Facilitating Ownership in Social-Emotional Learning: Grade 3 Girls’ Co-Created Mindful Routines Foster Self-Regulation and Resiliency Skills · ICGS Research Library

Title

Facilitating Ownership in Social-Emotional Learning: Grade 3 Girls’ Co-Created Mindful Routines Foster Self-Regulation and Resiliency Skills

Author

AnnMarie Zigrossi (2023)

Year Published

2023

Description

This action research project explores how 7-8 year-old girls co-created mindful routines as a strategy to foster self-regulation and resiliency. This research was conducted with a group of 14 Grade 3 students at an all-girls independent school in Toronto, Canada. The project examined how students could more independently access taught mindfulness strategies when faced with challenges throughout their day. While most research in this area focuses on the beneficial outcomes of participating in mindfulness practices and the long-term positive effects on academics and social interactions, there is less information on how students can more independently access these practices in their daily lives. In this project, the girls created a well-structured mindful routine that they practised each morning and had access to throughout their day. Students exhibited a sense of ownership in creating their unique mindful routine, which led to high levels of engagement and autonomy. The students used critical thinking skills to research various mindful practices and experimented, tested, and self-reflected to discern the practices that best suited them. Data were collected while the girls participated in their individual mindful routine each morning over a six-week period. Data collected were qualitative in nature and captured by questionnaires, interviews, observations and student journals. The results indicated that the students independently accessed this tool to support them through regular daily challenges, such as working through feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, resolving conflicts with peers at recess, and managing anxiety at competitive sporting events. The girls articulated the positive impact of using their mindful routine and how they plan to use this tool in the future. These mindful routines were used as a tool for self-regulation and demonstrated the development of resiliency skills that students can access throughout their lives to enhance their well-being. Facilitating young students’ creation of mindful routines to develop these skills and recognize their immediate positive impact will be key in the school’s future planning of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). By AnnMarie Zigrossi