From Asian Conference on Education, Osaka Japan
October 28-30, 2011
The following material was written by Pamila J. Florea. It may not be copied without the author's permission. Please feel free to contact me at pamilajflorea@gmail.com
Using Meditation in the Classroom, the Nuts and Bolts
In the classroom, start by telling the students what will happen.
“We will do a guided meditation. You will close your eyes. I will tell you what to see in your mind. Use your imagination. There is no right or wrong. Just see what happens. Will you trust me?”
Inevitably the students say yes, and we begin by preparing ourselves and the space.
• Clear the space physically – removing unnecessary items.
• Sit or stand comfortably, both feet on the floor.
• Hands and (if sitting) laps are free from objects.
• Open arms and say “Free” several times until initial nervousness dissipates.
Students are then asked to put their hands down and to sit comfortably. They are asked to close their eyes when they are ready. The teacher turns out the lights and tells them that she will not move from the front of the classroom the first time. After the first time, students are informed that the teacher will move about the classroom, tapping various students on the shoulder to answer direct questions put to them. More on that is below.
Dictation Scripts:
Each person will dictate a script differently. After a few times of reading a script, a teacher can recognize the elements and use them without reading. Remember to take your time, breathe slowly and enjoy the process.
Beginning script for each meditation:
“Close your eyes. Make any small adjustments you need to make to be comfortable. Take a deep breath and relax. Breathe in through your nose … and out through your mouth. Take another deep breath. In… out... As you breathe relax your body. Drop your shoulders, role your head to the right and to the left and back to center. Touch your chin to your chest, back to center and then lean your head back and then back to center. One more deep breath in …. and out…"
The body of the meditation is then spoken.
Ending script for each meditation:
“Stay there for a moment. I will count back from five. When I reach zero, you may open your eyes when you are ready. Five… four… three… two… one. When you are ready, you may open your eyes.”
The Body of the Meditation Example:
Using the Five Physical Senses: Home with family / friends.
“Imagine you are visiting your family’s home or the home of a friend. Stand at the front door and look around. You are alone in this room. You can smell something cooking in the kitchen. It smells really good! Take a few deep breaths, and smell the food. Do you know what it is? Walk to the kitchen and stand at the doorway. Look inside. Another person is there, greet that person. Walk toward the stove. Look at what is cooking. What color is it? Is it one thing or many things? Pick up a spoon and dip it into the food. Taste the food. Put the spoon down, then walk back to the front door and step outside.”
1. Plans: Bucket list
Students are shown the trailer for the movie The Bucket List (Reiner, 2007) and then instructed to imagine “What will be different in your life 5 years from now?” They spend a little time imagining based on the instruction to think of “What will your family look like? What hobbies will you have? Where will you have traveled? Will you be working or in school? Will you be in a committed relationship?” Students are encouraged to look further and further into the future. Students then use this meditation to actually write a bucket list for their lives.
2. Conditionals: If I had a Million Dollars
Students listen to the song If I Had a Million Dollars by the Bare Naked Ladies (Page and Robertson, 1993) and then do a guided meditation in which they imagine being millionaires. They are instructed to think of ways they would use their money – for themselves, their families, for strangers, for the world. What would they do? After the meditation, they write a list of what they
would do if they were millionaires.
3. Future tense: A Little Fall of Rain
Lower level students can also use this technique for something as simple as thinking about the future or what they want to say to someone. Playing A Little Fall of Rain from Les Miserables (Kretzmer,1985) can be used to set the students up to think of the future. What will happen when spring comes? What will you see the next time you visit your family?, etc. As a caveat, though, the vocabulary of the script should be taught prior to the guided imagery meditation to ensure that students understand the directions.
4. Question Words: Storytelling Elements using Music
This meditation takes the student out of the equation. They are instructed to write numbers 1-6 or 8 or whatever number corresponds with the number of songs you will play. They should write headings at the top of their paper: People / Relationship; Where are they? / What are they doing? The teacher then leads them into a state of relaxation. Finally, the teacher plays one minute of music from a number of different genres and has the students answer the questions at the headings. The teacher specifically does not note country / place to allow more creativity. For some students it is enough to write “Paris” while for others it is more comfortable to write “a café in Paris.”
For music, it’s helpful to have songs without many English words or with words from a language the students don’t know so they don’t focus on the words and instead focus on the emotions and interpretations. Some suggestions for music are provided in the addendum.
5. Question Words: Storytelling Elements using Postcards
Students are put in small groups and given a postcard in which something could be hidden in the picture. For example, postcards with doors, baskets, boats, jars, etc. are useful for this. They are led through a relaxation exercise and instructed to decide what was hidden, who hid it, who found it, why was it hidden. Students then can write paragraphs or stories from the meditation and then later compare how they each interpreted the same scene.
