Behaviour & Learning Management

How to use meditation techniques within the Assertive Discipline programme.

Developing the Three R’s of behaviour through conscious awarenes. Routines for meditation in the classroom. Introducing a variety of meditation techniques into the daily routine of your students. Simple ‘movement’ meditation during the register, regular breathing practice before creative sessions, visualisation before literacy etc. Before or after HOTSPOTS during the day.

Being assertive. Managing our own personal feelings when faced with difficult behaviour. Making assertive responses to challenge. Effective use of body language.

Teaching Responsible behaviour. The external social influences on behaviour (the A-B-C of behaviour). The internal psychological influences on behaviour (self-management of thoughts and feelings).

Tackling Tough Behaviour. Working with Anger. Body language. Refocusing. How meditation helps promotes better learning and improves mental performance.

Once the techniques and meditation instructions have been learnt you can introduce them to your students. You may choose to set some time aside for this specifically, or begin to introduce them during routine moments of the day, before, during or after ‘hotspots’. For example a primary school teacher may introduce walking meditation to begin the day, from taking the children from the playground to the classroom, or from the classroom to assembly; getting the children to focus on the sensation of their feet on the floor, the movement of their body through the space, any sounds they hear as they move etc. Once this has been taught to the children and they feel comfortable with it, you can simply remind them to begin as you leave the classroom and you will find they automatically slip into it.

Another moment could be to use some of the Xi Gong movements during the register, getting the children to do the movements and focus on their breathing, the space around them and any thoughts and feelings that come up as you read the names out. You will find that they are energised and focussed before you begin the class. Any late children will also fit quickly into the pattern as they arrive, without disturbing the rest of the class.

Once you have taught them the basic foundation of meditation, you will be able to use this as a behaviour management tool when a situation begins to get a little too energetic for your liking. Ringing a bell or giving a ‘codeword’ at these moments will encourage the children to spend a few minutes in silent meditation before moving on.

Naturally, as difficult situations occur during the day, you will be faced with your own emotional response to them. We know that remaining calm is the most productive and sensible way of enabling you to make choices that will benefit you and those around you. This is not always easy and we find our rising anger, shame or frustration begins to take over and cloud our response. Normally, this leads us to snap, react out of a habitual pattern, perhaps leading to a self-defence mechanism of sarcasm, rejection of others or simply revert to choosing negative behaviour management techniques; forgetting the Assertive Discipline practice we have learnt.

Meditation will not remove these emotions; it will not stop thoughts or make your mind empty, which are some of the misconceptions of meditation; rather, it gives you a little space in your mind where these feelings and thoughts are recognised as they are; simply feelings and thoughts.

This space provides you with time and clarity of mind in which a new choice can be made that isn’t necessarily led by the emotion you are feeling at the time. Scientists will tell you that this is because your brain waves have moved from one cortex to another, enabling you to resist the ‘flight or fight’ response. It may be because certain chemicals have been released that soften the emotion, or because the thickness of the brain is increased through practice. Whatever it is, it seems to work. With a little regular practice.

If you were told that there was a pill you could take that would lower your pulse and blood pressure, reduce stress, anger, anxiety, increase your sense of well being and improve your relationships with students and others around you; all you need to do it take the pill and sit still for 15 minutes while it works, would you?

15 – 30 minutes a day meditating will do this for you. Whatever resistance you may have to the idea of meditation, usually borne from the cultural and religious references we have to it; science is proving that meditation has health benefits that far out reach many over the counter products.

Most of our emotions are shown somehow through our bodies. This may be in the tightness of the throat when we are scared or angry. Our shoulders raise and become tense. We feel emotions in our chests, our ‘hearts’, clenching our fists, jaws, frowning. Very often these signs are there before we even realise that it is what we are feeling. However we show it, we can normally give ourselves away. So even if you feel that you have control over things, our body language gives us away.

Working on our body in meditation allows us to get an ‘early warning’ system developed. This means that as soon as we feel it in our body, we can choose to relax and let it go or rest into it and let our mind take control before our body does. This means that when it comes to dealing with a challenging situation, you can feel grounded and relaxed. You can control your voice better and all things work together to ensure that your Assertive Discipline is not jeopardised by your rising vocal tone or the vein standing out in your neck.

As we have seen in the Assertive Discipline course, our thinking and beliefs about the world, conditioned by our previous experience clouds our emotional state. For example: When someone behaves in a way that you find difficult, if your belief about that person is that they are ‘difficult’, ‘obnoxious’ or ‘threatening’, you are likely to have an emotional response that ties in with what you think of that person. So you will react emotionally, which reinforces your thought pattern and then that leads on to an action, which may not be the wisest or most productive for your situation.

