MYRIAD - My Resilience in Adolescence project UK

[Sly Saint]

MYRIAD is a research project. We are interested in how schools promote young people’s wellbeing and resilience (the ability to adapt in the face of difficulties) throughout adolescence.

We will compare existing, good quality social and emotional learning that is already being taught in schools (known as ‘teaching as usual’) to a programme of study that is based on mindfulness techniques. Mindfulness is a way of being present to experiences as they happen, rather than worrying about what has happened or might happen in the future.

The design is a randomised controlled trial in which all schools are randomly allocated, using a computer programme, to continue either with ‘teaching as usual,’ or to provide the mindfulness programme alongside their current teaching. The study protocol contains further details of the design and method.

The project has been reviewed by and received ethical clearance through the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee, and is fully consistent with the ethical guidelines of the British Educational Research Association.

http://myriadproject.org/myriad-project/
http://myriadproject.org/

The MYRIAD collaboration:
Kings College London, University of Oxford, University of Exeter, MRC; Cognition and Brain sciences unit, University of Cambridge, UCL, Wellcome.

see also:
Mindfulness Training in UK Secondary Schools: a Multiple Case Study Approach to Identification of Cornerstones of Implementation

Abstract

This paper examined the facilitators and barriers to implementation of mindfulness training (MT) across seven secondary/high schools using a qualitative case study design. Schools varied in level of implementation.

Within schools, head teachers, members of school senior leadership teams, and staff members involved in the implementation of MT were interviewed individually. In addition, focus groups were conducted with other members of school staff to capture a broad range of views and perspectives.

Across the case studies, several key themes emerged, which suggested four cornerstones to successful implementation of MT in schools. These were: people, specifically the need for committed individuals to champion the approach within their schools, with the support of members of the senior leadership teams; resources, both time and financial resources required for training and delivery of MT; journey, reflecting the fact that implementation takes time, and may be a non-linear process with stops and starts; and finally perceptions, highlighting the importance of members of the school community sharing an understanding what MT is and why it is being introduced in each school context.

Similarities and differences between the current findings and those of research on implementation of other forms of school mental health promotion programs, and implementation of MT in healthcare settings, are discussed.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-018-0982-4
(February 2019, Volume 10, Issue 2, pp 376–389)

see also:
http://oxfordmindfulness.org/project/myriad/

eta: the infiltration continues

 

[Amw66]

Mindfulness is flavour of the month, literally for everything.

Stripped of its buddhist trappings it is now a quick fix with the same issues as CBT ( potential for patient/ participant blaming when it dosn't work, and will not work for some people;very suitable for empire building; can be seen to be doing something about a problem without necessarily doing very much at all)

Coyne has been very vocal on this phenomenon.

For those for whom it works it can be really useful.
It's the premise of the one size fits all again.

 

[Esther12]

How likely is it that teenagers will just rip the piss out of this stuff? Have British teenagers really lost that much cynicism in the decades since I was at school?

 

[Sly Saint]

Stripped of its buddhist trappings it is now a quick fix with the same issues as CBT

All sounds very innocent until you start looking into it. Some people have raised concerns about their children being 'converted' to Buddism which is the basis of mindfulness.
This course at Oxford might also raise some concerns:
MSt in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

The course is offered by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre at the Oxford University Department of Psychiatry, in collaboration with the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education. Successful completion of the course leads to an award of a Master of Studies by the University of Oxford.

Oxford has been internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in cognitive therapy (CT) research, treatment development and dissemination for nearly 20 years. It has an unusually rich concentration of acknowledged experts in CT and a first class reputation for providing high quality training courses and clinical supervision.

The second year covers the theory and practice of applying MBCT with different client groups, and equips students with the knowledge and skills they need to become competent MBCT instructors. The themes are:

• Learning to be an MBCT instructor
• Clinical applications: Theory and practice
• Buddhist Foundation for Application of Mindfulness

https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/mst-in-mindfulness-based-cognitive-therapy

 

[JaimeS]

Stripped of its buddhist trappings it is now a quick fix

Like everything they co-opt: strip it of anything that doesn't replicate their ideology, package it, and mark it for sale.

 

[JaimeS]

Some people have raised concerns about their children being 'converted' to Buddism which is the basis of mindfulness.

Fundamentalists think that everything used on or for children is Satan, though. Even the Harry Potter books were said to be a gateway drug to Satan because they contained 'witches', at least here in the states.

There is nothing wrong with learning about other cultures and how they do things in and of itself... there are a lot of classes explicitly about religion and/or religious practice at universities. I took a few, and did not convert to any of those religions.

 

[Sly Saint]

there are a lot of classes explicitly about religion and/or religious practice at universities

Yes but this is being done in schools from an early age and not in the context of religious or cultural education so I can understand the concerns particularly when there might be potential to skew what is being taught.
https://mindfulnessinschools.org/about/

 

[JaimeS]

Yes but this is being done in schools from an early age and not in the context of religious or cultural education so I can understand the concerns particularly when there might be potential to skew what is being taught.
https://mindfulnessinschools.org/about/

Can you explain what concerns you?

Meditation isn't a harmful or esoteric practice. It's just closing your eyes and trying to focus on calm. Mindfulness is only slightly more specific than that. And it doesn't have to be linked to any specific religion or diety.

[Edited for clarity!]

 

[shak8]

I wouldn't want mindfulness completely divorced from its religious/philosophical underpinning.

As Dr. Farhad Dalal points out in his critiques of Mindfulness Based CBT, that it is being used to try to prevent PTSD in American soldiers. In other words, who gives a toss about the Buddhist philosophy of doing no harm to any living creature, but rather let's turn these soldiers into more efficient and longer-lasting killing machines.

Though perhaps if the soldiers practiced secular mindfulness, would they be less likely to join the armed forces?