Education Resources: K-12

Mindfulness: A Guide for Teachers by Dr. Amy Saltzman

Created as an educational resource to complement the PBS special “The Buddha” in partnership with the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, this document provides a working definition of mindfulness, an overview of the scientific rationale for offering mindfulness to children and adolescents, a review of the professional and personal benefits of practicing mindfulness, specific suggestions for developing your own mindfulness practice (which is a prerequisite to sharing mindfulness with your students), and two examples of practices you can use in your classroom.

The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society does not run programs specifically tailored to the needs of early childhood and K-12 educators, and so we have compiled these links to guide you to some organizations which do specialize in this area.

• Association for Mindfulness in Education (AME)
  A collaborative association of organizations and individuals working together to provide support for mindfulness training as a component of K-12 education.
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
  CASEL seeks to establish social and emotional learning as an essential part of education.
• Garrison Institute’s Initiative on Contemplation and Education
  Working to develop the field of contemplative education for K-12 educators and classrooms.
• Inward Bound Mindfulness Education
  A non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of teens, parents, and professionals.
• Mind Body Awareness Project
  A non-profit organization with a unique mental training program consisting of mindfulness meditation and emotional intelligence exercises designed to strengthen youth’s minds, relieve their toxic stress, and build their ability to make better decisions.
• Mindful Education programs (from the AME)
  A directory of schools and programs in mindful education; also available as an interactive map.
• Mindful Schools
  A non-profit organization that offers in-class instruction for children, a complete multi-level training program for adults, and other resources to support mindfulness in education.”
• Mindfulness in Education Network (MiEN)
  Manages an active Yahoo Group/mailing list with news, announcements and events for educators who want to bring a contemplative awareness to their work.
• Passageworks Institute
  Supporting educators with practices and principles that integrate social, emotional and academic learning and create meaningful and rigorous relationship-based classrooms.
• The Inner Kids Foundation
  Teaching mindful awareness programs in under-served schools and neighborhoods in Los Angeles since 2000.