Abstract:

The physical, psychological, and social benefits of practicing mindfulness are well documented.   In fact, Zakrzewski (2013) findings suggest teachers with a personal mindfulness practice experience less stress and their students show improvements in classroom performance.  In this session, you will learn about mindfulness, hear a summary of the research, and receive free resources and materials.

Teacher stress is a significant challenge in education (Flook, Goldberg, Pinger, Bonus, & Davidson, 2013) with teachers’ reporting experiencing a moderate to high level of stress (Montgomery & Rupp, 2005). The high demands placed on educators leads to chronic and persistent stress which adversely affects wellness, job performance, and student outcomes (Emery & Vandenberg, 2010; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Shen, McCaughtry, Martin, Garn, Kulik, & Fahlman, 2015). These high levels of stress also lead to work-related fatigue, depression and anxiety, cynicism and low self-efficacy (NASUWT, 2013) which impacts teacher’s engagement with students and their effectiveness (Emerson, Leyland, Hudson. Hanley, Rowse, & Hugh-Jones, 2017). Because teachers play a crucial role in fostering student's academic learning and social-emotional well-being; interventions to reduce teacher’s stress and maintain well being are needed (Benn, Akiva, Arel, & Roeser, 2012). Acknowledging the need for more rigorous research examining mindfulness programs usage with teachers; the results of current empirical research are promising and will be reviewed in this session.

Weare and Nind (2011) suggest that any school-based approach to promoting mental health should start with the mental health of teachers. Fortunately, well-researched programs for adults already exist. The strong empirical support for Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs) and the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programs led researchers to examine mindfulness as a form of professional development for teachers. Studies examining MBIs specifically designed for teachers, show promise for reducing teachers’ occupational stress, promoting social and emotional competencies, and improving the quality of their classroom interactions (Jennings, 2017).

This presentation will outline the research and share information and resources for promising programs for teachers and other school personnel. In addition to learning about mindfulness, participants receive free resources to develop and/or strengthen their own personal practice.

Keywords:

Mindfulness, teachers, retention.