Date of Award
Spring 2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Education Policy, Planning, and Administration
Committee Chairperson
David Backer, Ph.D
Committee Member
Don McCown, Ph.D
Committee Member
Christopher Seeley, M.A.
Abstract
Teacher burnout is a serious issue. Studies show that burnout decreases teacher instruction efficacy, increases absenteeism, interferes with student/teacher relationships, and causes attrition, which costs the system millions of dollars each year (Suh, 2015). While there is ample research on traditional teachers and burnout, boarding school teachers are a largely understudied population. These teachers educate students in residential school settings, housing students on evenings and weekends throughout the school year. Many boarding school teachers must work additional hours stretching into evenings and weekends and fulfill multiple roles beyond a classroom teacher. Therefore, most of these teachers work well beyond a typical 40-hour workweek. These extra hours are considered Extra Role Time (ERT), and teachers who invest more in ERT are more likely to experience burnout (Brown & Roloff, 2011).
Mindfulness interventions are associated with reductions of burnout symptoms (Brown et al., 2007; Jennings et al., 2013; Jennings et al., 2017). Many schools are piloting programs to introduce these practices to teachers. Mindfulness-based interventions for teachers provide teachers with skills to cope with stressful situations, improving teachers’ overall well-being for a more effective learning environment.
This study will employ an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to assess the efficacy of an eight-week strengths-based mindfulness intervention on boarding school teacher burnout. Additionally, the study will explore how boarding teachers employ mindfulness techniques when dealing with stressful situations. Finally, the researcher will analyze the impact a strengths-based approach to group discussions in a mindfulness intervention impacts participant wellbeing.
Recommended Citation
Campbell, Nicole, "Mindful Matters; The Efficacy of an Eight-Week Mindfulness Intervention on Boarding School Teacher Burnout" (2021). West Chester University Doctoral Projects. 93.
https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/all_doctoral/93