131 Summary and general discussion is well-established, endorsed by experts and organizations like Schools for Health in Europe and WHO (Van den Essenburg, 2022). While the precise effectiveness is not fully determined, research results are promising (Van den Essenburg, 2022). However, most whole-school approaches mainly focus on increasing the well-being of pupils and often lack a focus on empowering teachers’ well-being. In addition to paying attention to the well-being of the pupils, it is also important that the well-being of the teachers is monitored. Teachers who are not feeling well cannot be good for their pupils (Van den Essenburg, 2022). Welbevinden op School (Well-being at School) is a Dutch national knowledge and support program that provides schools and their partners with valuable guidelines and strategies to promote well-being using an integral, whole-school approach (welbevindenopschool.nl). Examples of whole-school approaches in the Netherlands are Leer- & Veerkracht (van Zundert, 2017), Positive Education Project (Elferink et al., 2017), De Vreedzame school (Pauw, 2013), School Wide Positive Behavior Support (Fallon et al, 2012), Gezonde School and Gezonde Basisschool van de Toekomst (Bartelink et al., 2020). However, within these programs, there are significant differences in the emphasis placed on explicitly resilience skills for the benefit of teachers’ well-being. A good example of how mindfulness can be integrated within a whole-school approach can be found in the Leer- & Veerkracht trajectory (van Zundert, 2017). In the first year, all team members of a school participate in several introductory sessions on resilience-promoting skills (e.g., growth mindset, connecting communication, mindfulness). Following these sessions, they can choose a specialized training such as the standard MBSR program. By integrating well-being into school policy, these initiatives can be implemented more effectively and have a longer and deeper impact on both pupils and teachers. Mindfulness for pupils The field of mindfulness for pupil interventions is expanding rapidly, and current evidence indicates that carefully planned and executed mindfulness programs have demonstrated modest to moderate effects on a range of pupil/student outcomes. The evidence draws from 13 published systematic reviews, including six meta-analyses in mixed student populations (K-1 to young adults) over the past 15 years (Education-based Mindfulness: Evidence And Outcomes, 2023). The strongest evidence is found in three main areas: a) Mental health, including stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression; b) Cognition and learning, encompassing executive function, self-regulation, attention, metacognition, and cognitive flexibility; and c) Social and emotional skills, such as self-regulation, emotional regulation, resilience, motivation, persistence, self-concept, empathy, compassion, caring, kindness, and relationship skills. However, some more recent reviews and a large-scale randomized control trial (MYRIAD, Monte-Marin et al., 2023) have found less evidence for impacts on young adults regarding mental well-being, including depression. Future research will need to determine whether mindfulness interventions for young adults actually have limited effects compared to what we currently understand about their effects on elementary school pupils. 7
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