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SMILES in Education

SMILES is "Stress-Free, Motivating, Inquisitive Learning Eco-System" integrating life-skills for well-being in pedagogy using mindfulness.

SMILES integrates mindfulness & positive psychology based short and easy techniques in lesson plan for inculcating life-skills like resilience, empathy, discernment & will-power. These tools also improve concentration & recall power resulting in better academic and cognitive outcomes. We bring out the inherent creativity in teachers and students for better motivation & passion for learning.

HundrED 2020
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Overview

HundrED has selected this innovation to

HundrED 2020

HundrED 2019

Web presence

2017

Established

5.1K

Children

6

Countries
Updated
March 2024
Our vision is one day all students will be receiving a life-skills integrated education through intrinsically motivated teachers who themselves practice these skills for their own well-being.

About the innovation

SMILES in Education - Creating Joyful, Focused and Mindful Classrooms integrated with real life skills.

Why SMILES in Education?
We believe every classroom should deliver real life skills integrated education in a joyful and passionate environment where no child feels afraid, apathetic or ashamed. This requires that teachers are themselves empowered with such life-skills and well being tools in a stress free learning ecosystem which continuously motivates & supports them.
Our mission is to help teachers transform their classroom into a recharging station for motivation and mutual well-being along with their students resulting in joyful learning.

Impacted students and teachers:
* Between July 2017- Feb 2019, SMILES in Education has impacted 4 low income schools in India impacting ~ 4500 students & 160 teachers.
* Since April 2019, SMILES has been integrated in the curriculum of Talking Tree Hill School in Auckland, New Zealand impacting ~ 500 students and their teachers.
* Besides, some teachers and students have been trained and using SMILES in countries like USA, Finland and Spain.

The Problem: Our education system is not preparing us for what we need and expect in real life. We are still focused on age old criteria for academic excellence and competing against each other. Teaching is being done in silos without direct correlation to what skills and mindsets children need in real life. Instead of using technology to their advantage, many teachers and students are using it to replace their own hard work and creativity. Focusing the mind is becoming increasingly difficult both inside and outside the classroom resulting in lack of motivation to learn new skills. Despite increasing social isolation and bullying, there is very little focus on mental and social well being in the classrooms. Relevance of schools and teachers will get eroded if we do not make schools a place of mental, emotional and social learning with full participation of motivated students and full facilitation of motivated teachers.

Our Solution: We have designed S.M.I.L.E.S. (Stress-free Motivating Inquisitive Learning Eco-System), a continuous andcomprehensive holistic teacherdevelopment and support program which can be sustained long term by local teacher leaders. SMILES creates a stress free, self-sustaining learning communityof motivated teachers using mindfulness, positive psychology and yoga techniques integrated with pedagogical skills for excellence in academics and well being of students and teachers.

Mindfulness means being in the present moment and focusing on it. If teacher & students are frequently focusing on the present moment, their attention span improves giving better class control, better concept clarity and active participation resulting in academic excellence.

Our learning model is “First feel inside, then share outside!”Teachers experience the benefits of well being in their own lives, infuse their own creativity and positivity into teaching. So SMILES program starts with experiential learning for teachers and administrators first and then we move on to students and eventually parents.

Uniqueness of SMILES program is that it ensures improved academics results and cognitive skills (like problem solving, critical thinking and decision making) by regular practice of easy SMILES anchors regularly.

For Teachers, SMILES generates a positive learning ecosystem that supports their local context based new knowledge and skills in a stress free manner. It motivates them by boosting their self-esteem, helping them utilize their talent andpassion in classrooms andgiving due recognition and opportunities for growth. It generates curiosity in teachers for learning and exploring new ways of teaching.

For Students, SMILES provides mindfulness anchors and easy to do techniques for improved concentration, academic performance and emotional well-being. It also develops values like compassion, mutual respect and gratefulness which reduces classroom conflicts and bullying, enabling all-inclusive growth.

