Teach Out Project: Article Summaries

 Garro A, Janal M, Kondroski K, Stillo G, Vega V. Mindfulness Initiatives for Students, Teachers, and Parents: a Review of Literature and Implications for Practice During COVID-19 and Beyond. Contemp Sch Psychol. 2023;27(1):152-169. doi: 10.1007/s40688-022-00446-0. Epub 2023 Jan 30. PMID: 36741424; PMCID: PMC9885932.

During the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic, families found themselves isolated and parents were tasked with managing the increased stress and anxiety in their children. Schools also experienced much distress, being forced to educate the youth with the use of online learning.  More than ever, the social emotional learning needs of children were increased due to this sudden transition. Mindfulness is one potential solution to address these social-emotional needs. This literature review analyzed several research articles and books related to the topic of mindfulness in schools. While many benefits to mindfulness can be uncovered throughout the research such as increased job satisfaction for teachers, less anxiety for students, and reduced stress for parents, it is important to note that in order for mindfulness to work, the person teaching this coping mechanism must be familiar with its use on a personal level and the student/teacher/caregiver receiving the guidance for mindfulness must be receptive to its use. For my project, I am creating a pamphlet for those families who I refer to one of our guidance counselors to go over a proactive strategy, but will ensure they are receptive to this information first.

Several 

Jessica Mettler, Bassam Khoury, Stephanie Zito, Isabel Sadowski, Nancy L. Heath,

Mindfulness-based programs and school adjustment: A systematic review and meta-analysis,

Journal of School Psychology,

Volume 97,

2023,

Pages 43-62,

ISSN 0022-4405,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2022.10.007.

The authors wrote a systematic review on the impact of mindfulness programs have on students' emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes. This review found several benefits to the use of mindfulness programs, including improvement in behavior, academic performance, social-emotional well-being. It's also recognized that mindfulness does not discriminate- members of various populations have proven to see benefit to the use of mindfulness. This article demonstrates how useful a tool like mindfulness can be in schools. This further validates my desire to create a simple resource for families to use when we uncover any social-emotional issues that surface in the nursing office. I've noticed parents are desperate for any tools the school can offer, but those offerings are typically intangible such as a referral to outside counseling. My hope is this pamphlet provides a simple strategy that is proven to help that students and parents can use as they seek out support.

Rethinking Sex and Gender

 Title and Author:

 RI Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education- Guidance for RI Schools on Transgender and Gender Noncomforming Text

Guide to Being an Ally to Transgender and Nonbinary Young People, The Trevor Project

Annotation of Text:

The need for guidance on transgender and noncomforming genders is crystal clear according to The Human Rights Campaign. The risk for depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide is increased drastically in the noncomforming gender youth population. These laws require prompt response from the schools for any sex-based harassment. Schools must also treat students according to their expressed identity even if it is different from their sex assigned at birth. They also allow students to participate and use facilities aligned with their gender expression. The privacy of the student is also protected under Title IX and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. 

For anyone wondering how to go about supporting transgender and nonconforming gender students, the guide is a great resource. One of my favorite tips is to never make assumptions regarding someone's pronouns. I love how in class we introduce ourselves with our pronouns. It creates a safe environment and in my opinion reinforces the fact that pronouns should never be assumed. It does leave me wondering though- how does a closeted student feel about pronouns? What if they are not ready to come out? Are they then forced to lie about how they view themselves? Is this doing more harm than good in this instance?

3 Talking Points:

1) Amazing there are laws supporting this group of individuals! Is this what we are seeing in schools? 

2) As far as allowing access to facilities and activities that support their gender, I do wonder what this means for sports.

3) Accommodating any oppressed group is crucial for suicide prevention. The one consideration is considering individual bathrooms for any individual who is uncomfortable in a public bathroom or place of changing. 

Argument Statement:

 "By learning to support transgender and nonbinary people, you can help to create a safer, kinder, more accepting world."

Teach Out Project Proposal

 TOPIC: Mindfulness in Schools

CHOOSE A TEXT:

Locating Yourself for Your Students by Priya Parmar and Shirley Steinberg

I like how this article discusses the importance of normalizing conversations about who we are as people. While my project is not focused on race, it is focused on mental health. Mental health is the missing vital sign, in my opinion. It impacts everything we do and also needs to be a topic that needs to be normalized. My intent is to create a resource on mindfulness that describes its benefit, strategies to practice it in schools, and how all individuals in a school community can benefit from self awareness practices.

2 ARTICLES:

Garro A, Janal M, Kondroski K, Stillo G, Vega V. Mindfulness Initiatives for Students, Teachers, and Parents: a Review of Literature and Implications for Practice During COVID-19 and Beyond. Contemp Sch Psychol. 2023;27(1):152-169. doi: 10.1007/s40688-022-00446-0. Epub 2023 Jan 30. PMID: 36741424; PMCID: PMC9885932.

Jessica Mettler, Bassam Khoury, Stephanie Zito, Isabel Sadowski, Nancy L. Heath,

Mindfulness-based programs and school adjustment: A systematic review and meta-analysis,

Journal of School Psychology,

Volume 97,

2023,

Pages 43-62,

ISSN 0022-4405,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2022.10.007.

WHO DO YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH?

Mindfulness benefits everyone! I'd like to create a resource about how the simple act of mindfulness can improve student outcomes, teaching satisfaction, and helps families. I'd like to make a pamphlet that I have available in the nursing office. As a school nurse I often uncover symptoms of anxiety and would love to have a resource that provides a guide to managing these symptoms with mindfulness. This is also a topic I believe would help teachers be more patient with their students. 

