2410 research outputs found
Sort by
Befriending Your Vagus Nerve: A Storybook for Children
Get PDFThe vagus nerve, which is the longest of the cranial nerves, extends from the brain to the majority of organs in the body and has, therefore, been dubbed the Wanderer. It carries both sensory (afferent) information about the organs to the brain and motor information (efferent) from the brain to the organs. Stimulating the vagus nerve has been the interest of researchers since the late 1800s when delivering electricity to the nerve was used to treat acute epileptic seizures. Today, vagus nerve stimulation has been approved as treatment for morbid obesity and treatment-resistant depression as well. More natural techniques to stimulate the vagus nerve also exist. Current research shows that meditation and movement-based contemplative practices; exercising; singing, humming, and chanting; cold exposure; massage; laughing; and maintaining good gut health can stimulate the vagus nerve. All of these activities produce an increase in heart rate variability which is a measure of how well the vagus nerve is functioning. Interestingly, these natural methods of stimulating the vagus nerve have been an element of mindfulness practice for millenia. Since the natural methods are easily taught and sustained; non-invasive; low cost; and low risk, they are very suitable for improving the well-being of young children. One age-appropriate way to educate children on how to easily stimulate the vagus nerve is a storybook
Students Who Identify as Black and Their Perceptions of and Experiences with Public High School Student Council
Get PDFIn recent decades, there has been a decline in the participation of Black students in high school student councils, causing concern that the Black student population is underrepresented in this traditional form of civic engagement. This hermeneutic phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of Black individuals who attended Massachusetts’ public high schools and were faced with the opportunity to seek membership in student council. Three guiding questions focused on factors influencing a student’s decision to seek membership in the organization and the alignment between the portrayed purposes of student council with the participants’ actual experiences and perceptions. A modified snowball approach was used to collect data from 103 individuals, twenty-five of whom met the delimitations of the study and identified themselves as Black. Interviews were conducted with seven participants. A frequency analysis helped to illustrate themes from the survey data, and the interview data were coded both manually and using NVivo software. The analysis revealed themes that became the basis for six findings. The findings suggest that participants were more likely to join student council when they felt their involvement could impact their school communities. Participants did not feel their student councils provided an open forum for non-student council members to share their ideas; however, they could see potential benefits of student council if organized appropriately. Many prioritized other activities over joining student council. The purpose they most associated with student councils was their fundraising function, and participants credit their student council experiences for their strengthened communication skills. Recommendations from this study advise school leaders and student council advisors to examine demographic patterns of participation and find ways to include the voices of all students to achieve racially diverse participation and reclaim the fundamental purpose of student councils
Lighting Neural Maps: Using a Neuroscience Lens to Examine Quantitative Performance from Urban Districts
Get PDFWhat is the link between neuroscience and education? Can one measure the phenomenon of learning and make predictions by charting student performance? How does the knowledge of neuroscience inform educators to objectively and effectively meet the unique needs of all learners and address discrepancies in subsets of student population? Questions like these led the way to examining quantitative summative performance assessment data obtained from two large and diverse urban school districts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This interdisciplinary study is an empirical mixed methods inquiry that includes extensive quantitative analysis of existing public school data which is further analyzed using a qualitative neuroscience lens developed by synthesizing recent neuroscience research on topics such as cognition, neural synchronization, childhood anxiety, and understanding high IQ students through an integrative literature review. Neuroscience is the radiant light crucial for informing educational policies and practices that actively provide and improve training for teachers and staff, develop meaningful pedagogy and measures for assessing students, and build effective bridges between home and school by educating all stakeholders. In this empirical examination, emerging themes of longitudinal growth in performance and performance score variance in terms of gender and economic status highlighted connections that are explained in the language of neuroscience as applied to the field of education while identifying and defining neuromyths. Ultimately, this analysis revealed findings such as the predictability power of performance assessment scores beyond their current utilization and identified performance discrepancies in the two subsets of gender and economically disadvantaged students. This research connects the two fields of neuroscience and education and provides a comprehensive framework, suggesting newly informed and neuromyth-free methods in teaching and learning that are commensurate with students’ natural ways of learning. This is an invitation to engage in an innovative neuroscience- informed design and structure that provides educators and parents with competent preventive and intervention strategies towards creating healthy ecosystems aligned with the most recent research in neurobiology, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience
Childhood Learning Through Mindful Sensory Experiences in Nature: Attentive Earth and Body– A Five-Lesson Educator’s Guide
Get PDFThe benefits of spending time outside in nature are well documented for children. However, due to both micro and macro systems level causes, children are spending less time in nature than they have in the past. Children spend a large amount of time in school, which makes it the perfect setting to incorporate more time outside into their day. This paper begins with a review of current and historical literature around the themes of childhood experiential learning, nature exposure, and mindfulness experiences that focus on sensory learning. This research has informed the development of the creative project titled Attentive Earth and Body, which is an educator’s guide and five-lesson curricula. The purpose of Attentive Earth and Body is to provide lessons for early elementary educators to teach self-awareness to students through attention practices using the sensations of nature. Mindful sensory based activities are offered to assist educators with teaching whole body learning and interoceptive skills, and with promoting self-awareness and social emotion learning. Research has also shown that children that develop connections to nature are more likely to display pro-environmental behaviors throughout their lives. Attentive Earth and Body strives to provide children with fun and positive experiences in nature, hoping to strengthen the bond between the child and the earth
Understanding Grief Through the Eyes of a Child (Ages 3-12): Mindfulness and Other Mindful Modalities as Supportive Tools
Get PDFThis study demonstrates how mindfulness and other mindful modalities can be supportive tools for children experiencing grief and loss. The literature reflects the importance of understanding the ways in which children grieve at varying ages and developmental stages, facilitating grief and death-related conversations, the connection between mindfulness and grief and the use of mindfulness-based interventions within the realms of grief and death. This thesis is supported through findings from peer-reviewed articles, books, podcasts, activities, and meditations. The creative project aims to reflect that grief and loss-related experiences can be openly talked about and supported through appropriate resources and mindful modalities for parents/caregivers, to use with their children. Conclusions and implications for future study include the continuous study of appropriate age-related understanding, supportive tools for children holding grief as an individualized journey, while also shedding light on the importance of grieving in community, and the invaluable connection between conscious living and mindful grieving, as preparation for the inevitability of life
Talk Box in Music Therapy with Speech and Language Impairments Resulting From Tracheostomy: A Critical Review of the Literature
Get PDFTracheostomy patients struggle with one of the most significant and essential components to the human identity, that is, communication. When a person’s communication is obstructed, access to their intangible, inner world is also severed – leaving their thoughts, feelings, and memories, all of which are core to the human experience, unshared. Speech assistance for tracheostomy patients currently includes above cuff vocalization efforts using one-way speaking valves, augmentative and alternative communication methods such as speech generating devices and the electrolarynx. This thesis will introduce and discuss a musical instrument effect called the talk box as an integration of music therapy techniques that address speech and language deficiencies in tracheostomy patients. A talk box consists of a mini speaker amplifier with an input for instruments and an output where a plastic tube can be attached. The distal end of the plastic tube is placed in a speaker’s mouth where they can use their articulators to form consonant and vowel shapes. The resulting effect amplifies the instrument’s output into the speaker’s mouth where words or phrases can be spoken or sung. Using an instrument with the talk box allows for a real-time adjustment of pitch, quality, loudness, timbre, and tempo. A large part of music therapy incorporates the use of music and instruments to help a patient with non-musical goals. The talk box could provide tracheostomy patients with a non-invasive and non-permanent approach to speaking and singing, as well as an opportunity to reclaim a missing part of their identity that cannot be replaced or replicated
Sand Tray and Play Therapy with Homeless Families: Strengthening Caretaker Bonds, Development of a Method
Get PDFThis paper looks at a new way of using sand tray and play therapy, in family therapy to support a secure bond between parents and their children. The literature on adverse childhood experiences, benevolent childhood experiences, and the extensive body of literature on sand tray and play therapy suggest that this method could help the families at the shelter the author interned in this past year. Supported by Jungian and Adlerian therapists, sand tray and play therapy are safe, the sand and figurines and toys are easy to manipulate and accessible for those who are less verbal to play and process through that play experience. The study explored the use of sand tray play therapy with one middle aged White, blue-collar father and his 3-year-old daughter and became a case study due to the Coronavirus pandemic preventing more participation. From this experience much was learned about participation and appropriate psychoeducation as necessary for results. There was evidence to support the use of this method to support and/or facilitate a secure attachment in the primary caregiver relationship. Literature supports the use of sand trays with children and adults, but the obstacles to gathering the data in the time allotted, created much difficulty. Therefore, it is hoped this information will be used to try again with another group at another time when groups can meet, and people can be present often
Parental Differential Treatment and its Impact on the Sibling Relationship: A Literature Review
Get PDFParental differential treatment (PDT) may happen for a number of reasons. Each child is different; therefore, each child has their own individual personality and may differ developmentally or in temperament. These differences can make parenting individual children challenging. These differences can cause some parents to show preference toward one child over another because their behavior may be easier to handle. While the difference in treatment due to varying situations and developmental needs is understandable, children may still be sensitive to the increased parental attention shown to another child and be negatively affected by it. PDT explores the differences in parenting experienced by siblings and has been linked to negative adjustment outcomes in children. The contents of this literature review will examine how differential treatment impacts sibling relationships and how art therapy can be used as a positive resource to improve familial relationships and better parenting skills
Commonthought (2023)
Get PDFThis issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/commonthought/1036/thumbnail.jp
The Benefits of Art Therapy on Stress and Anxiety of Oncology Patients During Treatment
Get PDFWithin the last ten years research on art therapy and its positive impact on oncology patients’ stress and anxiety during treatment has been minimal. Oncology patients whether they are children or adults when diagnosed experience similar reactions due to their diagnosis, treatment, and in some cases end of life care. The current question is whether or not art therapy does have a positive impact on decreasing the stress and anxiety with oncology patients while undergoing treatment. Deane, Fitch & Carmen (2000), discussed art therapy as a healing art that is “intended to integrate physical, emotional, and spiritual care by facilitating creative ways for patients to respond to their cancer experience” (Deane, 2000, p. 147). Additionally, overall improvement of the patient’s quality of life (QOL) were explored by Rossana (2021). This literature review intends to present the relevant research on how art therapy has had a positive impact on an oncology patients’ stress and anxiety during treatment as well as a positive impact on their QOL