For Parents, SMILES delivers sessions on mindful parenting where parents learn techniques to accept their children non-judgmentally and guide them positively.They also learn about mindfulness anchors which take care of their own well-being and to help their kids improve their academic and behavioral skills.

How does SMILES in Classroom work?
Teachers trained with “SMILES in Education” plan every learning session using three main components:

1. Mindful Beginning: Teacher & students start the lesson feeling grateful for today’s learning opportunity, do positive affirmations with deep breathing and choose a positive word/value for today’s lesson. The teacher tells them about what knowledge they will get today and how it is related to what we learnt before. Then together they discuss why this knowledge is helpful in daily life.

2. Mindful Learning:Then most of the session is spent learning “how” of the topic using best pedagogical skills (like inquiry based discovery, peer learning, activity driven learning, realia etc.) integrated with SMILES Rules or mindfulness anchors for learning. The teacher can use Mindfulness Pauses along with students for well-being and better classroom control. In between, they recall their chosen positive word/value and ensure its being followed.

3. Mindful Closing: Towards the end, a mindful reflection of what, why and how of what we learnt today is done by all students and teacher together. Its most powerful part of the lesson where mindfulness helps students to recall, comprehend & memorize new knowledge gained. Gratitude & forgiveness during this closing helps develop a positive relationship with teacher, fellow students and self.

Click here to know the steps to implement the full program in your school.

PILOT and IMPACT data:
Click here for impact data chart
Some Impact data from our “SMILES in Education” program running for 6 months from June 2018 in 3 schools in India is given below:
1. Effectiveness Survey showed that out of 2,231 students, the number of students who gained confidence in learning and were able to recall quickly, increased from initially 720 students to 1383 students after they used the SMILES rules. This is a ~ 30% increase in just 4 months of implementation.

2. Motivation and productivity survey among teachers using SMILES in Education program shows:
i. 100% feel happier and healthier after using SMILES rules in classroom.
ii. 90% find SMILES Rules easy to implement in classroom.
iii. 80% teachers say their classroom has become more joyful.
iv. 79% teachers say their students became more attentive and more calm.
v. 67% teachers say their students show more interest in participating in classroom.

We have done 2 pilots of components of SMILES program in low income schools in Ahmedabad, India from November 2016- April 2018 directly impacting ~60 teachers and indirectly impacting ~1500 students. We conducted over 16 bi-monthly workshops, gave demos in classrooms, made classroom execution videos and held development discussions with several teachers.
 The attendance of each of our workshops has been > 90%.
 As the program progressed, we saw significant improvements in teachers’ motivation & participation levels in individual as well as group activities.
 Several teachers have on record acknowledged how confident and motivated they feel after attending SMILES.
 We also took testimonials from principals and trustees. The principal and supervisors are very satisfied with overall improvement in school culture and joy levels. They are very excited to continue the program for the second year.

References:

1. Integrating Mindfulness Training into K-12 Education: Fostering the Resilience of Teachers and Students:
"John Meiklejohn, Catherine Phillips,et al. (2010)"

2. Mindfulness meditation may lessen anxiety, promote social skills, and improve academic performance among adolescents with learning disabilities. Complementary Health Practice Review, 13,34–45. doi:10.1177/1533210107311624
"Beauchemin, J., Hutchins, T. L., & Patterson, F. (2008)"

3. Third Eye Acupressure point GV24.5 - Acupressure for Hormonal Balance, Depression, Anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Racing Thoughts, and Mental Health
"Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., Acupressure Institute founder & Director, Berkeley, CA, USA"

4. Effect of Nabho Mudra on Memory Introduction Research Methodology
"Gokul Singh , Yogacharya , Panjab Sindh Kshetra Sadhu Mahavidhayalaya Rishikesh,Uttarkhand, India"

Impact & scalability

Impact & Scalability

Innovativeness

SMILES integrates mindfulness into the day to day pedagogy of educators.

