Reconceptualizing Meditation Education for Adolescents: A Relational-Integrated Social Emotional Learning(RISEL) Approach
Eunyoung Kim, Hee-Jung Min
The Korean Association for the Study of Religious Education September 30, 2026 DOI: 10.58601/kjre.2026.09.30.03 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | emotional observation reflective writing questioning and experience sharing |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Education |
| Key points | Argues that meditation education for adolescents should be reconceived as an integrated, relational learning process rather than only a technique for emotional stabilization. The authors describe the RISEL curriculum as progressing from awareness of emotions and bodily sensations through expression, reflection, relational sharing, and communal connection, and contend this model can be sustainably implemented in schools. |
Abstract
[Objective] This study aims to reconceptualize meditation education for adolescents beyond a technique for emotional stabilization or psychological healing, viewing it as an integrated learning mechanism that supports social-emotional competencies and cognitive capacities such as sustained attention. Focusing on Relational-Integrated Social Emotional Learning (RISEL), it explores how meditation extends from understanding oneself and others to relationship building and communal growth. [Contents] This study analyzes the RISEL workbook for adolescents and its teacher’s guide, focusing on the curriculum structure and meditation-based learning process. RISEL begins with awareness of emotions and bodily sensations and progresses through expression, reflection, relational sharing, and communal connection. By integrating breathing, emotional observation, reflective writing, questioning, and experience sharing, meditation functions as an experiential learning process embedded throughout the curriculum. [Conclusions] RISEL expands meditation beyond individual psychological well-being by connecting self-understanding and self-regulation with empathy, relationship building, and communal growth. It thus demonstrates the potential of meditation education for adolescents as a relational social-emotional learning model that can be sustainably implemented in schools.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |