Listen to the Children: Elementary School Students' Perspectives on a Mindfulness Intervention

Abstract

In recent years, mindfulness-based practices in grade schools have been associated with students’ improved cognitive skills and general classroom behavior. In the majority of studies, however, only teacher and parent feedback are elicited, omitting a considerably significant voice – that of the students. Our study aims to fill this gap by exploring student opinions and perceptions regarding the implementation of a classroom-based mindfulness program. Elementary school students (N = 51) took part in teacher-facilitated mindfulness activities which were incorporated into their daily classroom routines. Over the course of the 8-week intervention period, students participated in focus groups about their perceptions of the program. Through qualitative content analysis, two major findings emerged from the focus group data: student opinions about the mindfulness program varied substantially and the mindfulness activities were not always liked and enjoyed. Critically, if students do not enjoy classroom-based mindfulness programs, they may be less motivated to engage in mindful activities and in turn may not experience the benefits that mindfulness has to offer. To maximize student engagement with mindfulness while addressing their concerns, the following recommendations are made: A balance between the entertaining and educational aspects of the program, flexible program delivery, and encouraging students to pursue mindful living outside of the classroom. This research is important to educational and clinical practitioners as student insight will benefit the development and modification of classroom-based mindfulness programs to ensure that students are better able to engage with and benefit from these programs.

Full text

Journal of Child and Family Studies (2022) 31:2108–2120
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02292-3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Listen to the Children: Elementary School Students' Perspectives on
a Mindfulness Intervention
Andrea M. D’Alessandro1●Kaitlyn M. Butterfield2●Lerna Hanceroglu3●Kim P. Roberts 4
Accepted: 4 March 2022 / Published online: 29 April 2022
© The Author(s) 2022, corrected publication 2022
Abstract
In recent years, mindfulness-based practices in grade schools have been associated with students’improved cognitive skills
and general classroom behavior. In the majority of studies, however, only teacher and parent feedback are elicited, omitting a
considerably significant voice –that of the students. Our study aims to fill this gap by exploring student opinions and
perceptions regarding the implementation of a classroom-based mindfulness program. Elementary school students (N=51)
took part in teacher-facilitated mindfulness activities which were incorporated into their daily classroom routines. Over the
course of the 8-week intervention period, students participated in focus groups about their perceptions of the program.
Through qualitative content analysis, two major findings emerged from the focus group data: student opinions about the
mindfulness program varied substantially and the mindfulness activities were not always liked and enjoyed. Critically, if
students do not enjoy classroom-based mindfulness programs, they may be less motivated to engage in mindful activities and
in turn may not experience the benefits that mindfulness has to offer. To maximize student engagement with mindfulness
while addressing their concerns, the following recommendations are made: A balance between the entertaining and
educational aspects of the program, flexible program delivery, and encouraging students to pursue mindful living outside of
the classroom. This research is important to educational and clinical practitioners as student insight will benefit the
development and modification of classroom-based mindfulness programs to ensure that students are better able to engage
with and benefit from these programs.
Keywords Mindfulness ●Student perspectives ●Semi-structured interviews ●Classroom-based mindfulness intervention ●
Self-regulation
Highlights
●This study investigated 6th-and-8th-grade students’experience with an 8-week classroom-based mindfulness program.
●Focus groups were held to gain a comprehensive understanding of children’s perspectives on the mindfulness program.
●Qualitative content analysis of the focus group data revealed key themes from the children’s narratives.
●Students opinions varied and the mindfulness activities were not always enjoyed.
●Balance, flexibility, and encouragement are recommended to maximize student engagement with mindfulness activities.
Mindfulness-based interventions have been of considerable
interest to school psychologists, teachers and parents over
the past decade given empirical evidence of the beneficial
effects of mindfulness on children’s attention, well-being,
self-regulation and cognitive control (Schonert-Reichl et al.,
2015). The majority of published studies highlight parent
and teacher perspectives of classroom-based mindfulness
interventions (e.g., Layland, 2019, Schonert-Reichl & Law-
lor, 2010) with quantitative analyses of children’s cognitive
and emotional outcomes post-intervention (e.g., Flook et al.,
2010; Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015). First-hand accounts
*Kim P. Roberts
kroberts@wlu.ca
1McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
2York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
3University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
4Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Ave West,
Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada
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from the children who participate in mindfulness interven-
tions, however, are rarely presented (Sapthiang et al., 2019).
It is imperative to investigate children’s actual experience
with mindful programming to ensure that they are comfor-
table engaging in mindful activities and are able to experi-
ence the benefits of mindfulness training in their future lives.
Additionally, student opinions will provide necessary data to
continually raise the quality of mindful programming in
schools.
Benefits of Classroom-Based Mindfulness
Jon Kabat-Zinn (2003)defined mindfulness as the practice of
purposefully orienting attention to the present internal and
external environment while embracing experience non-
judgmentally. The origins of mindful practice rest in tradi-
tional Buddhist meditation that emphasizes awareness that
emerges through paying attention to the present moment
through the acceptance of moment-by-moment experiences
in a nonjudgmental manner (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Westernized
mindfulness programs take a more secular approach where
the purposive, nonjudgmental direction of attention to the
present moment is applied both through meditation (as in
traditional approaches) and less traditional activities such as
eating or listening (Albrecht et al., 2012). Mindfulness
training is effective in improving physical and emotional
health in adults (Teasdale, 1999) and has thus been applied to
numerous clinical and non-clinical domains including, but
not limited to, chronic pain management (e.g., Kabat-Zinn,
1982; Moore & Martin, 2015), attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (e.g., van der Oord et al., 2012;vanderWeijer-
Bergsma et al., 2012), anxiety (e.g., Koszycki et al., 2007;
Craigie et al., 2008), and depression (e.g., Ramel et al., 2004;
Finucane & Mercer, 2006).
