Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
4-27-2020
Abstract
Mindfulness is the state of being present in the moment and being aware of what is happening in the current situation. Previous research has found that promoting mindfulness in the classroom can result in an increase in well-being and maintaining better relationships with students, (Meiklejohn et al., 2012). To date, little is known about whether mindfulness training for teachers may relate to positive outcomes in their classrooms. In the current study, we collaborated with community partners to evaluate a mindfulness training delivered to teachers across 5 afterschool sessions. We expected to observe associations between mindfulness training and positive outcomes at both the teacher level (reduced perceived stress and burnout, enhanced emotion regulation) and classroom level (classroom interest and focus, teacher responsiveness).
Our partnering school had a total of 63 teachers. 31 participated in the mindfulness training program. We collected observational data in all teachers’ classrooms and invited all teachers to complete a self-report questionnaire. The measures used to survey the teachers included: Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Carey, Neal & Collins, 2004), the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer, Schmitz, & Daytner, 1999), the Teacher Burnout Scale (Seidman & Zager, 1986), the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (Brown & Ryan, 2003), and the Thoughts About Mindfulness Questionnaire. The Classroom Climate Assessment Tool (Leff et al., 2011) was used for classroom observations, which assessed the psychosocial behavior in children within the classroom setting. Preliminary results show a significant positive correlation between burnout and perceived stress (r =.79, p =.01). Results also show a significant negative correlation between burnout and mindful attention awareness (r =-.7, p =.01). as well as perceived stress and mindful attention awareness (r =-.93, p =.01). Next steps include linking these data to observational data. We discuss the clinical and policy implications of our results.
Recommended Citation
Hershorin, E., Marks, E., Echavarria, G., Parker, A., & Grassetti, S. N. (2020). School Mindfulness Project. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/psych_stuwork/10