Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Program for Teachers on Teacher Wellbeing and Person-Centered Teaching Practices

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Mindfulness Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

The present study investigated whether and how an 8-week mindfulness-based program for teachers influences teacher wellbeing and person-centered teaching practices that emphasize the quality of student-teacher relationships.

Methods

In the present mixed-methods design study, we analyzed three data sets from a larger study. Sixty teachers (25 from the experimental group and 35 from the control group) participated in classroom observations that examined teachers’ verbal behavior while interacting with their students. Of these, 48 teachers completed self-report measures. Of these 48 teachers, 10 teachers took part in individual interviews and shared their experience of learning mindfulness and self-compassion.

Results

Findings of a mixed-model ANOVA showed improvements in person-centered teaching practices as demonstrated by reduced teacher talk, increased indirectivity in teaching, and increased student talk immediately and 6 weeks after participating in the mindfulness-based program. Mindfulness scores that changed from pre- to post-intervention, as reported by teachers, showed a moderate positive relationship with teacher indirect talk (i.e., encouraging student behavior, accepting students’ ideas) and a moderate negative relationship with teacher direct talk (i.e., lecturing) observed by researchers 6 weeks following the intervention. Findings of interviews illustrated how learning to be mindful and self-compassionate can function as self-help skills, elucidated interconnectivity between teachers and students, and promoted person-centered teaching practices that are indirect, warm, and empathic.

Conclusions

The findings provide some evidence as to how learning to be mindful and self-compassionate at school can contribute to changes in teacher wellbeing and person-centered teaching practices.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aspy, D., Roebuck, F., & Aspy, C. B. (2013). Research on person-centred methods. In C. R. Rogers, H. C. Lyon, & R. Tausch (Eds.), On becoming an effective teacher: Person-centered teaching, psychology, philosophy, and dialogues with Carl R. Rogers and Harold Lyon (pp. 104–114). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazzano, M. (2011). The Buddha as a fully functioning person: Toward a person-centered perspective on mindfulness. Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, 10(2), 116–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beshai, S., McAlpine, L., Weare, K., & Kuyken, W. (2016). A non-randomised feasibility trial assessing the efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention for teachers to reduce stress and improve well-being. Mindfulness, 7, 198–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blank, S. (1996). The development and validation of an automated data collection and analysis system based on the Flanders interaction analysis categories. (PhD), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

  • Breeman, L. D., Wubbels, T., van Lier, P. A. C., Verhulst, F. C., van der Ende, J., Maras, A., et al. (2015). Teacher characteristics, social classroom relationships, and children’s social, emotional, and behavioral classroom adjustment in special education. Journal of School Psychology, 53, 87–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M.-L. (2013). Toward a theoretical model to understand teacher emotions and teacher burnout in the context of student misbehavior: Appraisal, regulation and coping. Motivation and Emotion, 37(4), 799–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M.-L., & Davis, H. A. (2009). Understanding the role of teacher appraisals in shaping the dynamics of their relationships with students: Deconstructing teachers’ judgments of disruptive behavior/students. In P. A. Schutz & M. Zembylas (Eds.), Advances in teacher emotion research (pp. 95–127). London: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 37–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Earlbaum.

  • Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the U.S. In S. Spacapam & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of health: Claremont symposium on applied social psychology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

  • Cope, D. G. (2014). Methods and meanings: Credibility and trustworthiness of qualitative research. Oncology Nursing Forum, 41(1), 89–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornelius-White, J. H. D., & Harbaugh, A. P. (2010). Learner-centred instruction: Building relationships for student success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.

  • Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. P. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Etter, F. C. (2005). Use of the Flanders interaction analysis categories as a tool for providing descriptive data on the verbal interactions between mentor teachers and novice teachers during one-to-one conferences. (PhD), Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