More recently, mindfulness-based practices have been
implemented within grade school classrooms worldwide to
target self-regulation, attention, and general classroom
behavior (Black & Fernando, 2014, Malboeuf-Hurtubise
et al., 2017, Napoli et al., 2005, Sapthiang et al., 2019,
Sciutto et al., 2021, Willis & Dinehart, 2014). Mindful
programs generally result in positive impacts on school-
aged children within the domains of academic achievement
(e.g., through improved attentional control) (e.g., Bakosh
et al., 2016, Hanceroglu, 2017, Shoval, 2011), social and
emotional well-being (e.g., Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor,
2010, Semple et al., 2010, Wall, 2005) and improvements in
both symptoms of internalizing and externalizing disorders
(e.g., Bögels et al., 2008, Felver et al., 2013, Malboeuf-
Hurtubise et al., 2017, Napoli et al., 2005, Sciutto et al.,
2021, Singh et al., 2010). For instance, Bakosh et al. (2016)
investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of an 8-week
mindfulness-based social and emotional learning program
on the academic performance of third graders. The teacher-
delivered mindful programming involved 10 min per day of
a pre-recorded audio guide based on mindfulness-based
stress reduction practices that encourage awareness of the
present internal and external environment. Compared to
controls, students who participated in the mindful pro-
gramming achieved significant enhancements in quarterly
grades for both reading and science.
In another study, a randomized control design was used to
compare the effectiveness of a mindfulness program
(MindUp!) to a social responsibility control program imple-
mented by classroom teachers (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015).
Using a pre-and-post-intervention design, a range of cogni-
tive-behavioral, neurophysiological, and psychological mea-
sures were collected from 4th-and 5th-grade students. After
the 12-weeks of the programs, students assigned to the
mindfulness program demonstrated improvements in cogni-
tive control, stress levels, empathy, optimism, depressive
symptoms, aggression, and prosociality compared to their
counterparts in the social responsibility program. Finally,
Malboeuf-Hurtubise et al. (2017) investigated the effects of a
classroom-based mindfulness program among students aged
9 to 12 years old with learning disabilities. Problem beha-
viors (e.g., inattention, conduct problems) and symptoms of
anxiety and depression among the sample were assessed with
a pre-and-post-test design. Here, the 8-week cognitive-
therapy-based mindfulness program was associated with
reduced frequency of target symptoms in the students
(Malboeuf-Hurtubise et al., 2017).
Parent and teacher perspectives of classroom-based mind-
fulness programming are generally positive given the aca-
demic, social, and emotional benefits to children (Black &
Fernando, 2014,Bögelsetal.,2008, Wall, 2005). Importantly,
teachers’narrative responses about classroom-based mind-
fulness interventions acknowledge widespread variation in
students’experiences with mindful programming. For
instance, one qualitative study evaluated a mindfulness pro-
gram 1 year after its incorporation into three elementary
schools for children aged 7 to 12 years old (Campion &
Rocco, 2009). The semi-structured interviews with 54 stu-
dents, 7 parents and 19 teachers revealed a positive perception
of program benefits. The results of the interviews with students
revealed calmness, stress management and improved con-
centration as positive aspects of mindfulness, with boredom
and tiredness cited as negative aspects of the mindful pro-
gramming. Parents regarded the long-term benefits of mind-
fulness, particularly stress management, to be valuable as their
children faced increasing pressures. Teachers noted the
improvement in general classroom behavior and student
appreciation of the program, yet almost a third of the teachers
interviewed reported student negativity toward meditation, and
16% of teachers noted student resistance to the program
(Campion & Rocco, 2009). Thus, while mindfulness was
Journal of Child and Family Studies (2022) 31:2108–2120 2109
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perceivedtobebeneficial for students by both parents and
teachers, teachers noted that students held mixed attitudes
toward the mindful activities.
Children’s Opinions on Classroom-Based
Mindfulness
Limited research has considered children’s perspectives of
classroom-based mindfulness interventions (e.g., Ager
et al., 2015, Campion & Rocco, 2009, Cruchon, 2009,
Dariotis et al., 2017, Sapthiang et al., 2019, Thomas &
Atkinson, 2017). For instance, Thomas and Atkinson
(2017) investigated student and teacher perceptions of a
classroom-based mindfulness program (Paws.b) that was
implemented independently by the school and administered
via a trained mindfulness teacher. The sample of 8-and-9-
year-old students discussed their experience with the
mindfulness program during post-intervention focus groups.
The students expressed initial interest in the program which
grew as they learned more about mindfulness. The students
were grateful for the opportunity to participate in a mind-
fulness program and particularly enjoyed learning about the
brain. Improvements in student attention, self-regulation,
and relaxation were documented. The teacher-student rela-
tionships in the classroom were also reported to benefit
from Paws.b. Importantly, the benefits of mindfulness
training were reported to extend from the classroom to the
students’home life (Thomas & Atkinson, 2017).
Ager et al., 2015 qualitative study focused solely on stu-
dent perspectives of a mindfulness program that was delivered
by the school counselor and well-being director. Eighteen 6-
and-7-year-old and twenty 9-and-10-year-old students com-
pleted a 10-week mindfulness program called Meditation
Capsules and kept a mindfulness journal to document their
perceptions of the program. Thematic analysis of the students’
mindfulness journals revealed that they perceived positive
outcomes from the program. Students described an increased
awareness of happiness, calmness, and peace and believed
that mindfulness could be used to manage difficult emotions
such as stress and anger. The students wrote of increased
awareness of themselves, others and the environment, and
expressed that mindfulness would be effective to deal with
conflicts with siblings and friends. Altogether, students in this
study perceived mindfulness to yield holistic benefits to their
mind, body, and emotions (Ager et al., 2015).
The Current Study
Of the limited research investigating student perceptions of
mindfulness programming, most studies are outcome-
focused. While understanding the cognitive, social and
emotional implications of classroom-based mindfulness
programs is necessary, this type of quantitative data are not
sufficient to understand if children are able to use and
benefit from mindfulness in the way that they are intended
to. This issue is further impacted as the voices of parents
and teachers have received more attention than that of the
children participating in mindfulness programs. Critically,
in a recent systematic review of qualitative studies investi-
gating students’experiences with mindfulness in schools,
Sapthiang et al. (2019) reported that only seven studies met
their inclusion criteria. Understanding children’s perspec-
tives on classroom-based mindfulness programming can
only serve to improve these programs which are intended to
benefit children themselves. Indeed, in an investigation of
factors related to the successful implementation of a
classroom-based mindfulness program, Dariotis et al.
