Shaping mindful citizens: Practitioners' motivations and aspirations for mindfulness in education.
Peter J Hemming
Health July 2024 DOI: 10.1177/13634593231179024 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Mindfulness practitioners who promote and deliver mindfulness in educational contexts in the UK |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Ethnography Mental health Quality of life |
| Key findings | Argues that theoretical critiques of mindfulness as a neo-liberalising self-technology are too reductive and fail to account for practitioners' views and experiences. Participants described mindfulness in education as more than an individualised self-help therapeutic tool, framing it as a uniquely versatile practice representing multiple possibilities for individuals and society. |
Abstract
Mindfulness meditation has enjoyed growing popularity in the UK over the last few decades and is increasingly found in many educational settings. To date, existing empirical research on mindfulness in education has focused primarily on its efficacy, rather than more sociological concerns. This article draws on qualitative data from a major research study entitled 'Mapping Mindfulness in the UK' to investigate the motivations and aspirations of mindfulness practitioners for promoting and delivering mindfulness in educational contexts. The analysis argues that some of the existing theoretical critiques of mindfulness as a neo-liberalising self-technology are too reductive and do not take adequate account of the views and experiences of practitioners. For participants in this study, mindfulness in education was more than an individualised self-help therapeutic tool, but was instead a uniquely versatile practice, representing multiple possibilities for individuals and society. The research makes significant contributions to several fields of sociological inquiry, including on mindfulness, mental health and wellbeing, and education and citizenship.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.