Contextualizing Awareness: A Critical Examination of Mindfulness Interventions in Urban Schools

• In Event: Critical and Transformative Perspectives on Social and Emotional Learning

Abstract

Mindfulness interventions are often used to support the social and emotional development of students and teachers by offering practices that heighten individual awareness and reduce mental health ailments such as anxiety and depression. Focusing on individual ailments without placing critical awareness on the injustices that cause these ailments, such as extreme inequities and disparities in schools, can perpetuate harm. This review provides a vital critique of the field of mindfulness in urban education to consider how race and disability are and are not addressed in the research. The interventions will be analyzed through the lenses of Critical Race Theory and Disability Studies (DisCrit) to uncover potential detrimental effects of interventions conducted without broader contextual considerations and critical perspectives.

Author

• Lindsay Romano, New York University