(2017) reported that students and teachers had specific
opinions about delivery of the program, including envir-
onment and time of day, as well as about the qualities of the
mindfulness instructor. Here, Dariotis et al. (2017) high-
lighted that eliciting feedback from teachers and students
will continue to be essential in understanding best practices
to implement, adapt and develop classroom-based mind-
fulness programs. Thus, the purpose of our study was to
address the shortcomings in the literature surrounding
classroom-based mindfulness interventions and consider
student perspectives on mindful programming through a
qualitative analysis. Fifty-one elementary school students
participated in an 8-week mindfulness program woven into
the classroom schedule and conducted by the classroom
teacher. We facilitated focus groups throughout the 8-week
intervention period to explore student opinions and per-
ceptions of the program. By eliciting children’s reaction to
the mindful activities, we obtained first-hand accounts of
their experiences that will serve to advance and modify
mindfulness programs for children.
Method
Participants
Fifty-one students from a 6th-grade (n=18) and two 8th-
grade (8A; n=18, 8B; n=15) classrooms from the same
school participated in this study. A second focus group of
grade 6 students was conducted, but their data was inac-
cessible at the time of data analysis due to COVID-19
lockdowns and is therefore left out of this paper. Partici-
pants ranged in age from 11 to 14 years (M=12.94, SD =
0.99) and included 28 (55%) female students and 23 (45%)
male students. The participants identified as 56.8% White,
37.3% Asian or Pacific Islander; and 5.9% declined to
indicate their ethnicity.
2110 Journal of Child and Family Studies (2022) 31:2108–2120
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Written consent to participate and audio-record the focus
group sessions was obtained from parents of student partici-
pants, in addition to oral assent from students, prior to com-
mencing the study. Students were told explicitly that their
responses to the focus group questions were being recorded
prior to initiating each of the focus group sessions and that
personal identifying information would not be linked to their
responses. Students were not required to respond to all focus
group questions and, thus, students who raised their hands to
answer the focus group questions were selected and audio-
recorded. Some parents additionally agreed to have their
children’s responses quoted for publication and/or presenta-
tions without having any personal identifiable information
linked to their responses by checking a box in the consent
form. Ethics approval was obtained by the University
Research Ethics Board at [name of university] (REB#4833).
The project was also reviewed and approved by the Research
Review Committee of the regional school board.
Procedure
The classroom-based mindfulness program
The mindfulness program was intermittently taught to tea-
chers by one of the authors (L.H.). Before beginning the
program, teachers were trained on two mindful activities and
were asked to incorporate them into their classrooms for the
following 2 weeks (Week 1 and Week 2). During Week 3,
research assistants observed the classroom, held a focus group
interview with students, and trained teachers on two more
mindful activities to incorporate into the following 2 weeks
(Week 4 and Week 5). This cycle continued through to Week
8. Mindful activities within the current study followed the
MindfulMe! program, which was adapted from resources
from mindfulness organizations on the web and the MindUP!
program (The Hawn Foundation, 2011; see Hanceroglu, 2017
for more information on the creation of the MindfulMe!
curriculum). This program included a range of mindfulness-
based activities (see Table 1for a list of the weekly activity
schedule). Students engaged in the program during the
school day in their regular classrooms.
Focus groups
Students participated in researcher-facilitated focus groups
with their classmates on four occasions throughout the 8-week
mindfulness intervention. A semi-structured interview format
was used in focus group sessions lasting approximately
30 min. Students were asked questions related to the following
research questions (see Table 2for the focus group questions):
1. What were the students’opinions on the implementa-
tion of the MindfulMe! curriculum?
2. What were the students’perceptions of mindfulness
prior to experiencing the MindfulMe! curriculum
compared to after completing the 8-week mindfulness
intervention?
3. What impact did the students recognize both person-
ally and within the classroom as a whole after
completing the 8-week mindfulness intervention?
Students were asked these questions only at the focus
group sessions, which occurred at three different time points.
Data Analysis
The focus group discussions were audio-recorded and tran-
scribed verbatim. The transcribed data from the three
Table 1 MindfulMe! program activities
Week Activity Mindfulness aspect
1 Relaxation Students learn mindful breathing techniques and how to complete a body scan.
2 Mindful movements Students practice being aware of body sensations, recognizing physical sensations both when at rest
and active and stretching (yoga) to focus on body strength.
3 Self-compassion (letting go
of anger)
Students learn self-compassion and letting go of negative emotions. Students drop a shell into a jar
filled with water and imagine their anger settling from the head to the heart as the shell settles in
the jar.
4 Gratitude (thankfulness) Students learn to cultivate calm and comfort when expressing thankfulness and joy by decorating
and filling a mind map with the people they are thankful for.
5 Mindful listening Students learn to focus and be responsive to sounds in the environment (e.g., rainforest soundtrack)
by recording what they hear and sharing their responses with their classmates.
6 Worry Students focus on breathing and rejecting anxious thoughts by shaking glitter bottles (containing
liquid and suspended glitter) and focusing on the glitter settling.
7 Mindful eating Students learn to eat slowly and notice the flavor and temperature of the food by describing their
sensory experiences and facilitating mindful awareness of the senses.
8 Spiderman Students engage in a compilation of the mindful movements and mindful listening activities.
Journal of Child and Family Studies (2022) 31:2108–2120 2111
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classrooms were amalgamated and organized into a response
chart according to interview question, yielding 453 student
responses to the focus group questions to be considered in
data analysis. Excel software was used for the qualitative
thematic analysis via a data-driven approach where emergent
themes and patterns were drawn from the data. Thematic
analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s(2006) guidelines.