WHAT FORMAT MIGHT WORK FOR YOU?

I'd like to start with making a pamphlet, but I think a padlet would also work well as a digital resource I could share. 

Rethinking Schools

 Title and Author: Who Cares About Classroom Norms? By Eric Fishman, Illustrator Olivia Wise

Response to text:

Eric Fishman discusses his experience as an educator where he taught in diverse settings. While he taught in diverse settings, a common theme of classroom norms would surface. The "norm" of the classroom seemed to be one of strict rules everyone must follow. For example, it's expected to sit still, do your work on time, don't interrupt, and others. Fishman further discusses the purpose classroom norms, which is to create boundaries for behaviors and people to follow that are "normal"- anything else is considered "abnormal". Fishman argues that students have various human needs that can impact their behavior as a student such as hypersensitivity or learning disabilities. Fishman goes in depth about numerous types of needs, but how can a need be met if a student does not know how to correctly identify it? I loved this article as a nurse because Fishman brings to light the connection of health and learning. As a school nurse, so much of the student experience connects with their physical and emotional health. 

Connection to other text:

A common need I uncover as a school nurse is access to a calm environment for anxiety. Dr. Chandril Chugh wrote an article linked here that lists the different physical ways anxiety can present in children:

    - racing heart and rapid breathing

    - headaches, stomach aches, and nausea

    - anger, aggression, and defiance

    - restlessness and fidgeting 

    - muscle tension/trembling

Several times I have identified anxiety as the cause for stomach aches. Because I am familiar with anxiety, it has become important to me to properly identify the cause of any physical symptoms that are connected to mental health. This allows me to offer more support from our guidance office and better assist the student. Many times, the students don't consider anxiety a cause for stomach aches because they did not know how anxiety presents itself. 

In my opinion, students benefit a lot more when their needs are understood with a comprehensive approach versus boxing everyone into "classroom norms".

    

Rethinking the Culture of Power

 Title and Author: Sleeter, The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

Annotation on the text:

Carlos is a man who successfully graduated high school despite his lack of enjoyment in traditional schooling. After high school he joined the military. He completed one tour then found a minimum wage job. At this time he was introduced to Chicano studies by a friend. Finally, he found a curriculum where he could thrive and he went on to complete his bachelors degree in Spanish. Traditional schooling has been more geared towards white people, so it is not uncommon for people of color to thrive in a curriculum that acknowledges cultural biases. 

There Talking Points:

1) Differences in perspective: white people often describe the U. S. as an equal opportunity for all where the American dream can be manifested regardless of color, while black children can sense oppression from an early age. Is America truly an equal opportunity for all? 

2) More privileged people seem to go further in education. Does this mean those who create curriculum are most likely privileged due to cultural biases and discrimination? 

3) Does our current curriculum leave out the perspective of the oppressed? 

Argument statement: 

This author argues that ethnic studies work towards the goal of balancing curriculum by recognizing the inaccuracies brought to curriculum from Euro-Americans. "Because of this bias, mainstream curricula contribute to the academic disengagement of students of color" (Sleeter, nd).

 Title and Author: 

Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, The White House 

Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, The White House 

Trump’s Executive Orders on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Explained, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights  

 

Response to Text:  

DEI: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion 

President trump ordered several laws in regard to President Biden’s Executive order 13985 which ordered federal agency to further DEI. According to President Trump, this law has created waste and discrimination; however, no specific examples of this waste are provided. According to President Trump, “Americans dese a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making American great”. Furthermore, it was ordered that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will terminate any program that demonstrates discrimination.  

 

Lara Flath, David Schwartz, and Emily Safko created a guide to create understanding for these Executive orders in their article linked here. They listed these key points which help to summarize the orders: 

• The new administration’s effort to eliminate most DEI programs extends beyond the federal government to major corporations, foundations, non-profits, professional organizations and educational institutions. 
• Aggressive enforcement appears likely, as government departments have been instructed to identify nine potential private sector targets for enforcement actions. 
• Any recipient of government funding will be required to sign documents opening itself up to criminal prosecution if it maintains unlawful DEI programs. 
• A recent Department of Justice memo did allow, however, that “educational, cultural, or historical observances ... that celebrate diversity, recognize historical contributions, and promote awareness without engaging in exclusion or discrimination” are not prohibited. 

While I understand the importance of efficiency, to eliminate DEI is to regress in the fight for justice, inclusion, and fairness in many sectors. Below is an image describing the vision of DEI. Its focus is on the people to engage diversity for employees and leaders. DEI has goals for companies to build inclusive environments where everyone feels valued. Partnerships with common values with the purpose of equal opportunities and inclusiveness.

My fear is that with the elimination of DEI programs, we will regress in efforts towards equal opportunity. I also fail to recognize the purpose for the elimination for so many programs. It seems Trump administration values the bottom line over doing what is right for all Americans. I fail to recognize how eliminating these programs is beneficial for a country. It feels like we are going backwards in time. DEI and capitalism can co-exist.

An article from Forbes speaks to DEI and capitalism which can be found here. Creating environments where people feel engaged and included can create more productivity. Conversely, eliminating DEI programs can lead to expenses such as an increase in professional liability insurance and risk management.

Personally, I value basic human rights first before anything else. I see no evidence on how eliminating DEI programs is the right thing for America.