Mindfulness for Educational Leaders: Developing Practice in the Present
Moment
Caryn Wells
Associate Professor
Oakland University
NCPEA Executive Board
The challenges of leading schools are widely known and
accepted as being complex and stress-filled. Principals report high levels of
stress in their world of work, citing issues of diminished resources, increased
accountability, media attention, and safety issues for staff and students (Cooley
& Shen, 2003; Petzko, 2008; Wells, Maxfield, & Klocko, 2011). To be
relevant for developing skills that practitioners need, the preparation of
school leaders is charged with a list similar to the demands of the
principalship- a job that Grubb and Flessa (2006) reported as, “a job too big
for one” (p.13). School leaders take on responsibility for instructional and
transformational leadership, the mediation of conflict, and myriad tasks and
roles that are emergent and critical.
As university professors prepare aspiring and practicing
graduate level students for leadership roles, there is an expectation among the
students that the coursework is relevant and practical. We hear these comments
from students who attend our classes as they share the issues that they face on
a daily basis. One might assert that leadership is about doing, since the books and articles about leadership frequently
contain verbs that describe actions that get results, inspire, motivate, move,
and so forth. There is another side to the leadership; one that gets little
attention, and that is the act of being,
or as Kabat-Zinn (2005) reported, practicing being as opposed to doing.
It might seem impossible to consider the merits of being,
until the intricacies of the word are examined. First, a sense of being is a type of non-doing that might
seem to be in contrast to what we believe our roles and habits should be,
especially in a leadership role. Consider how a sense of being might serve a
principal throughout the day. To be with a teacher, parent, or student and be
fully present, as opposed to being there but pre-occupied and distracted would
serve the principal and the person in his/her presence. The focus becomes the
person, not the anticipated response or the distracted mind of the observer.
The practice of mindfulness cultivates a sense of being fully present in the
moment (Smalley & Winston, 2010).
Carroll (2007) reported, “In the tradition of the mindful
leader, rather than leading with will, power, and ambition, we lead and inspire
others with openness, intelligence, and vulnerability” (p. 52). Much of this is
accomplished through the practice of sitting still and observing. Mindful
leaders, because they pay attention to what is actually occurring in the
present moment, as opposed to what they expect or want to see, allows for a
realistic picture. Williams and Penman (2011) summarized, “Mindful awareness-
or mindfulness- spontaneously arises out of this Being mode when we learn to
pay attention, on purpose, in the present moment, without judgment, to things
as they actually are” (p.35).
Mindfulness is a form
of meditation that utilizes moment-to-moment awareness that is nonjudgmental and
nonstriving (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). As such, mindfulness notices and accepts things
as they really are (Gunaratana, 2002). Mindfulness involves the practice of
meditating while allowing the thoughts and senses to be present in each moment;
it is not about trying to erase thoughts from one’s mind. Mindfulness
cultivates awareness for being fully present, something that is difficult for
most people, who may live in past regrets or the busy agenda of today or
tomorrow. Building administrators might be surprised to learn that they are not
always living in the moment, particularly as they race from project to project,
phone call to phone call, or interruption to interruption. It is the incessant
interruptions and brief and fragmented interactions described by Hallinger
(1992) that contribute to the feeling of being overwhelmed and stressed.
The workload stress of administrators includes pressure to
multi-task as a coping mechanism for the unending ‘to-do’ list. Mindfulness
meditation can slow down the pace of the moment and allow for a principal to be
with the situation.
Mindfulness meditation is widely practiced in over 200
hospitals, prestigious law schools, and corporate America (Kabat-Zinn,
2005). Jerome T. Murphy (2011) former
Dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education recently argued for expanded use
of mindfulness to develop situational awareness and a balanced self that does
not slip into reactivity for educational leaders. The Harvard Graduate School
of Education recently sponsored a conference that featured, at its core, the
practice and study of mindfulness.
Mindfulness meditation is
widely reported in medical, psychological, and health related journals. Ryback
(2006) reported, “At this point there are more than 1,000 research studies on
mindfulness-based stress reduction published in peer-reviewed journals” (p.478).
