Chapter 11: Self-Enhancement Through Self-Transcendence: Toward Mindful Middle Schools for Teaching and Learning

In the spirit of Beane and Lipka’s (1986) notion of the “self-enhancing middle school,” this chapter takes the reader on a journey in which the middle school is envisioned as a place that optimizes learning and identity development among adolescent students and adult educators alike through the creation of a particular kind of culture for teaching and learning—one that is mindful, caring and focused on mastery through mutual support. Adopting Beane and Lipka’s (1986) “from-to articulation” of suggested reforms in middle school education, we envision the “mindful middle school” as a place in which, over time and with intention and effort, school leaders, teachers and students alike move away from particular mindsets (e.g., belief in the fixed nature of ability), habits (e.g., mindlessness), and social norms (e.g., competition and social comparison during learning) common in many schools today, and move toward other rarer, but ultimately more effective ones (e.g., belief in malleability of ability, habit of mindfulness, norms of cooperation and mutual support). These arguably less common mindsets, habits and social norms are, collectively, what we see as constituting the heart of a new culture of education, one that is mindful and compassionate in outlook and activity.