Mindfulness for teachers: A pilot study to assess effects on stress, burnout and teaching efficacy

Abstract

Despite the crucial role of teachers in fostering children's academic learning and social-emotional well-being, addressing teacher stress in the classroom remains a significant challenge in education. The present study reports results from a randomized controlled pilot trial of a modified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course (mMBSR) adapted specifically for teachers. Results suggest the course may be a promising intervention, with participants showing significant reductions in psychological symptoms and burnout, improvements in observer-rated classroom organization and performance on a computer task of affective attentional bias, and increases in self-compassion. In contrast, control group participants showed declines in cortisol functioning over time and marginally significant increases in burnout. Furthermore, changes in mindfulness were correlated in the expected direction with changes across several outcomes (psychological symptoms, burnout, sustained attention) in the intervention group. Implications of these findings for the training and support of teachers are discussed.

Keywords: burnout; classroom behavior; cortisol; intervention; mindfulness; stress; teachers.

Figures

Figure 1

Scatterplots of the correlation between changes in mindfulness and changes in psychological and behavioral outcomes for treatment group only. Change scores calculated as post – pre values. Higher values for changes in mindfulness facets indicate increases in mindfulness from pre- to post-intervention. [a] Increases in acting with awareness and [b] non-reactivity associated with decreases in general psychological symptoms (SCL GSI). [c] Increases in acting with awareness associated with decreases in emotional exhaustion aspect of burnout (MBI EmotExh). [d] Increases in non-reactivity associated with decreases in depersonalization aspect of burnout (MBI Depersn). [e] Increases in describe and [f] non-reactivity associated with increases in sustained attention.