A project aiming to improve attendance, retention and progression of any learners who have challenging lives and to provide learners with a range of coping mechanisms that enable them to focus on a positive future. It also aimed to improve tutors' resilience in ways that help them to deal with and recover from challenging situations with learners.
The principal focus was mindfulness and the impact this had on learners and staff. The report is based on work spanning four partner organisations encompassing a a haor and beuty provider, a nationalChildren's chaorty, a charity working with young people to empower them to gain employment and the North East Counselling Service. The project involved one or two members of staff form each partner organisation for a few hours per week working alongside learners/ clients. Participants were invited to develop mini projects that would complement existing work, be evidence-rich but paperwork light and provide opportunities for professional development and sharing of best practice. in addition to mini enquiry projects particpants also undertook an eight week, 16 hour development programme in mindfulness.
This project found that, even in a short period of time, mindfulness can contribute to outstanding teaching, learning and assessment if used in the right way. Some learners have successfully adopted mindfulness as a way to deal with on-going stress and anxiety, enabling them to continue with their learning despite multiple challenges at home. The practitioners have also learned that they can become better teachers, counsellors and support workers through practicing mindfulness. Data was gathered from document analysis and interviews/surveys.
OTLA