Mr. Rivollier was the third teacher I interviewed about mindfulness in the classroom as I was referred to talk to him by a few people. He explained he has thought of bringing mindfulness into his classroom on multiple occasions but has not actually done it yet. He said that while the concept is great, and in theory it should work, it can be challenging to actually implement it and he’s not entirely sure he wants to bring it into his classroom. He said he feels that getting students to actually pay attention to it would be incredibly challenging as well as that he would receive parental push back with either mindfulness is cutting into course content or that it is has religious roots and should not be a part of classes in general. I found this interesting, and especially relevant to my inquiry because I am also looking to generate a pros and cons list on bringing mindfulness into the classroom. Having it be viewed as religious by some was definitely eye opening. Mr. Rivollier mentioned he was attending a mindfulness and meditation retreat (for teachers) on the weekend, and said he might change his mind after that, so I am looking forward to speaking with him again to see if he has any other insight after that. Both Mr. Rivollier and Ms. Evans said the school board has paid for them to take courses and attend retreats (like the one this weekend) on mindfulness and meditation and I thought that was also very interesting!
I am excited by the fact that mindfulness in the classroom is so topical among teachers right now in general, and I’m looking forward to learning more about it.