Exploring Meditation in School

In September of this year, I had the pleasure of beginning a part-time teaching position at Bridge Boston Charter School.  I teach upper strings in a support role to the two full-time music teachers.  In this school of around 340 students between K-8, music enhances the school’s core value of whole-child learning.  Every child learns a stringed instrument as part of their weekly curriculum.  Currently, from third grade on, students have orchestra class three days a week.  

The school has sports teams such as step, basketball, football, and soccer, drama, anime, and LGBTQ clubs.  Within these teams, orchestral playing builds a community of learners, gives individuals a voice, and highlights how singular action affects us all.  Our students can take advantage of a unique musical setting, and we aim to harness the many benefits of having music in our daily lives, both artistically and socially. 

As I grow into this role, I’m struck by the importance of socio-emotional support and, in particular, emotional regulation.  This topic is one that I also value in my own life as a performing musician.  Drawing from my own experience, interest in, and exploration of meditation, I’m on a journey to implementing meditation into teaching music.  I’m not a certified meditation teacher.  As a part of this project, I hope to further my training, but the purpose of this website is to document my own discoveries throughout the next few years, as well as bring in the advice and knowledge of experts in the field of meditation and education.

I’d like to begin by shining a spotlight on an instance of the positive impact that meditation has played in our music classroom.  M is a fourth-grade student.  She is a neurodivergent learner, has an IEP, and has a strong will to learn. This student was a top winner in the schoolwide reading challenge, but she faces many challenges in following directions.  Her classroom of 17 has 8 special education students who have support and structured plans.  We see this classroom three times a week, and the kids play cello, violin, and viola together.  This class is particularly challenging even with three teachers.  For weeks in a row, a pattern had been unfolding with M where she could not go directly to her seat and sit calmly without talking or shouting out.  One day she entered the music room with her class and I met her at her seat.  Standing in front of her chair, she appeared energetic and ready to shout.  I asked her to tell me what she was feeling.  I found out that she wasn’t looking forward to music class.  I took her into a practice room and asked her to try something for me.  I told her it was optional, but I think it might help if she took a deep breath in and whispered, “I don’t like this,” and took a deep breath out and whispers, “It’s not so bad.”  I wanted to acknowledge her state and help her move through and maybe beyond it.  We went back to her seat, and after trying it out for less than 2 minutes, M not only had a task that served her, but it seemed to calm her down so that she was able to join the class in showing she was equipped to get her instrument and begin learning.  M is a student who enjoys a challenge.  She is engaged in playing music, and her lack of focus during the transition into music class truly benefited by breathing and reciting this mantra.  

When students are allowed a voice and given a tool such as meditation, they can empower their most positive learning.  I hope to explore the techniques and framework within which meditation aids musicians of all ages.