Here, three independent coders (the first author and two
trained research assistants) first familiarized themselves with
the data, then generated initial codes by addressing every
response provided. The coders’independent thematic coding
charts were compared and discrepancies between themes were
discussed and resolved. From this analysis, agreed-upon
themes were defined and those which were judged to be
repetitive themes were amalgamated and redefined. A second
round of coding was completed by the same three original
coders where codes were analyzed and combined as deemed
necessary. Once again, the coders’independent thematic
coding charts were compared and discrepancies in the appli-
cation of themes to the children’s responses were discussed
and resolved. At this stage, 49 themes were identified. The
first author collated the 49 themes into six key themes that
were discussed and approved by the second author. For a
random 20% sample of the responses (90 responses), Cohen’s
Kappa revealed moderate agreement (κ=72.05%). Dis-
crepancies between the coders’work were discussed to arrive
at full agreement for the 20% sample. Themes were then
updated and redefined to better reflect the data.
Results
The data provide a cohesive picture of the students’general
perception of mindfulness and their opinions specifically
relating to the MindfulMe! program. Emergent themes from
the data set included emotional and behavioral regulation,
barriers, delivery, applications, personal and social aware-
ness, and enjoyment. Descriptions and examples of the
themes are provided in Table 3.
Emotional and Behavioral Regulation
Students discussed perceived outcomes of mindfulness
related to personal and classroom regulation. For instance,
many students were in favor of continuing mindfulness due
to the calming and relaxing outcomes of the activities. An
8th-grade student who particularly enjoyed the mindful lis-
tening activity said: “…[I enjoyed the] mindful listening
because I find it the most um, personally, the most calming
and soothing and it makes me feel good.”Several students
described how the mindfulness activities, especially the
body scan, left them feeling rejuvenated. One 8th-grade
student put it this way: “Like for me, like the body scan, um,
once we get to core usually it’s like later, and after doing all
the work my brain is like tired and then once we do the body
scan it’s like my brain is better.”Students also noted
behavioral changes related to mindfulness, with a 6th-grade
student highlighting that they enjoyed the body scan activity
“…because it helps me be less hyper throughout the day.”
Students perceived that the mindfulness activities regu-
lated the classroom atmosphere: “I noticed that after we do
mindfulness activities, um, I notice the atmosphere is a little
quieter,”(6th-grade student) and believed the class to be “a
bit more organized”on days that the mindfulness activities
were completed compared to days in which the activities
were not completed (6th-grade student). Furthermore, the
students perceived a direct connection between the mind-
fulness activities and class arguments: “When we started
Table 2 Focus group questions Theme Question
Perceptions of mindfulness What does mindfulness mean to you?
Who has heard of mindfulness before?
Have your thoughts about mindfulness changed since the beginning of the
program?
Are you a supporter of mindfulness (after the program)?
Program implementation What do you like about any of the mindfulness exercises being delivered by
your teacher?
What do you not like about any of the mindfulness exercises being delivered
by your teacher?
What are your suggestions about changing any of the exercises?
Would you recommend that this mindfulness program be implemented in
other schools?
Program outcomes Has anyone been practicing the mindful activities outside of class?
Have any of the mindfulness exercises been helping you?
Is the class atmosphere any different after completing one of the mindful
activities compared to other classes when we do not engage in an activity?
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Table 3 Themes, descriptions, and examples
Themes Description Example responses
Emotional and behavioral
regulation
Students noticed changes in emotions, energy levels and behavior, both at an
individual and classroom level in relation to the mindfulness program.
Specifically, students noted a calm and quiet atmosphere, decreased hyperactivity,
reduced stress, reduced arguments, as well as increased energy and organization.
“I think we are a bit more calmer after the body scan.”(6th-grade student)
“I like the body scan because when you get out of it you feel like you just had
woke up from the best nap.”(6th-grade student)
“I feel like the stretching, uh after we are done, I stop like fidgeting with
things.”(6th-grade student)
Barriers Students mentioned several barriers to their ability to enjoy and benefit from the
mindfulness program. Students described being distracted and uncomfortable and
at times perceiving activities to be pointless. Students mentioned that some
activities were difficult, made them tired, brought about negative emotions, or
were not perceived to be age appropriate. Students explained how the variable
outcomes associated with mindfulness impacted their perspectives.
“…like when I come, I’m like ready to start right away with the work but like
after we do like the mindful, like uh the body scan or listening like I kind of like
lose interest –lose focus in my work.”(8th-grade student)
“I didn’t like when we did the mindful body scan, when our eyes were closed
cause when I keep my eyes closed, I feel like I get distracted more.”(8th-grade
student)
“Whenever I close my eyes to do anything, I zone out and get really tired and
wanna sleep. So, uh, sometimes when I’m closing my eyes during the body
scan, I sort of don’t hear what they are saying. I just sort of drift and sleep.”
(6th-grade student)
Delivery Students had varied opinions about the delivery of the mindfulness program.
Some students felt restricted by the instructions for various activities. Students
desired flexibility in choosing activities and a variety of activities to choose from.
The environment of the activities were important to the children, as well as the
time of day, the length of the activity, the consistency of the program and the
familiarity the students had with the mindfulness leader.
“I liked for listening when we had the option of which sounds to listen to, and
we would have different ones.”(8th-grade student)
“I think that we should make them a little bit longer because 5 min doesn’t
really give a lot of time.”(8th-grade student)
“A lot of these activities are more like auditory based or visual. I kind of want
like a hands-on activity, like popping bubble wrap.”(8th-grade student)
Applications The students described applying the learned mindfulness techniques in a range of
circumstances, including their daily routines, in dealing with difficult emotions,
falling asleep, sports and homework.
“Usually, when I have mixed emotions about something, or I’m in a certain
mood, it’s kind of hard for me to think straight and like focus on one thing at a
time because I’m always thinking about everything at the same time. So, that
way I can now do the breathing exercises. I can focus on things.”(6th-grade
student)
“I’ve done it once or twice before my hockey games, in the car. So, it gives me
focus.”(8th-grade student)
“I feel like breathing, like mindfully breathing, before going to bed actually
gives me a more relaxing sleep.”(6th-grade student)
Personal and Social
Awareness
The children perceived a major benefit of mindfulness to be increased focused.
Students discussed an increased awareness of internal states, as well as the ability
to mentally distance themselves from the external environment. Students also
reported an increased ability to introspect and consider the experiences of others.
“I found that when I was listening to it, I kind of found that part, what I was
hearing…I was more aware of what was going on.”(8th-grade student)
“When I mindfully listen, it kind of feels like I’m in my own world.”(6th-grade
student)
“I like the body scan because it really relaxes me, and I can focus on what we
are going to do next in school.”(6th-grade student)
Enjoyment Students enjoyed many aspects of the mindfulness program. The community
atmosphere when the whole class gathered to participate in the activities was
greatly enjoyed. The students also had fun during the program, found the activities
helpful, enjoyed the esthetics of the activity materials and were comfortable.
“I think we should continue the mindfulness scan. It’s very relaxing and it’s
nice to listen to different sounds in the classroom together.”(8th-grade student)
“Uh yeah, I think it was pretty relaxing and challenging to do the yoga, yeah, it
was fun.”(8th-grade student)
“When we first started, I didn’t know what mindfulness was but now after
4 months, I think it was really helpful for me and I will use it in the future.”
(8th-grade student)
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doing the mindfulness activities at break, our class like
didn’tfight as much as we used to. Then as soon as we
stopped doing them as much, everybody started fighting
over every single thing,”(6th-grade student).
Barriers
The students described a broad range of barriers to their
engagement and enjoyment of the mindfulness activities.
Some students reported difficulty concentrating as a key
barrier: “It is hard to focus sometimes on the body scan - a
bunch of people here laughing, and I’m usually more
focused on who’s laughing or something”(8th-grade stu-
dent). Some students shared that the activities made them
more tired than they were when they got to school:
“When I go to school in the morning, I feel already
really exhausted and then when we do the body scan
in the morning, I feel like I just want to go back and
sleep for the rest of the day and when I feel really,
really tired, I don’t feel like doing things,”(8th-grade
student).
A few students expressed that they felt the activities were
boring (e.g., “I don’t really want to continue. I don’t like it
because it’s boring,”–8th-grade student). Some students
felt uncomfortable during some mindful activities, such as
one student who noted:
“I don’t like the butterfly pose either because even
though you ask us not to pull your legs down,
sometimes when gravity pulls down my leg, it hurts
and strains right here, but then it’s tiring so I have to
put it down and then it hurts again,”(6th-grade
student).
Students felt that some aspects of the program where
pointless and this contributed to their dislike of the program.
For instance, an 8th-grade student had a hard time under-
standing the intention behind the body scan: “I don’t like
the body scan because –maybe I think it’s the wording of
the script. Like, I guess it’s like ‘feel your legs and the
tension,’so you’re bound to feel tension ‘cause you are
looking for the tension.”The students found certain activ-
ities, such as mindful breathing, to be difficult, where many
agreed with this anecdote: “The breathing one we did today,
we had to breathe in for 6 s and then hold it for 6 s and then
breathe back out for 6 s. It’s sort of hard because I can’t
even breathe in for 6 s,”(6th-grade student). When reflect-
ing on the letting go of anger exercise, an 8th-grade student
shared that this activity made her anxious: “Okay, so the
shell jar, when I thought about it, I got more anxious
because I thought I didn’t have anything I was angry about,
but then it just came back…” Another student shared of the
sadness that came about when their shell jar did not work as
planned, “I didn’t really like it cause when I put the shell in
mine, it started floating and it didn’t sink and then my group
was like ‘oh your anger is not gonna go away.’It made me
feel sad,”(8th-grade student).
A key issue for students that prevented them from
enjoying the mindfulness activities was the perception of
varied outcomes of mindfulness, both personally and within
the classroom as a whole. For example, one student noted
that the class atmosphere “is quieter on the day we do it
right after the activity, but not in general,”(8th-grade stu-
dent). An 8th-grade student said: “I don’t think we should
really keep it cause it doesn’t affect me in any way, it just
makes a little calmer but I just go back to how I was
before.”These anecdotes demonstrate the students’per-
ceived variable nature of mindfulness when beneficial
effects emerge from the program but only for a short time.
Finally, when asked if they would recommend that mind-
fulness be implemented in other schools, a few students
approved with the caveat that the programming be imple-
mented for older students (e.g., “I feel like this would be
better in high school cause they might be more stressed”–
8th-grade student).
Delivery
Students’had specific opinions about the delivery of the
mindfulness program that varied greatly. The majority of
students preferred that the mindful activities be delivered
solely by their teacher due to familiarity, echoing the
responses of an 8th-grade student who stated: “We want our
teacher to do the talking instead of YouTube videos of
strangers.”In contrast, one student shared:
“I really like how [teacher] like puts on YouTube
videos of some girl saying it because when it’s her
voice over and over it’s not as relaxing because we
hear it every day. When it’s a different voice, um, it’s
more relaxing because we don’t hear it as often,”(8th-
grade student).
Students felt that the instructions of some of the activities
were restrictive, especially closing one’s eyes, and desired
to have the option to choose what to do. For example, an
8th-grade student said: “Well, um, at first I didn’t like how
you kept your eyes open, but I suggested like, that we give
kids the option to keep their eyes opened or closed, so I like
that [teacher] gave us the option,”(8th-grade student).
Related to a desire for variability and flexibility, many
students were in agreement with one student who shared, “I
actually really liked having the choice of which mindful
activity we wanted to do because then we could choose
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which would benefit us the most,”(8th-grade student). The
students made specific comments regarding the environ-
ment in which they engaged in mindfulness activities, with
some particularly enjoying when the activities (e.g., mindful
listening) were completed outside. Relatedly, an 8th-grade
student was in favor of adding more sounds to the mindful
experience: “…background noise would be helpful. Having
the room like dead silent gets kind of awkward and
uncomfortable for me…” The students also had specific and
varied opinions about lighting, with some preferring the
lights to be kept on and others preferring the natural light.
