I love that we actively think about mindfulness here at Carondelet. In my personal experience and in speaking to former colleagues, many schools don’t don’t give space to mindfulness in their programming, and that is a missed opportunity in my opinion.

However, I stumbled across this article today after our morning interviews. KQED’s Mind/Shift posted an article entitled “Why Mindfulness And Trauma-Informed Teaching Don’t Always Go Together,” and I felt immediately compelled to read. The following line deeply resonated with me and made me wonder how many students aren’t comfortable in what can feel like an otherwise normal and inclusive school environment:

“You never want to force people to close their eyes,” he said. That alone can cause trauma for some kids. “The goal is not to turn people into meditation monks. It’s just about learning to turn inwards and practice self-awareness.”

Looking back on some of my teaching experiences, I wonder if some of my past students’ behaviors weren’t merely rebellion or refusal to do activities, but signs of trauma (however big or small they may be). To quote the article again, some potential signs could be:

• Students don’t take the activity seriously 
• Students are triggered by silence because it feels like a storm is brewing, so they don’t want to be quiet 
• Students feel too many requests are made of them without the requisite trust being built up 
• Students exhibit avoidance behavior