Mindfulness as Justice: Empathy, Harm Reduction, and Empowerment in K12 Spaces

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Research on Humanizing Pedagogy

Abstract

This qualitative study explores how K12 educators perceive the intersection of mindfulness and social justice in their classrooms and school environments. Interviews with 18 educators across diverse U.S. contexts revealed that mindfulness was not only a personal wellness practice, but a foundation for cultivating empathy, reducing harm, and empowering student-centered, justice-oriented teaching. Participants described mindfulness as a tool that has the potential to increase agency in marginalized students. Themes of empathy, harm reduction, and empowerment emerged as intersections of mindfulness and social justice in K12 spaces. These findings offer insights into how contemplative and critical pedagogies together support educational transformation and call for mindfulness to be reclaimed as a radical act of justice and awareness.

Author

• Kazumi Igus, Claremont Graduate University