ideas as to how mindfulness can impact the children’s body esteem. The present study utilized a thematic analytical research design using semi-structured interviews to explore teachers’ observations about using mindfulness practices with their students. A Four-Component Theoretical Model of Mindfulness (Hölzel, Lazar, Gard, Schuman-Olivier, Vago, & Ott, 2011) contextualized the analysis of the data generated from the participant interviews. Six major themes emerged from the interview data: (1) The Minds of Mindfulness: MindUp, Tech-Minded, and the Creative Mind, which described the types of formal and informal mindfulness programming that Saskatchewan-based teachers were using in their classrooms; (2) Tools in the Toolbox: Kids’ Personal Use of the Language and Techniques of Mindfulness, which focused on the spontaneous use of the mindfulness principles and emotional language learned within the classroom as it is applied to other contexts, and the ability of the students to grasp the concepts of mindfulness and use it independently; (3) Capability and Confidence, which described how mindfulness impacted the students’ mindset by helping them to focus on their abilities and possibilities for growth, rather than on fixed concepts, such as their physical appearance; (4) Differences and Diversity: How They Affect Body Image, which centred on how the participants viewed differences in race, culture, and sexuality as stronger contributing factors to body image than the traditional factors of weight and shape; (5) Teacher Talk: How Teachers Aren’t Hearing About Body Image in Their Young Classes, which focused on the participants’ lack of awareness of any body image issues in their young children, with students only beginning to talk to teachers about any negative perceptions of their bodies in the upper age range of this study (i.e., Grade 4 and 5); and (6) The Drawback Duo and the Benefit Bunch, which described the main drawbacks (i.e., time away from curriculum and initial scepticism from the children) and benefits (i.e., better focus, calmer students) of using mindfulness practices with their students.