A Culturally Responsive Approach to Mindfulness and Mental Health Informal Education

The qualitative study examined the mental health aspects of marginalized elementary school students in addition to constructing and implementing a culturally responsive and sustaining mindfulness program to observe if there were improvements regarding emotional regulation and awareness. To achieve this, I constructed a culturally responsive and sustaining mindfulness program, implemented this program, and studied the responses from students. The research questions that fueled this study include: (1) What types of negative emotions do marginalized elementary students experience? What is the root cause for marginalized students experiencing negative emotions during their elementary school years? (2) How can incorporating mindfulness techniques embedded with culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies aid marginalized students in overcoming negative emotions that they experience in elementary school? (3) How can culturally responsive mindfulness programs be sustainable and transformative for marginalized students who frequently encounter negative emotions? (4) What challenges and difficulties are there in developing and implementing such a program? How do I search for and implement solutions? The results from this study showed that the majority of marginalized students consistently felt negative emotions at school, including overwhelming stress caused by academic pressure, nervousness due to previous trauma related to bullying, and anger due to disliking school for numerous reasons. Additionally, creating such a program that incorporated mindfulness and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies positively impacted students, equipping them with critical reflection skills to discover new techniques to help them overcome negative emotions and build resilience. The main challenge I faced as the researcher when constructing and implementing such a program was ensuring the program incorporated effective and meaningful activities that embraced all student cultures.