Concurrent Session 3 – Looking Back to Move Forward: Exploring Shortand Long-Term (20-year) Impacts of Early Exposure (Elementary School) to Mindful-Based Learning (MBL)

Interest in, and enthusiasm for, implementing mindfulness-based curricula in school settings has been growing rapidly over the last decade. Research has begun to document the critical importance of social and emotional skills for student achievement and how these skills can be effectively nurtured through mindfulness-based skills training. In the mid 1990s, a forward-thinking teacher implemented a curriculum with mindfulness-based learning (MBL) in her grade-four and grade-five classrooms. A team of researchers has been studying this student population to investigate potential short- and long-term impacts of early exposure (elementary school) to MBL. The preliminary results of this retrospective multiple-methods study will be presented and discussed. The aims are to explore: (1) the potential long-term impacts of MBL on indicators of health, well-being, cognitive performance, and demographics; (2) the short-term qualitative experience of such a program; and (3) the potential of multiple and mixed-methods research approaches for helping to advance the field of contemplative studies.