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Mindful Schools



If you're reading this 
blog, you've probably  heard of Mindful Schools, an outfit based in California that provides on-line classes in mindfulness (mindfulschools.org). 

Right now they offer three coures, an introductory "fundamentals" course; a "curriculum training" course; and  a year-long "teacher certification" course. They also have links and resources on their webpage. As of this writing, I've taken both the fundamentals course, and the CT (curriculum training) course. 

I had taken an eight week MBSR course many years ago (mindfulness-based stress reduction)- which is a very thorough introduction to mindfulness-  so I wasn't sure if I would learn anything new by enrolling in the six week "fundamentals" class. But when I took it with a colleague a couple summers ago, I really enjoyed it. There was information from neuroscience that wasn't available back in 2001, and there were, I found, some very subtle but helpful insights in the on-line course. And the e-learning format was new to me, and a challenge in itself.  

It was also perfect to do over the summer. 

This winter I completed the next course, the "Curriculum Training" (CT) course. Again, it was six weeks long, and focused on bringing the practice of mindfulness into the classroom and to important stakeholders in education. It was a sophisticated combination of videos from the instructors, as well as slides and LOTS of reading materials. (It really brought home the potential and future of e-learning, too. )

I could truly spend several weeks reading re-reading, and digesting materials from the CT course. And the homework pieces were very do-able, but designed to be as time consuming as I wanted them to be. 

Clearly mindfulness in education is a growing field, with lots of facets that need careful study and research. But it also holds tremendous potential for educators, and those they teach.

Mindful Schools is helping to shape that "container", which can be very different from a therapeutic setting  in which it is normally taught. I feel privileged and excited to be part of this blossoming field. 







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