Sending to the corner or giving hours of glue to a too turbulent student would it become “has been”? At Robert W. Coleman Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland, teachers no longer believe in the effectiveness of sanctions to enforce the school’s house rules. No more punishments, instead we prefer to send students to meditation and yoga sessions. This strategy focused on relaxation and refocusing on your body and breathing seems to be working: since the beginning of the year, no student has been expelled from school.
The school teachers who are experimenting with these meditation sessions with the students have set up this program in collaboration with the Holistic Life Foundation, an association that offers educational actions focused in particular on well-being and overall health.
20 minutes to meditate and return to a more zen class
Breathe in, breathe out … The pupils play along and much prefer to play yogi and Master Yoda than to ruminate sitting on a chair in the hour of glue. The “Meditation room” where take the dissipated students sent by their teacher, has been specially designed to promote calm and relaxation. The turbulent little ones are guided by a specialist who helps them calm their nervousness for 20 minutes. Time to come back more zen in class.
This original approach should inspire other American schools, perhaps one day coming to French schools.
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Meditation at school: the successful bet for student concentration
