Date of Award

Summer 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chairperson

Stevie Grassetti, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Loretta Reiser-Danner, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Michele Belliveau, Ph.D.

Abstract

Teachers experience higher job stress compared to non-human service professionals (Braun et al., 2019), leading to burnout and negative perceptions of work and students (Arens & Morin, 2016; Yong & Yue, 2007). Mindfulness training has been effective in reducing stress and burnout in teachers (Meiklejohn et al., 2012; Roeser et al., 2013; Fabbro et al., 2020; Guidetti et al., 2019), potentially aiding emotional support for students. However, its benefits for teachers in underserved, bilingual schools remain understudied despite their heightened stress levels. This study aimed to address this gap.

The study had three aims. Firstly, to examine if teachers’ self-reported burnout and stress predicted their observed classroom behavior. Secondly, to assess pre-post changes among teachers who underwent mindfulness training, hypothesizing increased positive perceptions of students, job satisfaction, and decreased burnout and stress. Lastly, to compare outcomes between teachers who underwent mindfulness training and those who did not.

Data was collected via surveys and classroom observations at a bilingual charter elementary school. Despite varying participation, 27 teachers responded to the pre-survey, and 15 to the post-survey in the 2020-2021 school year.

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