Exploring Attention in a Fragmented World: Mindfulness Practices for Supporting Reading and Writing

As digital devices have become ubiquitous and demands upon young people’s attention have become constant, researchers and educators have become increasingly concerned about the ability of students to maintain focus during activities like reading novels, watching films, or taking in lectures. Addressing this concern, this article takes up mindfulness practices as a means of cultivating a more intentional relationship with attention. The author details five mindfulness-informed lessons for English language arts designed to help students attend to the inner stream of their conscious awareness during reading and writing: noticing distraction and returning to text, designing a mindful environment, keeping an attention journal, discussing digital distraction, and writing about attention. The author situates these instructional activities within the tradition of the reading and writing workshops, arguing that combining mindfulness education and reading/writing instruction is now an essential practice for English educators within the context of the attention economy.