Impact

Impact data from surveys conducted on “SMILES in Education” program running for 6 months from June 2018 in 3 schools in India:
1. 80% participant teachers who used SMILES techniques in classroom reported increased classroom joyful levels; 79% reported more calm & attentive students.
2. 100% teachers reported increased health and happiness levels.
3. A Learning Effectiveness Survey on 2,231 students showed that by using SMILES rules, there was a 30% increase in student learning and recalling outcomes.

Scalability


SMILES would be made open source for anyone to use through online/app based delivery including online video tutorials as well as supporting structures like surveys, observation toolkits and performance metrics.

Media

Mindful Reading Comprehension Techniques
SMILES in Education workshop from Helsinki, Finland At HundrED Masterclass
Real U Interview with Vishal Sharma, Founder of the SMILES in Life Foundation
Stretching during Mindful PAUSE by Neha Ma'm class2
Mindful Closing of lesson - Chandni Ma'm Class4 KGK School
Kirsten Simmons of Talking Tree Hill One Day School, Auckland, New Zealand along with 4 of her teachers have been using SMILES in Education Program with 500 children so far since April 2019. 
Carole Petel uses SMILES in her Entrepreneurship workshops at school
Lindsay Pinchbeck, Sweetland School, Maine, USA talks about SMILES in Education
"Teacher well-being" talk presented @ 2018 HundrED Summit, Finland by "SMILES in Education" India.
Unna Mommo, teacher at Finland. using SMILES Rules
"SMILES in Education" theme song
Mindfulness Integration in classroom; Demo using Fractions
Supervisor Participant SMILES Program - Divya Ma'm , CG School, Ahmedabad
Teacher Participant SMILES Program - Manjusha Ma'm , CG School, Ahmedabad
Teacher Participant SMILES Program - Reshma Ma'm , CG School, Ahmedabad
Mindfulness integration in classroom by Teach for India Fellow Teachers 2017 18
Examples of mindfulness acupressure yoga integration in classroom by SMILES
Students sharing their experiences about mindfulness accupressure yoga in classroom
Fun filled activity based workshops
Teachers practicing Peer teaching
Teachers Sharing & Caring workshops
SMILES Teachers Workshops on Integrating Mindfulness in Classrooms
Teachers practicing Mindful Focus Position
Mindful breathing Positive energy booster in Exams Dhanwanti Mam XII
Exploration & visualization with mindfulness in classroom
Motivated & Joyful Teachers

Implementation steps

Learn it!

Teachers learn the SMILES techniques through our webinar / workshops. They use them in their personal life for 10-20 days. Then take it to their classroom.

Once in a month, there is one “Learning” session followed by a “Sharing and Caring” session after two weeks where teachers share their experiences of using these techniques

The activity based workshops are conducted like the real classroom with group practices, peer learning as well as individual practices for the skills or competencies being taught.

Teacher surveys can be conducted in the beginning, middle and end of the program to quantify need and impact respectively.

Conduct it!

Teachers get to see the demonstration of SMILES lesson plan structures which integrate short mindfulness and well-being routines in the classroom. Teachers then conduct these SMILES lesson plan in their own classrooms. We suggest you introduce one new SMILES structure in a week and let students feel the benefits of each on their own.See a video of Demo Class for teachers

Steps for doing:Mindful Reading & ComprehensionThink, Pair and Share with Mindfulness

Observe it!

When teachers start using integrated mindfulness while teaching their students, classroom observations and corrections are done as needed. This is a reinforcement cycle to ensure teachers and students are doing as expected. Any common issues observed can be discussed in next training workshop.

Lead it!

In due time, Teacher leaders can be easily identified within the school who have mastered the skills to support & lead other new teachers. We call them as “SMILES Ambassadors” & they will be coached to deliver webinars/workshops as well as do classroom demos and observations.

Share it!

SMILES Ambassadors start moderating local sharing & caring communities where teachers share their learning experiences & support each other.

Expand it!

Now its time to expand your SMILES eco-system. SMILES Ambassadors start training other teachers & other schools in the city and even beyond. Slowly it becomes a self-sustaining local ecosystem of collaborative sharing and caring which can be linked to the global SMILES ecosystem eventually.

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