Mindfulness as a Pathway to Power for Borderland School Principals

• In Event: The Promise and Power of Mindfulness for School Leaders

Abstract

This paper describes mixed-methods research on the role, engagement, and pathway to power of mindfulness in principals charged with the task of formal reform efforts to successfully and sustainably turn around 10 schools in a single school district in the Southwest borderland region of the United States. The most mindful school leaders were found to be more aware, focused, communicative, and prepared; and were also the ones with higher state-assigned school grades. The implications of the findings for turnaround school reform in this culturally diverse setting were explored along with a practical emphasis on mindfulness as a potential avenue for ensuring critically conscious leadership practices, particularly for school leaders engaged in formal and often stressful high stakes reform.

Authors

• Aine Garcia-Post, Alameda Elementary School

• Kristin L. Kew, New Mexico State University

• Anna Nichol Nelson, New Mexico State University