Carelse, Bernadette (University of East London and Holistic Education CIC, UK)
Exploring children’s experiences of mindfulness: IPA with drawings
This paper presents doctoral research in educational and child psychology conducted at the University of East London (UK). The research aimed to explore children’s lived experiences of mindfulness, using drawings as an additional medium to facilitate self-expression.
Firstly the Mindfulness-based Attention Training (MBAT) programme was designed as a school-based intervention to help children develop attentional skills. It was implemented twice a week, over 5 weeks, in a primary school. The participants were 6 children (aged 9) described by school staff as having attentional difficulties. During each session, the children drew and wrote about what they experienced. After the programme, they were interviewed individually, using their drawings as prompts. Finally, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to examine the data.
The findings that emerged consisted of four super-ordinate categories, including experiences of physical sensations, feelings of enhanced positivity and lapses into fantasy and recollection. The fourth category included how the children had personalised the practices, thereby enhancing their engagement in them. Significantly, a few accounts described emerging awareness of the attentional processes themselves and aspects of personal transformation.
The presentation discusses these experiences, interpreting them in terms of psychological theory. It also explains how drawings can be used to enhance the enquiry into experiences of mindfulness and outlines some implications of these findings in regard to teaching mindfulness in schools.
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Exploring children’s experiences of mindfulness: IPA with drawings
This paper presents doctoral research in educational and child psychology conducted at the University of East London (UK). The research aimed to explore children’s lived experiences of mindfulness, using drawings as an additional medium to facilitate self-expression.
Firstly the Mindfulness-based Attention Training (MBAT) programme was designed as a school-based intervention to help children develop attentional skills. It was implemented twice a week, over 5 weeks, in a primary school. The participants were 6 children (aged 9) described by school staff as having attentional difficulties. During each session, the children drew and wrote about what they experienced. After the programme, they were interviewed individually, using their drawings as prompts. Finally, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to examine the data.
The findings that emerged consisted of four super-ordinate categories, including experiences of physical sensations, feelings of enhanced positivity and lapses into fantasy and recollection. The fourth category included how the children had personalised the practices, thereby enhancing their engagement in them. Significantly, a few accounts described emerging awareness of the attentional processes themselves and aspects of personal transformation.
The presentation discusses these experiences, interpreting them in terms of psychological theory. It also explains how drawings can be used to enhance the enquiry into experiences of mindfulness and outlines some implications of these findings in regard to teaching mindfulness in schools.
Download Presentation