Peace in Schools Training Institute

The Peace in Schools pedagogical approach consists of five pillars that are the foundations of our curriculum. These pillars, woven through all of the Mindful Studies content, class structure, and facilitation style, are what make our curriculum transformational and unique.

• Presence: Presence is the foundation. Throughout the course, students are given various tools and practices that give them a felt experience of presence.

• Compassion: We work with the group to co-create and maintain a container of compassion, giving students a supportive environment to explore their inner landscape.

• Community: We co-create a community in which all voices and experiences are validated, and all students experience a felt-sense of belonging.

• Conditioning: Students reflect on the ways they have been conditioned by their families, school, society, community, and culture.

• Self-Knowledge: Students are invited to bring nonjudgmental inquiry to their direct experience and get to know themselves on the deepest level.

Mindful Studies guides students on a journey of exploring their inner landscape without judgment and with great compassion. Throughout the course, students experience a felt-sense of belonging and touch in on the recognition of their own  inherent wholeness. There are three main practice areas our students engage in:

1. Directing the Attention: Students build awareness, direction, and stability of attention through practices that enhance focus, support wellbeing, and promote nervous system regulation, empowering them to choose where and when to place their attention. 

2. Processes of the Conditioned Mind: Lessons explore the conditioned processes that lead to suffering. Students engage in discussions and practices to understand the processes of the Conditioned Mind (Self-Talk, Coping Mechanisms, Survival Strategies, the Judge, Duality, Aspects of the Personality, Projection). This exploration helps students identify who they are not – “I am not my thoughts, I am not my emotions, I am not the aspects of my personality, I am not what I project.”  

3. Exploring Who We Really Are: After exploring who or what we are not, the question arises, “Well then, who am I?” In the third part of the arc, we invite students to ask, “What is it like to take off the mask of conditioning? What does it mean to rest in Presence?” Lessons focus on cultivating Acceptance, Loving Kindness, and relational mindfulness.