School-based mindfulness programs (SBMPs) are becoming more prevalent in K-12 schools, yet little is known about whether and how they foster students’ ethical development.
Using a qualitative content analysis, this study examined how 3 school-based mindfulness curricula promoted ethical literacy. All curricula include SEL and mindfulness but one focused explicitly on compassion, one on secular ethics, and one on the science of the brain. We examined the prevalence of specific ethical frames and prosocial motivations, the curricular tools used to foster prosociality, and the prevalence of SEL domains.
The primary ethical frame was Care with little evidence of Justice and Rights. The main Prosocial Motivation overwhelmingly focused on Perspective-Taking. The primary pedagogical tool used was Reflection, with Skills and Knowledge used to a lesser extent. The five SEL domains showed different prevalence across the curricula. Within each curriculum, explicit terms related to morals/ethics were scarce.
Some of the differences between each curriculum can be traced to the aims. Also, the emphasis on relational-related ethical frames and prosocial motivations represents a shift toward a more nuanced view of children’s moral development that represents a dynamic interplay between self and other marked by compassion and empathy as opposed to adherence to externally determined rules.