Mindfulness practices and supporting the inclusion of pupils with social and emotional behavioural needs: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The research project aims to investigate whether mindfulness practices are a suitable tool to support the inclusion of pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. This research project is a systematic literature review which has synthesised seven empirical articles found through searches within six bibliographic databases using several inclusion and exclusion criteria in order to ensure the relevance and suitability of the articles. Thematic analysis was used to gather data from these articles and seven themes were created which outlined the changes created through the use of the mindfulness practices. These themes were: Improved self-regulation; Improved social competencies; Improved emotional competencies; Improved behaviour regulation; Improved executive function; Greater benefit to pupils with lower social-emotional competencies and Feasibility of school-based practice. It is concluded that the use of mindfulness practices are of benefit to all learners and especially those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties as this leads to better self regulation and school readiness. Therefore, there is a need to encourage the use of mindfulness practices in order to assist and include pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in the Scottish primary school.