These habitual patterns are the same for our students. If they think that their teacher ‘doesn’t like me’, is ‘always picking on me’ or ‘never stops shouting’, it will influence their emotional response, reinforcing their thought process and leading to an action that is probably defensive, aggressive or nonchalant. These tend not to achieve the desired need to help with their learning. You will find that with regular practice your students will be less swayed by the opinions and influences on others. This seems to stem from a more confident attitude to their emotions and sense of self-confidence.

Meditation on both sides can help you to choose a new behaviour pattern, one that comes from somewhere that isn’t so habitually formed and may benefit the situation much more effectively. The space provided by meditation practice gives us time to feel our emotion without reacting. It also provides insight into the nature of thoughts and emotions, which are transitory, and not necessarily something that has to ‘lead’ us. We can choose to behave in a different way once we notice that a thought doesn’t control or define us.

Being in touch with our emotions without letting them dictate our behaviour allows us to meet our needs in a very direct way, without our minds getting clogged up with habitual patterns. We can work closer on an emotional level to those students who need it. Many of the students that we work with, whose behaviour we find ‘challenging’ are challenging our need for control, our need to connect to them as individuals and our need to educate. We can allow our emotion at not getting these needs met be redirected at the student as the cause of the emotion. Once we can connect to our emotions on a much more personal level, we can then try to meet the emotional need of the student much more effectively.

Very often these students are struggling with their own frustrations at not getting their needs for control, connection and education met as well. If we help the student engage with their emotions in meditation, they have a practical tool for helping them to assess their own choices in a clear, calm way. It can also help with sleep patterns, which can also be a massive obstacle to their learning and as such their behaviour within the classroom.

Setting up specific sessions for small groups of students who require a more intense period of meditation can provide the class teacher with a chance to engage these students in a method that will benefit all parties. It also gives a chance to connect on a more emotional level. The aim is that these students can begin to manage their own behaviour both in and out of the classroom.

Through body awareness meditation we can notice how we are reacting physically and that awareness gives us a chance to relax and feel grounded. This then lessens the chance of us appearing confrontational or aggressive, even scared. It allows us to notice when our voice goes higher in the heat of the moment, hopefully providing us with a chance to see how this is perceived and make a new choice before we have ‘blown our top’.

By offering yourself and your students the opportunity to ‘take a few minutes’ in the middle of a session, you can refocus your group. Bringing them back to the task at hand, or reintroducing them to the next part of your session. The basic meditation breathing practice of 3 minutes can do this and you will find that this has a pleasing side effect of stimulating creativity.

Once the practice becomes routine, which may take a while, you might find that ringing a bell will naturally do this, without you talking the students through it. This would then give you time to practice it at the same time. You will fin your classroom a much more pleasing space to learn in.

As we have seen, a calmer, more emotionally connected classroom will always benefit our students’ learning. In order to teach effectively, we need to have an engaged class, stimulated by the lesson and a safe place for them to take risks and make mature choices.

Meditation has been proven to improve students’ ability to learn as well as helping in SEAL sessions.

There are not many direct scientific studies to prove this however, meditation has been shown to increase alpha and theta brain waves, helping the brain to function more effectively and increase learning potential.

Other benefits linked with meditation and learning are:

· Improved mental performance

· Clearer thinking

· Increased intelligence

· Improved creativity

· Improved problem solving

· Improved memory

· Improved learning ability

· Broader comprehension

· Improved decision making

Many of the difficulties teachers face when introducing these concepts can come from parents and governors who may be concerned about the ‘religious’ connections meditation has. This is often easily managed by a letter home or article in a newsletter before you teach it. Our understanding is that meditation has its roots in Hinduism and Buddhism and many cultural references with New Age sectors of our society, which will naturally cause concern for some. It actually pre-dates these religions, though it was picked up as an effective practice to ‘listen’ to our minds.

As you will see through the training, religion isn’t taught as a part of these techniques. We take an entirley scientific and practical approach to it. Meditation is simply a practical tool that works with the mind and brain. You may even wish to invite sceptical parents to take part in some of the sessions to see for themselves how it works.

You will also find that to begin with, some of the students will resist the techniques, test your calm exterior, ridicule others for taking part. We will help with some vocal script that will counter some of these, though you will find that through perseverance and consistency, things will settle down fairly quickly.

