"The Course Was My Lifesaver": The Significance of a Mindfulness and Social Work Course for Students in Israel During the COVID-19 Crisis.

CONSENSUS (Social sciences); SOCIAL workers; DATA analysis; MINDFULNESS; COURSE evaluation (Education); RESEARCH evaluation; SOCIAL work education; CRISIS intervention (Mental health services); PSYCHOLOGICAL adaptation; LEARNING; REFLECTION (Philosophy); DESCRIPTIVE statistics; SOCIAL case work; STUDENTS; THEMATIC analysis; DIARY (Literary form); RURAL conditions; MEDITATION; ACADEMIC achievement; STUDENT attitudes; PHENOMENOLOGY; ALTERNATIVE education; QUALITY assurance; COVID-19 pandemic; WRITTEN communication; GROUP process; RELIABILITY (Personality trait); ADULTS

This article describes a course on mindfulness and social work in an Israeli college. During the course, the students dealt with the unpredictable reality of the COVID-19 crisis. As they studied and practiced mindfulness, they experienced new life circumstances, as a living lab, creating a direct encounter with the course concepts. Practicing meditation became particularly significant for them given their coping with the crisis. One of the course requirements was writing a journal. Analysis of the journals suggested a three-stage learning process: (a) ambivalence toward the course, (b) the magic of mindfulness, and (c) reflection and selection. The findings indicate that the students experienced the course as helping them deal with the COVID-19 challenges on personal, professional, and academic levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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