Implementing mindfulness and yoga in urban schools: a community-academic partnership
Abstract
Purpose
Mindfulness-based interventions – which train capacities for attention, awareness, compassion, and self-regulation of thoughts and emotions – may offer unique benefits for urban youth exposed to chronic stress and adversity. Urban schools are promising settings in which to integrate mindfulness-based interventions; however, they pose complex challenges for intervention implementation and evaluation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reflects on the experiences of our community-academic partnership conducting two school-based randomised trials on a mindfulness and yoga programme. The programme was developed by the Holistic Life Foundation and was delivered to middle school students in public schools serving disadvantaged urban communities.
Findings
This paper discusses barriers and facilitating factors related to effective intervention delivery and evaluation, presents recommendations for future work and reflects on the potential benefits of mindfulness-based practices for students, teachers and schools.
Originality/value
The paper offers a detailed account of challenges and opportunities associated with implementing mindfulness-based practices in urban school settings.
Keywords
Citation
Mendelson, T., K. Dariotis, J., Feagans Gould, L., S.R. Smith, A., A. Smith, A., A. Gonzalez, A. and T. Greenberg, M. (2013), "Implementing mindfulness and yoga in urban schools: a community-academic partnership", Journal of Children's Services, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 276-291. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-07-2013-0024
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited