Center for Healthy Minds

Social emotional learning skills are critical for success for youth. With limited budgets and resources, it is not feasible to have social emotional learning experts active in every classroom. This study examines the efficacy of a “train-the-trainer” model for 5th grade teachers to implement mindfulness-based practices in their classrooms and how such trainings affect kids’ well-being. 

Supported by a three-year grant from the Department of Education, we are building upon our initial pilot work studying attention and emotion regulation at the elementary school level. Moving the work forward, we are developing a comprehensive, self-sustaining “train the trainers” model to better understand the impact of our mindfulness-based training as well as how frequently it should be used within the school context.

Over a period of three years, we’re creating a prototype of an integrated training curriculum for 5th grade teachers and students. The program development has three main components:

1. To train teachers in a mindfulness-based program adapted specifically for school teachers
2. To develop a parallel training program for students
3. To support and prepare classroom teachers to implement the student training curriculum

We are conducting classroom observations and assessing the progress of children and teachers using a variety of research measures before and after the training period to explore the effects of training.