Students were also divided in their opinions on the time of
day that the mindfulness exercises be completed. An 8th-
grade student shared:
“I feel like when we do it in the morning, it’s the
beginning of the day, we’re already kind of useless
when we are already calm. I find, like personally, I
find that doing it in the morning makes me more tired.
Because I’m adding like, it’s relaxing me even more
which is kind of like shutting me down a bit,”(8th-
grade student).
However, there was an equal number of student
responses expressing a preference for mindfulness to be
implemented into the morning routine, for example, an 8th-
grade student shared: “I wish we had it like first-period
cause then I’m like all tired and you just feel better.”
Opposing opinions on duration were also illuminated, with
some students feeling that 5 min activities were not long
enough to fully engage in mindfulness and others arguing
the opposite: “Personally, I think 5 min is too long. I feel
like we should shorten the time. I can’t sit still for that long
and then I get distracted.”The majority of students called
for consistency in the frequency of the mindfulness pro-
gramming in the classroom, yet an 8th-grade student
opposed the majority’s call for consistency by saying:
“I feel like it helps me like to relax and stuff but it’s
becoming like for me, I feel like it’s kind of annoying
cause like it’s becoming more of a routine. So, like
every time I come and like okay, we are doing the
mindful scan or listening or whatever. So, I kind of
like doing it like once in a while.”
Applications
The students described using the mindfulness techniques
learned in the classroom in a range of settings. Some students
described incorporating mindfulness into their daily routines,
including brushing their teeth, their morning routine (e.g.,
“When I wake up, I try and do a body scan as much as I can
because it just helps me like wake up,”–6th-grade student) or
eating (e.g., “Before bedtime, I usually get a snack, so I just
did the mindful eating,”- 6th-grade student). Students descri-
bed using mindfulness in dealing with difficult emotions, such
as the case with an 8th-grade student who shared: “The past
weekend I had to do this thing in front of people, and I was
really anxious, so I would just do the mindful scan to calm
myself down and do the breathing. And before going up, I did
the breathing to be calmer.”The gratitude log was used to deal
with emotions as an 8th-grade student shared that “I’ve also
used the thinking a lot more about gratitude. Um, especially if
I’m agitated.”Relatedly, an 8th-grade student shared how the
body scan helped calm them down at hockey: “Before hockey,
my parents started really focusing on time and if we aren’ton
time. I sometimes get really worked up, but now if it’sclose,I
get calmed down.”Another student described how mindful
breathing during homework improved their success at arriving
at the correct answers: “Like if you do the breathing exercise
in the middle like if you’re having trouble, I find that it kind of
helps me focus and helps me find the answers better,”(6th-
grade student). Students also described using the mindfulness
exercises, specifically the body scan, mindful movements, and
spiderman activity, outside of the classroom for their physical
benefits. A 6th-grade student shared “I like the exercises with
the stretches, and you hold them because it relaxes you and it
helps you with stretching and flexibility.”Several students
shared that they practiced mindfulness to help them fall asleep
at night: “Before, when I go to bed almost every single night,
um, especially on those stressful days, I just like lay down in
my bed for a few and do the body scan for like 5 min,”(6th-
grade student). Finally, students discussed mindfulness was
helpful when within the classroom (e.g., “Working indepen-
dently in class,”(8th-grade student).
Personal and Social Awareness
The students discussed an increased personal and social
awareness related to the mindfulness activities. For
instance, increased focus was perceived to be a major
benefit of the mindfulness activities, where one student
shared: “I think it has [helped] because it kind of gets you to
zone in with your mind and it helps you focus on whatever
you are doing,”(8th-grade student). The students also
described increased awareness of internal states. For
example, a 6th-grade student shared:
“I also like the body scan because when you have a lot
of tension, you get a moment to like figure out how
you feel because half of the day you’re all tensed up
but then you can actually lay down for a few minutes
and notice how you feel.”
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The students discussed mindfulness allowing them to be
immersed in thought to the point of separating oneself from
the environment. This distancing was reflected in several
responses in the focus group discussions, such as: “I also
like the mindful listening. It’s nice to sort of just get lost in
thought while also focusing at the same time if that’s the
way I could describe it,”(8th-grade student). Several stu-
dents shared that mindfulness led them to reflect on their
personal experience and increase in gratitude. As an 8th-
grade student put it, “I really like the gratitude because it
makes us think about what we actually have. That we
should be grateful for everything we do and not be selfish
and think about what we don’t have,”and “…because it
gets you to realize what you are grateful for because it’s not
every day you realize what you have”(6th-grader). Students
also expressed that they wanted to keep the gratitude log,
emphasizing a comparison between their experience and
that of others: “I wanna keep the gratitude one because I
think we have it really good compared to people in other
places and there is a lot to be grateful for, like even having
the materials for class which we take for granted. I think if
we really try, we could show –cherish how much we have,”
(8th-grade student).
Enjoyment
Students reported enjoying many aspects of the mindfulness
program. One aspect that the students thoroughly enjoyed
throughout was the community appeal of whole-class par-
ticipation. An 8th-grade student shared:
“…I feel as though, as a class, because we are doing
something together that we are all sharing that
experience. Whether its mindfulness or not, just doing
something together has been a positive –has had a
positive effect on our community feel.”
The students described having fun during the mind-
fulness programming, specifically naming the letting go of
anger, mindful movements, and gratitude log. The helpful
aspect of the program was a reason that many students
wanted to continue and recommended that mindfulness be
implemented in other schools. For instance, an 8th-grade
student shared “When we first started, I didn’t know what
mindfulness was, but now after 4 months, I think it was
really helpful for me and I will use it in the future.”Several
students commented on the appealing nature of the aes-
thetics of activities (e.g., “I think the anger jars would still
be useful in a classroom setting…It’s just satisfying to
watch the shells go…I think they’re pretty”–8th-grade
student). Finally, some students reported that mindfulness
increased their confidence and comfort. For example, an
8th-grade student said: “I like the body scan because after I
come out of it, I feel more like, confident,”And a 6th-grader
shared “I think when we do the stretches at school, um, it
makes me feel more like comfortable at school I guess.”