  • Fathi, A., Fathi, A. E., Vahedi, S., Maghsoudi, M., Rad, A. A. M., & Rahimi, H. (2013). A study on the relationship between Tabriz high school teachers’ sense of efficacy and their educational quality. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, 2(2), 261–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flanders, N. A. (1970). Analyzing teaching behavior. Oxford: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flook, L., Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., Bonus, K., & Davidson, R. J. (2013). Mindfulness for teachers: A pilot study to assess effects on stress, burnout, and teaching efficacy. Mind, Brain & Education, 7(3), 182–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franco, C., Mañas, I., Cangas, A. J., Moreno, E., & Gallego, J. (2010). Reducing teachers’ psychological distress through a mindfulness training program. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 13(2), 655–666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Germer, C. (2009). The mindful path to self-compassion: Freeing yourself from destructive thoughts and emotions. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagenauer, G., Hascher, T., & Volet, S. E. (2015). Teacher emotions in the classroom: Associations with students’ engagement, classroom discipline and the interpersonal teacher-student relationship. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 30(4), 385–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamre, B. K., Pianta, R. C., Downer, J. T., & Mashburn, A. J. (2008). Teachers’ perceptions of conflict with young students: Looking beyond problem behaviors. Social Development, 17, 115–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, Y.-S., & Kearney, P. (2015). A mindfulness intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder: New directions in research and practice. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, Y.-S., Bartlett, B., Greben, M., & Hand, K. (2017). A systematic review of mindfulness interventions for in-service teachers: A tool to enhance teacher wellbeing and performance. Teaching and Teacher Education, 64, 26–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang, Y.-S., Goldstein, H., Medvedev, O. N., Singh, N. N., Noh, J.-E., & Hand, K. (2019). Mindfulness-based intervention for educators: Effects of a school-based cluster randomized controlled study. Mindfulness, 10, 1417–1436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, P. A. (2015). Early childhood teachers’ well-being, mindfulness, and self-compassion in relation to classroom quality and attitudes towards challenging students. Mindfulness, 6(4), 732–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, P. A., Snowberg, K. E., Coccia, M. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2011). Improving classroom learning environments by cultivating awareness and resilience in education (CARE): Results of two pilot studies. The Journal of Classroom Interaction, 46, 37–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, P. A., Frank, J. L., Snowberg, K. E., Coccia, M. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2013). Improving classroom learning environments by cultivating awareness and resilience in education (CARE): Results of a randomized controlled trial. School Psychology Quarterly, 28(4), 374–390. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000035.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, P. A., Brown, J. L., Frank, J. L., Doyle, S., Oh, Y., Davis, R., et al. (2017). Impacts of CARE for Teachers program on teachers’ social and emotional competence and classroom interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(7), 1010–1028.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jooste, J., Kruger, A., Steyn, B. J. M., & Edwards, D. J. (2015). Mindfulness: A foothold for Rogers’s humanistic person-centred approach. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 25(6), 554–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemeny, M. E., Foltz, C., Cavanagh, J. F., Cullen, M., Giese-Davis, J., Jennings, P., et al. (2012). Contemplative/emotion training reduces negative emotional behavior and promotes prosocial responses. Emotion, 12(2), 338–350. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lux, M., Motschnig-Pitrik, R., & Cornelius-White, J. (2013). The essence of the person-centered approach. In J. Cornelius-White, R. Motschnig-Pitrik, & M. Lux (Eds.), Interdisciplinary handbook of the person-centered approach. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, H. C., Jr., Holzer, M., Reincke, M., Brendel, T., Ring, J., Weindl, A., et al. (2014). Improvements in teaching behavior at two German medical schools resulting from a modified Flanders interaction analysis feedback intervention process. Medical Teacher, 36(10), 903–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McHugh, M. (2012). Interrater reliability: The kappa statistic. Biochemia Medica, 22(3), 276–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, L., & Connor, C. M. (2015). Depressive symptoms in third-grade teachers: Relations to classroom quality and student achievement. Child Development, 86(3), 945–954.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medvedev, O. N., Titkova, E. A., Siegert, R. J., Hwang, Y. S., & Krägeloh, C. U. (2018). Evaluating short versions of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire using Rasch analysis. Mindfulness, 9(5), 1411–1422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyahara, M., Harada, T., Tanaka, S., Fukuhara, H., Kano, T., Ono, T., & Sadato, N. (2017). Mindfulness meditation for future early childhood teachers in Japan. Teaching and Teacher Education, 65, 136–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray-Harvey, R. (2010). Relationship influences on students’ academic achievement, psychological health and well-being at school. Educational and Child Psychology, 27(1), 104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niessen, T., & Jacobs, G. (2014). Curriculum design for person-centredness: Mindfulness training within a bachelor course in nursing. International Practice Development Journal, 5, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel, D. S., & McNeill, K. L. (2013). Conducting talk in secondary science classrooms: Investigating instructional moves and teachers’ beliefs. Science Education, 97(3), 367–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raes, F., Pommier, E., Neff, K. D., & Van Gucht, D. (2011). Construction and factorial validation of a short form of the self-compassion scale. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 18(3), 250–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, J., & Lewis, J. (2003). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Roeser, R. W., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Jha, A., Cullen, M., Wallace, L., Wilensky, R., et al. (2013). Mindfulness training and reductions in teacher stress and burnout: Results from two randomized, waitlist-control field trials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(3), 787–804. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032093.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, C. R. (1980). A way of being. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

