Mindfulness is a particular way of paying attention: intentionally, in the given moment and nonjudgmentally. This master's thesis explores the current state of presence, knowledge and features of mindfulness implementations into additional professional assistance in elementary and secondary schools. In this context, we examined the goals, the way of integration, observed effects, obstacles, good practices and features of teacher´s' mindfulness practice, knowledge and attitude toward mindfulness. In addition, we took a closer look at the characteristics of integrating mindfulness in the treatment of pupils and students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the greatest emphasis was put on observed effects on symptoms of ADHD.
The empirical research included 114 providers of additional professional assistance from elementary and secondary schools. The results show that mindfulness is present in the practice of providing additional professional assistance to some extent. Mindfulness is most often included in additional professional assistance in the form of short activities during the first part of the lesson (for example, in the form of breathing exercises or exercises of mindful observing), most commonly with goals related to relaxation, developing self-awareness and improving of self-esteem, awareness of feelings, self-regulation of feelings and cognitive processes linked to attention. The majority (93 %) of providers of additional professional assistance know mindfulness at least briefly, and approximately one-tenth (13.2 %) know it well. Most of them acquired their knowledge from academic journals, books, and articles. Most of them spend from 1 to 8 hours gaining their knowledge about mindfulness. On average, they have a positive attitude towards mindfulness and its implementation in schools. In general, providers of additional professional assistance with more theoretical and /or experiential knowledge are more inclined to the implementation of mindfulness in schools. The results show that additional professional assistance providers own mindfulness practice influence their decision to introduce mindfulness into their work. At the same time, they also perceive their own mindfulness practice as a factor of a good practice in this field. Some providers of additional professional assistance also implement mindfulness into their work with students with ADHD. The results show that, despite some obstacles (lack of time, higher complexity of teaching mindfulness to pupils and students with ADHD), this approach is possible and also reasonable: respondents noticed improved psychological well-being (for example, reduced stress level, calmer and more relaxed students) and positive impact on symptoms of ADHD (less frequent and intense) of pupils and students with ADHD. A similar effect on symptoms of ADHD has been found in several foreign studies, which suggest that mindfulness could be a potentially effective form of psychosocial treatment for people with ADHD. This is also interesting from the perspective of this research, since the results show that the majority of providers of additional professional assistance from elementary and secondary schools perceive the need for additional, new or different strategies for treatment of pupils and students with ADHD.
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