A meditation program designed to calm school students is being expanded to help stressed Queensland principals and teachers.
The success of the 10-week daily meditation program for primary school students demonstrated that just five minutes of meditation per day is enough to create a significant reduction in anxiety and stress.
Clinical psychologist Dr Peta Stapleton is the Bond University professor who led the program’s implementation and study and says several principals have subsequently requested a tailored version of the meditation program for school leaders after hearing about its success.
Stapleton believes the student program indicates meditation could be a powerful tool to boost children’s happiness and improve their well-being.
The 10-week mindfulness program was conducted by a meditation expert for 552 children between the ages of four-eight, and 287 children aged nine–12.
“Results for the four–eight years group showed daily meditation of five minutes predicted an increase in happiness and self-reported school performance, and a decrease in emotional and behavioural difficulties,” says Stapleton.
“In the nine–11 years group, seven minutes of meditation predicted an increase in emotional awareness and a decrease in emotional and behavioural difficulties as measured by scores from baseline to post-intervention.”
De-stressing teachers could improve retention
With growing awareness about the increased prevalence of psychological distress among school children, the National Mental Health Commission has identified the issue as one of the biggest challenges facing schools.
But students are not alone in being impacted by stress and anxiety and by expanding the meditation program to include teachers and principals, Stapleton says school leaders are hoping it may offer greater support to help educators face the demands of their roles, which can affect their job-performance and overall well-being.
“We weren’t looking at expanding (the program) but the demand from education sector was strong,” Stapleton says.
She now plans to produce purpose-designed stress-reduction videos to 50 principals and senior teachers in a new study.
“Hopefully they will walk away with useful strategies,” she says.
“We don’t have a magic wand to wave, but we are confident this is a good start.”
Tips for improving sleep, as well as instructions on Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT, or ‘tapping’), will be included in the videos.
EFT is a self-applied stress-reduction technique that involves physical stimulation of acupuncture points.
Stapleton hopes educator-specific meditation study could help the education sector enjoy better teacher retention and stem the tide of teachers leaving the profession due mounting workloads and increased stress.
“We’re seeing a clear drift away from the status of teaching being something to aspire to, and the fade in students targeting university studies,” says Stapleon.