Discussion
Although mindfulness practice has been found to benefit
children in a number of ways (Black & Fernando, 2014,
Malboeuf-Hurtubise et al., 2017, Napoli et al., 2005, Sap-
thiang et al., 2019, Sciutto et al., 2021, Willis & Dinehart,
2014), research on children’s perspectives of mindfulness in
the classroom are limited (Sapthiang et al., 2019). The
present study thus adds to the paucity of literature on stu-
dents’opinions of mindfulness in the classroom and further
speaks to children’s opinions on the implementation of
these programs and their associated outcomes, which are
critical for improving classroom-based mindfulness pro-
grams (Dariotis et al., 2017).
In their systematic review of qualitative research on
children’s opinions of classroom-based mindfulness pro-
grams, Sapthiang et al. (2019) highlighted four major
themes, including using attentional processes to regulate
emotions and cognitions, stress reduction, improved coping
and social skills and calming and/or relaxation. The results
from the present study are consistent with such findings and
build upon this literature by offering insight into how to
improve mindfulness programs based on children’s opi-
nions of delivery and barriers to their enjoyment and
engagement with mindfulness. Here, our work reveals two
major conclusions: first, students had widespread opinions
on the program with individual children differing in their
opinion often quite substantially; second, there was ample
evidence that mindfulness activities were not always liked
and enjoyed. Although disappointing, these findings are of
critical importance as students who do not enjoy mindful
activities may be less likely to engage in mindfulness and in
turn may not experience the holistic benefits that mind-
fulness has to offer. Here, children’s explanations for their
negative attitudes will allow practitioners to focus on the
aspects that children thought ‘worked’and avoid (or mod-
ify) the activities that children did not enjoy. While mindful
practice is not designed to make a person happier, people
are more likely to stick with programs that provide meaning
and are enjoyable. Hence, if children enjoy mindful activ-
ities, they may be more likely to engage in mindful life-
styles after a program ends.
Recommendations for Classroom-Based Mindfulness
Practice
The findings have provided insight into children’s per-
spectives and have allowed for several recommendations for
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program development to be made. In order to capitalize on
the aspects of the classroom-based mindfulness program-
ming that the students enjoyed while addressing their areas
of concern, the following recommendations are offered: A
balance between the entertaining and educational aspects of
the program, flexible program delivery, and encouraging
students to pursue mindful living outside of the classroom
(Table 4).
Balancing Entertainment and Education
The majority of students in the present study indicated that
they enjoyed the mindfulness program. When describing
what they enjoyed about the program, the students listed
whole-class participation in activities, the aesthetics of
materials, the comfortable atmosphere, the helpful aspects
of the activities and having fun as reasons for their enjoy-
ment. The students also mentioned calmness and relaxation
among other emotional and behavioral outcomes as reasons
for their support of mindfulness. These enjoyed aspects are
consistent with existing literature on students’opinions on
the benefits of mindfulness (e.g., Ager et al., 2015, Dariotis
et al., 2017, Sapthiang et al., 2019)
With these positive attitudes, however, came several
areas of dissatisfaction with the program. Some students felt
that the activities were boring and that the mindful exercises
were pointless. Some students shared that mindfulness
would be better suited for high school students and many
children were bothered by perceived restrictions, such as
keeping one’s eyes closed or refraining from speaking to a
classmate during certain activities. Although the children
were dissatisfied with certain aspects of the program, the
mindfulness scholar understands that the perceived restric-
tions or pointless elements are worthwhile and necessary for
children to access the benefits of mindfulness training. For
example, educators and clinical practitioners understand
that closing one’s eyes and refraining from speaking to a
friend during mindful practice are fundamental to the
practice of focusing and cultivating an appreciation and
awareness of the present moment. Furthermore, though
students thought that the program may be better suited for
older students with higher stress levels, educational and
clinical practitioners see a benefit of learning mindfulness
techniques in grades 6 and 8 as children of this age are at an
important developmental stage where mindfulness may
significantly impact executive functioning skills such as
inhibitory control (Oberle et al., 2012) and equip them for
dealing with future stressors (Taylor, 1996).
To maximize student enjoyment and engagement with
mindfulness-based curricula and address their concerns with
the programming, a balance is required between entertain-
ment and education. The aspects of programming that stu-
dents consider enjoyable should be built upon to draw
students into the activities and increase their appreciation
for the mindful program. Further, the purpose behind the
activities and the reasoning for perceived restrictions should
be explained to children to provide them with insight into
the benefits of mindful practice in early adolescence and the
purpose of instructions that seem “pointless”. For example,
mindfulness programming could educate students on what
executive functioning is and how mindfulness may improve
this capacity. Educating students on this concept and on
other benefits of mindfulness may be necessary for children
to appreciate the perceivably restrictive instructions or
pointless nature of activities as vital for the desired out-
comes of mindfulness training. Increasing the educational
aspects of classroom-based mindfulness programs is in
keeping with Thomas and Atkinson’s(2017) research in
which children specifically emphasized an appreciation for
the educational aspect of learning about the brain mechan-
isms implicated in mindfulness. A balance between enter-
tainment and education in mindfulness programming
follows from the student perspectives shared in the present
study and is suggested to ensure student engagement with
and benefit from classroom-based mindfulness interven-
tions. Another option might be to “phase in”mindful
practices, for example, by beginning with a 2 min body scan
which extends with practice to 5 min, and 10 min and so on.
Table 4 Recommendations for classroom-based mindfulness practice
Recommendation Description
Balance entertainment and education To increase students’appreciation for and engagement with mindfulness, the aspects of mindfulness that
students enjoy should be maintained and built upon. Students may appreciate when the purpose of the
activities and the reasoning for perceived restrictions are explained as this will provide them with insight
into the benefits of mindful practice and the purpose of instructions that seem “pointless”
Flexible program delivery Students have specific and varied opinions of program delivery. In response, the implementation of
mindfulness should be based on day-to-day classroom observations at ideal, flexible times, rather than on
afixed schedule.