The other difficulty is practicing the techniques for yourself, but once a routine is set, it is easier for you to continue and eventually, the classroom can be a place to reinforce your practice and your need for calm.

Stress is a huge factor in teacher illness and much of this is tied in with students’ behaviour. If we combine the stress relieving power of meditation, its ability to help us remain calm in emotionally charged situations and Assertive Discipline management techniques, you will find that much of the stress is reduced if not removed entirely. This has to be better for your teaching environment, students, career and your life as a whole.

With practice, meditation is proven to reduce blood pressure, stress and anxiety and increase wellbeing and happiness. More and more scientific studies show that meditation can help young people with concentration, focus and creative thinking and is especially beneficial for young people with conditions such as ADHD.

We can introduce your teachers and students to techniques they can use everyday to help with behaviour management and improved creative thinking.

Meditation will help give you and your students some space between the ‘feeling’ and the ‘response’ helping you to remain calm and choose a more productive response based on clarity of mind rather than instinctive, habitual pattern of behaviour.

The instruction works on an experiential level. In order to introduce meditation to your students, you need to practice this yourself meditation is only realised and understood through direct experience.

The course will lead you through a variety of meditations that you should practice everyday in your own life before introducing to your students. Then, once you have practiced meditation for a while, you will begin to notice the difference in your life. You may find that your students have noticed it also. You will be calmer in general and find it easier to remain calm even when faced with very repetitive, difficult behaviour. Once you feel comfortable with your practice (it can take a little time) you will be confident in being able to explain and understand its benefits to your students.

The course will give you some simple exercises that you can lead your students through, leading to a more peaceful classroom. It helps stimulate creativity and produces an environment more conductive to thinking and reflection. With regular routine based meditation, alongside Assertive Discipline, children will be encouraged to manage their own behaviour and you may find them ‘taking themselves off’ for a 5 minute meditation period to calm down.

Our 2 day INSET course: (which can be run anywhere in UK) for a maximum of 15 participants:

Day one:

AM.

9.30 – 10.30 Introductions.

· What is meditation? How does it work?

10.30 – 11.00 Guided meditation.

· Introduce us to our own awareness through our body. This is preferably done lying down, though can work in chairs also. It also shows us how much of our time is spent worrying and even that we are so highly strung that we fall asleep as soon as we give ourselves permission to stop!

11.00 – 11.15 Coffee

11.15 – 11.45 Discussion on meditation

· What was our experience?

11.45 – 12.00 Guided meditation

· A quick meditation for use at any time of the day in any situation. We learn to rest in the moment, take some time and breathe.

12.12.45 Lunch

12.45 – 1.15 Discussion on meditation.

1.15 – 2.00 Guided meditation.

· Movement meditation. Many of us will struggle with the ‘stillness’ of the previous meditations. This next part leads us to some basic Xi Gong Tai Chi movements that many find easier to use on a daily basis.

2.00 – 2.15 Discussion on Meditation

2.15 – 2.45 Coffee

2.45 – 3.15 Guided Meditation

· Walking. The easiest and most accessible meditation. The instruction will teach you how to bring your awareness in each step and into the world around you. A wonderful way to start the day.

3.15 – 4.00 Discussion on mediation and the day.

4.00 – 4.10 Tomorrow

4.10 – Questions and follow up work if requested

9.30 – 10.00 – Guided meditation

· Movement based while taking register.

10.00 – 10.30 Guided meditation

· Sitting. The foundation of all meditation practice. How to connect to the breath, the space around you, your thoughts, your heart and keep coming back to the moment, again and again.

10.30 – 11.00 – Discussion

11.00 – 11.20 - Coffee

11.20 – 12.20 - Meditation in the classroom

· How we can introduce meditations into the classroom. Setting up routines. The benefits of meditation for learning.

12.20 – 1.20 Lunch

1.20 – 2.00 – Body Meditation

2.00 – 2.15 Discussion

2.15 – 3.00 Philosophy Discussion intro

·

3.00 – 3.15 Break

3.15 – 4.00 Introduction to the Heart.

· Discussion on heart language and how we can use it to help our students connect to their own confidence. How to use language such as open, clear and sensitive to indicate our feelings.

· Question Sheets for the teachers and students.

· Empathic connection to our students and ourselves using meditation.

4.00 – 4.15 Where to go from here?

How do we build from this? Places and courses to take it further if we want.

This can be an open or private discussion as necessary.

This course is also available as a 10 week after school course but we can provide it in London only.

Contact us to arrange to run this programme in your school or LA area.