Neuroscientists, psychotherapists, medical doctors, scientists, educators,
professors, and psychiatrists are investigating and presenting research on
mindfulness that indicates the positive correlations of practicing mindfulness;
the cultivation of empathy, compassion, listening skills, decreased anxiety and
depression, and increased immunity (Black, 2010; Brady, 2007; Dane, 2011;
Garland & Gaylord, 2009; Ludwig & Kabat-Zinn; Riess, 2010; Shapiro,
Schwartz, & Bonner, 1998; Siegel, 2007; Smalley & Winston, 2010).
I have been teaching the concepts and practice of
mindfulness meditation to graduate students for the past four years and while
not true of all students, I hear repeatedly how the practice is making a
difference in how leaders approach the challenges in their personal and
professional life. I close with questions that allow us to think about the
relevance of mindfulness for our students, and the benefits for them and
ourselves, as we are involved with contemplative leadership. I welcome your feedback! Namaste.
Questions for
consideration:
What is the future of
mindfulness for educational leaders?
How do we, as
professors, provide training and information on mindfulness?
References
Black, D. A. (2010). Incorporating mindfulness
within established theories of health behavior. Complementary Health Practice Review, 15(2), 108-109.
Cooley, V. E.,
& Shen, J. (2003). School accountability and professional job
responsibilities: A perspective from secondary principals. NASSP Bulletin,
87 (634), 10- 25. doi: 10.1177/019263650308763402
Dane, E. (2010). Paying attention to mindfulness and its effects on
task performance in the workplace. Journal
of Management, 37(4), 997-1018. doi: 10.1177/0149206310367948.
Garland, E., & Gaylord, S. (2009). Envisioning a future
contemplative science of mindfulness: Fruitful methods and new content for the
next wave of research. Complementary
Health Practice Review, 14(3), 3-9.
Gunaratana, B. H.
(2002). Mindfulness in Plain English.
Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Grubb, W. N., & Flessa, J. J. (2006). “A
job too big for one”: Multiple principals and other nontraditional approaches
to school leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 42(4),
518-550. doi: 10.1177/001316106290641
Hallinger,
P. (1992). The evolving role of American principals: From managerial to
instructional to transformational leaders. Journal of Educational
Administration, 30(3), 35-48.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005). Coming to our senses: Healing ourselves and the world through
mindfulness. New York, NY: Hyperion.
Ludwig, D. S., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2008).
Mindfulness in medicine. Journal of
American Medical Association (JAMA), 300(11), 1350-1352. doi:
10.1001/jama.300.11.1350
Murphy, J. T. (2011, September). Dancing in the rain: Tips on thriving
as a leader in tough times. Phi Delta
Kappan, 93(1), 36-41.
Petzko,
V. (2008). The perceptions of new principals regarding the knowledge and skills
important to their initial success. NASSP Bulletin, 92(3), 242-250. doi:
10.1177/0192636508322824
Ryback, D. (2006). Self-determination and the neurology of mindfulness. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 46(4),
474-493. doi: 10.1177/022167806290214
Shapiro, S. L., Schwartz, G. E., & Bonner,
G. (1998). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on medical and
premedical students. Journal of
Behavioral Medicine, 21(6), 581-599.
Siegel, D. J. (2007). The mindful brain: Reflection and attunement in the cultivation of
well-being. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co.
Smalley, S. & Winston, D. (2010). Fully
present: The science, art, and practice of mindfulness. Philadelphia, PA: Da
Capo Press Books.
Smalley, S. & Winston, D. (2011). Is mindfulness for you? In B.
Boyce (Ed.), The mindfulness revolution (pp.
11-20). Boston, MA: Shambhala Sun.
Wells, C. M., Maxfield, C. R., & Klocko, B.
(2011). Complexities inherent in the workload of principals: Implications for
teacher leadership. In
B. J. Alford, G. Perreault, L. Zellner, & J. W. Ballenger (Eds.). 2011 NCPEA Yearbook: Blazing Trails:
Preparing Leaders to Improve Access and Equity in Today’s Schools. (pp.
29-46). Lancaster, PA: DEStech Publications, Inc., Pro>Active Publications.
Williams, M., & Penman, D. (2011). Mindfulness: An
eight-week plan for finding peace in a frantic world. New York, NY: Rodale
Press.