Few studies have evaluated the impact of mindfulness programmes on aspects of positive functioning amongst mainstream children and problems in design, sample size, and measurement are commonplace. The present study sought to address this and rigorously evaluate the impact of a 6-hour manualised mindfulness programme called 'Paws .b' on mainstream Primary School aged pupils' suppressing and sustaining attention skills, and their academic proxy measures. Two classes of Year-4 pupils (n = 30), their class teachers (n = 3), and a mindfulnessteacher (n = 1) were recruited from a mixed comprehensive Primary School. A quasi-mixed methods Randomised Control Trial (RCT) design with a quasi-experimentalintervention cross-lag was used. There were four data collection time-points 6- to 8-weeks apart. Pupils and class teachers were randomly assigned to the experimental group or the waitlist control group. Experimental pupils received a 1-hour Paws .b lesson per week for 6-weeks between baseline and Time-1; waitlist control pupils received Paws .b between Time-1 and Time-2. The remaining time-points acted as the 6- to 8-week and 14-week follow-ups. Quantitative data were gathered using teacher-reported and standardised attention measures, and teacher-reported academic proxy measures. Qualitative data were gathered using post-intervention pupil focus groups (FGs) and teacher semi-structured interviews. Within-condition comparisons revealed several significant pre- vs. post-intervention effects within the attention measures, the majority of which were maintained at one or both of the follow-ups, whereby several large estimated effect sizes were noted. Between-condition comparisons revealed a number of significant partial condition × time-point interactions within the attention measures. However, no significant effects were noted within the academic proxy measures. Positive and critically constructive evaluative themes were identified within the qualitative data. Findings were discussed relative to mindfulness and attention literature, and further implications for school implementation and future research were outlined.

A qualitative investigation was conducted to explore the phenomenon of teacher perception of change in school culture as a result of the implementation of mindfulness. This study used a phenomenological methodology, enabling the researcher to gather information by focusing on and describing the impact of mindfulness on school culture in a deep comprehensive manner. The investigator was able to extract meaning and code data, leading to the emergence of themes that supported and aligned with the study’s research questions and thus led into a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. This was accomplished through data analysis of rich, in-depth interviews, onsite visits, and document analysis, which consisted of aggregate student disciplinary information, aggregate achievement results, the state report card, attendance records, teacher retention records, and faculty survey results. The quality of data sources led to saturation, and variety of sources allowed for triangulation of the results. The principal researcher in this study found that mindfulness results in a large, positive impact on school culture, including improved relationships among stakeholders, improved academic performance, and a decrease in disciplinary incidents. This was evidenced and supported by a thorough literature review, the results of participant interviews, and document analysis. The researcher also specified factors teachers perceived as essential to the implementation of mindfulness in schools and provided practical suggestions for putting mindfulness in place as well as suggestions for future research. The results from this study provide a framework for understanding and exploring the phenomenon.