Encouraging mindful living outside of
the classroom
Mindfulness curricula encourage mindful living outside of the classroom. This may be achieved by
incorporating the application of mindfulness techniques into homework (e.g., at-home body scan for
health class homework, or mindful listening as a homework task for a music class).
Journal of Child and Family Studies (2022) 31:2108–2120 2117
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Flexible Program Delivery
The students described varied and specific opinions
regarding program delivery. While topics such as the con-
sistency, duration, environment and scheduling of the pro-
gram were brought up in discussion, students were not
necessarily in full agreement as to how the program could
be changed to better suit both individual and classroom
needs. The variation in children’s opinions on program
delivery is consistent with Dariotis et al. (2017)findings
where students and teachers had specific opinions about
program delivery, including timing and environment. Fur-
ther, the present findings are consistent with Campion and
Rocco’s(2009) report of teachers observing variation in
student reception to the mindfulness program.
Nevertheless, the who, what, when and where of the
MindfulMe! program were important for the children and,
thus, should be carefully considered in the development and
implementation of classroom-based mindfulness programs.
Student-focused mindfulness programming must address the
delivery concerns highlighted by students in the present study
to facilitate student engagement with mindfulness in the
classroom. Here, the classroom teacher or mindfulness
instructor should monitor students’energy and attention levels
throughout the day to identify when students might benefit
most from the mindfulness activities. Based on the day-to-day
classroom observations, mindfulness can be implemented into
the classroom routine at ideal, flexible times, rather than on a
fixed schedule and duration. Implementing a flexible program
delivery schedule is recommended to address the children’s
varying perceptions of program delivery and implement a
student-focused aspect to mindful programming.
Encouraging Mindful Living Outside of the
Classroom
When asked if they had used any of the mindfulness
activities at home, the students shared their experiences of
engaging in various mindful techniques at home (e.g.,
brushing teeth, eating, dealing with negative emotions,
completing homework, falling asleep). These results are
encouraging as they demonstrate that students are willing
and able to use mindfulness techniques outside of the
classroom, yet contributions to the focus group discussion
regarding mindfulness applications were quite low, yielding
only 11% of the total (453) responses. One of the many
possible explanations for poor participation with this
question is a lack of student engagement with mindful
practices outside of the classroom. As such, mindful curri-
cula must place specific emphasis on the translation of
mindful techniques from the classroom to the home and
other spheres of life. Indeed, Sciutto et al. (2021) empha-
sized the necessity for rigorous inquiry of how students are
engaged in mindfulness during and beyond classroom-
based programming.
To encourage mindful living outside of the classroom,
teachers could incorporate mindful techniques when assign-
ing homework. For example, an at-home body scan might be
part of the homework for health class or mindful listening as a
homework task for a music class. As it is vital to ensure that
students are comfortable and able to participate in mind-
fulness activities, encouraging students to cultivate a lifestyle
of mindfulness will further increase this ability and likely
produce the positive outcomes associated with mindful living.
Altogether, classroom teachers and mindfulness instruc-
tors should continue to utilize fun mindfulness activities that
engage students in whole-class participation. Instructors
should devote time in mindful practice to educate the stu-
dents on the value of mindful living and encourage students
to pursue mindfulness outside of the classroom. Finally,
instructors should pay careful attention to the classroom on
a day-to-day basis and deliver mindfulness training at
flexible times when students may benefit the most.
Limitations and Future Directions
The semi-structured focus groups in this study provided rich,
anecdotal data on students’experiences with the classroom-
based mindfulness program MindfulMe!. However, these data
must be interpreted with caution as the perspectives shared in
focus group discussions may have been that of a limited
number of the 51 students who participated in this study.
Students were not required to contribute to the focus group
discussions and the transcribed focus group data was de-
identified for confidentiality reasons. Thus, it is possible that
the responses shared in the present study came from the same
few students rather than from the whole sample of 51 students.
The present study should also be replicated with a metho-
dology that ensures data collection from all participants similar
to how Ager et al., (2015) used mindfulness journals to gather
the perspective of each student. Furthermore, it is important to
note that these findings are not generalizable to all age groups
and thus developmental considerations must be made. Stu-
dents who are older or younger than the grade 6 and 8 students
in this study may have substantially different outlooks on
mindfulness practices. Thus, future research should consider
the perspectives of both older and younger cohorts in reference
to classroom-based mindfulness programming. Finally, the
present study used the classroom-based mindfulness program
MindfulMe! that was inspired resources from mindfulness
organizations on the web and the evidence-based MindUp!
curriculum (The Hawn Foundation, 2011). As such, the
findings of the present study may be particular to the Mind-
fulMe! program (i.e., student perspectives on activities and
associated materials) and may not translate entirely to other
mindfulness programs. Nevertheless, the findings of the
2118 Journal of Child and Family Studies (2022) 31:2108–2120
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present study can be used as a general guide to further develop
all classroom-based mindfulness programs. Despite these
potential limitations, the present study provides important
results adding to the paucity of qualitative studies investigating
children’s perspectives on classroom-based mindfulness pro-
gramming and yields specific areas to improve mindfulness
programs based on children’s accounts.
Conclusion
The present study investigated student perceptions of a
classroom-based mindfulness program. Findings gleaned
from the current study demonstrated substantial variation in
student opinions about the mindfulness program and that
the students did not always enjoy and like the activities. It is
critical that educators and clinical practitioners pay attention
to student opinions on mindfulness training as students who
enjoy mindfulness are more likely to engage with the
activities and in turn reap the holistic benefits that mind-
fulness has to offer. Based on student perceptions of the
mindfulness activities, it is recommended that mindfulness
programs for children ensure a balance between the enter-
taining and educational aspects of the program, allow for
flexible program delivery and encourage students to culti-
vate a lifestyle of mindfulness outside of the classroom.
Data Availability
The raw de-identified data can be requested from the
corresponding author.
Acknowledgements This research was funded by a Professional
Expense account awarded to Kim Roberts from Wilfrid Laurier
University.
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest The authors declare no competing interests.
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the
source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if
changes were made. The images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless
indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended
use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted
use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright
holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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