Preliminary Evidence on the Efficacy of Mindfulness Combined with Traditional Classroom Management Strategies
Five minutes of daily student mindfulness glued onto your class-wide point system can lock in on-task behavior better than points alone.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Kasson et al. (2017) worked with a third-grade class. They kept the teacher’s normal classroom rules and point system.
The team added two things: a five-minute daily mindfulness script and a short self-monitoring sheet. Kids marked if they stayed on task after the bell.
What they found
Five of six students stayed on task longer when mindfulness was in the mix. Gains held even after the teacher cut back extra praise.
The package beat the old plan alone, and the class needed fewer reminders.
How this fits with other research
Richman et al. (2001) showed that letting students hand themselves tokens also lifts work time. Kasson keeps the student role but swaps tokens for a quick breathing script.
Donaldson et al. (2018) and Peltier et al. (2023) trained kids to run the Good Behavior Game themselves. Kasson keeps teacher-led rules; students only monitor their own focus. All studies cut disruptive behavior, so the choice is who leads what part.
Glynn (1970) found self-set token goals work as well as teacher-set ones. Kasson nods to that idea: students judge their own focus, not the teacher.
Why it matters
You already run group plans and point boards. Tack on a five-minute belly-breathing script and a tiny check-sheet. Kids tune in faster and stay there longer, so you spend less time corralling and more time teaching.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The current case study combined mindfulness-based strategies with a classroom behavior management treatment package, to assist teachers with managing 3rd grade student behaviors. Two teachers (Classroom teacher and Specials teacher) and six students within the same classroom were observed using a 5-min momentary time sampling procedure. A delayed multiple baseline across settings (e.g., Classroom teacher, Specials teacher) design was used to assess student behaviors across baseline (A), classroom behavior management treatment package (CBM) (B), CBM plus mindfulness (C), and CBM plus mindfulness and self-monitoring (D). Behavioral treatment alone increased on-task behaviors for four of six (66%) students compared to baseline; however, five of six (83%) students increased and sustained high rates of on-task behaviors when mindfulness exercises were added to the behavior analytic techniques. These preliminary results support the combination of mindfulness-based strategies with traditional behavior analytic interventions for increasing student on-task behaviors in classroom settings.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2017 · doi:10.1007/s40617-016-0160-x