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Mindfulness In Schools - Julia Feste

 
 
 

Presentation and discussion on bringing mindfulness into schools, adapting to changing climates, and mindfulness-informed coaching for school staff.

Key Takeaways

  • Mindfulness in schools is growing rapidly, with over 2,500 research articles/year showing benefits for students and staff

  • Challenges include transferring mindfulness skills to teaching roles, making it relevant/applied, and school-wide implementation

  • Flexibility, creativity and understanding the specific school culture/needs is crucial

  • Mindfulness-informed coaching can support staff in transferring mindfulness skills to their roles

  • Having a long-term mindfulness director who grows with the program is key for sustained success

Topics

Mindfulness Research & School Interventions

  • Exponential growth in mindfulness research showing benefits for wellbeing, resilience, emotional regulation, etc.

  • Types: standalone courses, teacher training, curriculum integration, school-wide approach

  • Challenges: quality teaching, making it relevant, teachers transferring skills

Case Studies

  • Beijing Montessori schools: Internal vs external trainer, misalignment of expectations

  • Keystone Academy: Taught 400 students over 3 months with colleagues

  • French School Beijing: Partnered with theater teacher to teach students

  • UWC Thailand: Teaches all ages using different modalities like reading week, outdoor activities

Implementation Considerations

  • Balance between mandatory and optional sessions

  • Moving beyond set curricula to applied, relevant activities

  • ncorporating social mindfulness for relating/communicating

  • Mentoring, inspiration from roots like Plum Village

Mindfulness-Informed Coaching Pilot

  • 5 staff trained in mindfulness, then matched with coaches for transferring skills

  • Early feedback: increased wellbeing, professional development, self-compassion

  • Vision to have coaching partnerships, offered from onboarding

Next Steps

  • Continue pilot, educate school on value of coaching

  • Explore peer coaching for teachers

  • Follow up discussion in a few months on progress

 
 

BIo

My name is Julia. I am a learning enthusiast, a sensitive soul who started my journey into adult life by studying engineering and then discovered a passion for education. I thrive to learn how to close the gap between human intentions and impact on the world. Non-Violent Communication opened the door into making sense on how to navigate with empathy.

My curiosity about the human mind then led me to explore Montessori Education, Mindful Self-Compassion, and coaching. I am passionate about bringing change to how we educate children and especially teens. I work as a science teacher and integrate all skills I learned on the way into my classrooms. Deep listening, coaching questions, and compassionate presence support me in assisting my students on how to make sense of the world.

Working with adults, I help my clients to navigate cross cultural relationships, using the principles of NVC, and come out on the other side with more understanding of themselves and others, with concrete action steps. Examples of my clients results are a mixed Chinese-American couple who learned how to trust each other ; a French senior leader who found his way into the political maze of his Chinese company and become one of its shareholders ;

Julia is currently based in Thailand where drives mindfulness as a Head of Mindfulness in an international school.

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