Mindfulness as a Means of Reducing Disruptive Behavior

An Action Research Project

Kaytlin Furlong
EDI 685
Winter 2018
 Mindfulness as a Means of Reducing Disruptive Behavior

The implementation of mindfulness within the classroom has proven to be

successful toward decreasing negative classroom behaviors and promoting positive

classroom behaviors (Harpin, Kim, Rossi, & Swanson, 2016). Many studies have

been conducted on the use of mindfulness and the positive impact that it has on

students. Upon assessing four categories of classroom behavior, Black and Fernando

(2014) found that students’ ability to pay attention, demonstrate self-control,

participate in class activities, and show respect toward classroom peers, increased

significantly as a result of implementing mindfulness. Another study showed that

students’ learning excels, and teachers’ emotional distress decreases, in a classroom

with less disruptive behavior (Pas, Bradshaw, Hershfeldt, & Leaf, 2010). This is all

largely due to the fact that the human brain is most successful when given

downtime and provided with off-task energizers. John and Danielle Almarode

(2008) found that students are less likely to become disengaged and disruptive

when given the chance to relax their brains throughout the school day.

These findings were the inspiration behind this action research project.

Conducted in a third-grade classroom, this project involved the implementation of

mindfulness as a means of reducing disruptive behavior. Though the activities were

conducted whole-class, the results provided are based upon only five students.

These five students were chosen due to their disruptive tendencies. These particular

students have trouble focusing in class; thus, they often talk out of turn, get out of

their seats without permission, and fidget with things at their desks. Additionally,

two of these students are currently being tested for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity

Disorder (ADHD). Ratey and Hagerman (2008) found that many students with

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ADHD or other behavioral disorders are more able to focus and remain engaged

after being provided with an energizing brain activity.

The mindfulness activities differed each session but included: deep

breathing, stretching, and cross-body movements that involve using both sides of

the brain at the same time. All of these activities have proven to positively influence

the brain by increasing blood flow and oxygen levels as well as production of

“happy” hormones such as dopamine (Almarode & Almarode, 2008). Over the

course of ten days, these activities were done twice throughout the day: after the

morning math warm-up, to prepare students for new daily content, and after the

afternoon recess, to prepare students for the remainder of the day. In order to

create a control group, to compare results with, an activity was not done after lunch

recess and scores were still recorded.

The five students were scored on a scale of one to three, with one being low

and three being high. The scores were based upon five categories, three of which

were considered “disruptive behaviors” and two that were “productive behaviors”.

The three disruptive behaviors included talking out of turn, fidgeting with things at

desk, and getting out of seat without permission. The two productive behaviors

included class participation and staying on task. Graphs showing the data for this

research can be found on pages 6-7 of this document. The scores reported are an

average of all five students’ individual scores for each category.

The blue line, labeled “Mindfulness”, shows average scores for the students,

for a 20-minute time frame, after the two sessions in which an activity was

conducted (morning and late afternoon). The red line, labeled “No Activity”, shows

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average scores for the students, for a 20-minute time frame, after the session in

which an activity was not conducted (after lunch recess). As noted above the graphs

on pages 6-7 of this document, low scores were desired for “Disruptive Behaviors”

because this indicated that students’ disruptive behaviors were decreasing.

Conversely, high scores were desired for “Productive Behaviors” because this

indicated that students’ productive behaviors in the classroom were increasing.

The results of this short study are in agreement with the studies summarized

at the beginning of this paper. Upon looking at the data, one can see that the

implementation of mindfulness in this third-grade classroom caused a decrease in

disruptive behaviors and an increase in productive behaviors. As expected, it also

shows that positive results increased over time. What this means, is that after these

activities became more routine in the students’ daily lives, they began to respond

more positively to them. During the first three days, scores were very similar for

“Mindfulness” and “No Activity”. This is likely because students respond most

positively to consistent routines, and the implementation of mindfulness activities

during these two parts of the day, was brand new to them. Over time though, they

became more comfortable with this new routine and showed positive responses

toward it. The disruptive behaviors showed more consistent results than the

productive; though, on average, both showed positive results in accordance to the

goals of this study.

As with every study, there were various limitations to this project. The first is

that it was only conducted over a ten-day time period, which didn’t allow for a

significant amount of time for the students to consider it part of the daily routine.

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The second is that the scores were decided upon by only one person, myself, which

undoubtedly creates some inaccuracies in the results. The third is that only five

students were studied for data collection, and during a couple of the days, two or

three of these students were not fully engaged in participation during the

mindfulness activities.

Due to previous research and the results of this action research project, I

fully intend on implementing mindfulness in my future classroom. I am certain that

if begun on the first day, as a part of the daily routine, students will greatly benefit

from these activities. The third-grade classroom in which this project was conducted

had not previously used mindfulness. In order to make the implementation more

effective, I will institute mindfulness from day one and remain consistent with these

activities every day, for the entirety of the school year. I intend on including other

forms of mindfulness such as calming background music and yoga as well.

Additionally, these practices will be done more often throughout the day in order to

allow my students more chances to relax, reenergize, and refocus.

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NOTE: For disruptive behaviors, low (1) is good, while high (3) is bad.

Disruptive Behaviors
3

2.5
AVERAGE SCORES

1.5
Mindfulness
1 No Activity

0.5

0
One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten
DAYS

Disruptive Behaviors
Ten
Nine
Eight
Seven
DAYS

Six
Five No Activity
Four Mindfulness
Three
Two
One

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

AVERAGE SCORES

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NOTE: For productive behaviors, low (1) is bad, while high (3) is good.

Productive Behaviors
2.5

2
AVERAGE SCORES

1.5

Mindfulness
1
No Activity

0.5

0
One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten
DAYS

Productive Behaviors
Ten

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six
DAYS

Five No Activity
Four Mindfulness
Three

Two

One

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

AVERAGE SCORES

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References

Almarode, J., and Almarode, D. (2008). Energizing students: Maximizing student attention
and engagement in the science classroom. The science teacher, 75(9), 32-25.
Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.gvsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=
true&db=ehh&AN=35725677&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Black, D., and Fernando, R. (2014). Mindfulness training and classroom behavior among
lower-income and ethnic minority elementary school children. Journal of child &
family studies, 23(7), 1242-1246. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-013-9784-4

Harpin, S., Rossi, A., Kim A., & Swanson, L. (2016). Behavioral impacts of a mindfulness pilot
intervention for elementary school students. Education, 137(2), 149-156. Retrieved
from
http://ezproxy.gvsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=
true&db=ehh&AN=120179274&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Pas, E. T., Bradshaw, C. P., Hershfeldt, P. A., & Leaf, P. J. (2010). A multilevel exploration of
the influence of teacher efficacy and burnout on response to student problem
behavior and school-based service use. School psychology quarterly, 25(1), 13-27.
Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/docview/614515484?accountid=394
73

Ratey, J., and E. Hagerman. 2008. SPARK: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the
brain. New York: Little, Brown

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