The Awakened Heart of a Mindful Teacher

In The Awakened Heart of a Mindful Teacher: A Contemplative Exploration, Stephanie Romero traces her personal journey into Buddhism, focusing primarily on self-exploration and mindfulness training. Returning from a year-long sabbatical, she introduces the reader to her attempts to integrate her mindfulness practice into her classroom and school. Through a series of highly emotional vignettes fraught with the disillusionment, disappointment, and utter exhaustion that confront teachers and administrators who struggle to improve their schools, we feel the weight of her efforts. The outcome in this case is a personal one for Romero, one the reader might not want to see, but which remains a clear reminder of the complexity of the issues facing our schools today.