Mindfulness classes ‘do pupils little good’

SCHOOLS should be wary of teaching mindfulness, or positive thinking, to pupils, a professor said as he warned that their “enthusiasm may be ahead of research”.

Mindfulness, yoga and meditation have all been growing in popularity at schools to help pupils’ wellbeing and mental health.

A succession of ministers have backed teaching mindfulness in schools.

However, Willem Kuyken, a professor of clinical psychology at Oxford University and director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, has urged caution about the widespread adoption of the practice in schools.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm [about] mindfulness and we think that the enthusiasm may be ahead of the research,” he told Times Educational Supplement.

“I see why people might say it’s wishy-washy, which is why we’re working to ensure there is good research answering important questions about whether it works, how it works and how it can be best implemented in school systems.”

Prof Kuyken said that advocates of mindfulness in schools often point to the NHS, mental health charities and other health organisations that encourage it. But he said evidence for its use in these fields is far more robust than it is in education.

Mindfulness is a mental state of calm, achieved by focusing your mind on the present, your own thoughts and feelings. It is said to help alleviate the effects of pressure, stress and anxiety.