  • Rogers, C. R., & Lyon, H. (2013). Dialogue between Carl Rogers and Harold Lyon. In C. R. Rogers, H. C. Lyon, & R. Tausch (Eds.), On becoming an effective teacher: Person-centered teaching, psychology, philosophy, and dialogues with Carl R. Rogers and Harold Lyon (pp. 61–80). London, UK: Routledge.

  • Roorda, D. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., Spilt, J. L., & Oort, F. J. (2011). Relationships on students’ school engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic approach. Review of Education Research, 81(4), 493–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahlberg, P. (2010). Hope of cooperative learning: Intentional talk in Albanian secondary school classrooms. Intercultural Education, 21(3), 205–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahlberg, P., & Boce, E. (2010). Are teachers teaching for a knowledge society? Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 16(1), 31–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sedova, K., Sedlacek, M., & Svaricet, R. (2016). Teacher professional development as a means of transforming student classroom talk. Teaching and Teacher Education, 57, 14–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, N. N., Lancioni, G. E., Winton, A. S., Karazsia, B. T., & Singh, J. (2013). Mindfulness training for teachers changes the behavior of their preschool students. Research in Human Development, 10(3), 211–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Spilt, J. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., & Thijs, J. T. (2011). Teacher wellbeing: The importance of teacher–student relationships. Educational Psychology Review, 23(4), 457–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C., Harrison, J., Haimovitz, K., Oberle, E., Thomson, K., Schonert-Reichl, K., & Roeser, R. W. (2016). Examining ways that a mindfulness-based intervention reduces stress in public school teachers: A mixed-methods study. Mindfulness, 7(1), 115–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0425-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsouloupas, C. N., Carson, R. L., Matthews, R., Grawitch, M. J., & Barber, L. K. (2010). Exploring the association between teachers’ perceived student misbehavior and emotional exhaustion: The importance of teacher efficacy beliefs and emotion regulation. Educational Psychology, 30, 173–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitaker, R. C., Dearth-Wesley, T., & Gooze, R. A. (2015). Workplace stress and the quality of teacher–children relationships in Head Start. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 30, 57–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.08.008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Our sincere gratitude goes to the research participants who opened their classrooms for observations and shared their experience of learning to be mindful and self-compassionate and Mind with Heart for implementing the intervention. We are indebted to Professor Harvey Goldstein who has provided invaluable support for research methodology throughout the project and Dr. Stan Blank who generously shared the software program developed for his PhD, the Automated Data Collection and Analysis System for the Flanders Interaction Analysis System. We also thank the staff of Metropolitan Region, Organisational Health, Department of Education, Queensland and Business Engagement and Development, Department of education, NSW for their valuable support. This project was supported by a medical research grant awarded by Teachers Health Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Learning Sciences & Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University, Level 4, 229 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane CBD, QLD, 4000, Australia

    Yoon-Suk Hwang & Jae-Eun Noh

  2. School of Psychology, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Oleg N. Medvedev

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh

Authors
  1. Yoon-Suk Hwang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jae-Eun Noh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Oleg N. Medvedev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nirbhay N. Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoon-Suk Hwang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the human ethics committee of Australian Catholic University and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hwang, YS., Noh, JE., Medvedev, O.N. et al. Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Program for Teachers on Teacher Wellbeing and Person-Centered Teaching Practices. Mindfulness 10, 2385–2402 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01236-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01236-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation