Abstract:

The common scenario of Higher Education teachers includes to multitask effectively at work and to cope with the stress they have on a daily basis. Besides this, the Spanish system to reach a teaching permanent position requires an accreditation from the Government based on highly demanding teaching and scientific merits. In this way, the younger teachers usually are not only experiencing or feeling stressed because the work overload due to teaching schedules, but also they are strapped for time to produce highly impact scientific publications or research papers. So is there something Faculty or academics (including professors of various ranks) can do to survive successfully to this panorama? Yes, according to a small pilot study conducted by our University to test the practice of mindfulness, defined as “paying attention in the present moment, on purpose and without judgement”.

Abbreviated 8 weeks Mindfulness Course:
1. 10 secondary and university teachers selected for 8 weeks experience
2. Group meeting:
- Presentation course
- Questionnaire
- WhatsApp group creation
3. Personal mindfulness meditation: burnout, resilience, stress
4. Group meeting after 4weeks: Assess changes / Integration of concepts
5. Final questionnaire conclusions:
- Reduction of job burnout /anxiety/ stress
- Increase of compassion /quality of life /resilience

The study we undertook is a first step to look into whether an abbreviated 8 weeks mindfulness experience has a severe and convenient impact on a group of secondary and university teachers in order to prevent stressful situations as well as improving job satisfaction.

To accomplish this task, a planned methodology has been developed. Before starting, a selection of 10 teachers was carried out to participate, including different ages and areas. Participants were encouraged to attend a presentation gathering to meet each other, fill out a questionnaire and create a WhatsApp group as a communication tool. For the next 8 weeks a complete program of YouTube videos and interesting quotes for personal mediation were release through WhatsApp. In the meanwhile, a group meeting was set to upgrade skills, assess changes and to achieve a solid integration of concepts. As ultimate step, a final survey was passed out on their experiences to develop that this pilot experience has been associated with reduction in indicators of burnout, stress or anxiety.

Results based on an ad-hoc survey will be released in this paper not only to point out the influence of the practice of mindfulness during 8 weeks, to improve attention, emotion regulation, social benefits or regulate the attention but also the proof that a group for WhatsApp is the more appropriate way to learn mindfulness for most people, because they learn from others´ experiences, they support each other to develop strong interpersonal links that are powerful agents of change.

Keywords:

Productivity, stress management, mindfulness.