Week 5

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Sherretz (2011)

Week 5 – Positivity – October 8 - 12

o   Text: Mindfulness for Teachers: Skills for Peace & Productivity

§  Power of positivity

§  The heart of teaching

o   Video:

§  Shelter from the Storm – short video about Ms. Reifler

o   Research:

§  Sherretz, C. E. (2011). Mindfulness in education: case studies of mindful teachers and their teaching practices.

Mind the Teachers! The Impact of Mindfulness Training on Self-Regulation and Classroom Performance in a Sample of German School Teachers, (2017); https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED578017.pdf

A systematic review of mindfulness interventions for in-service teachers: A tool to enhance teacher wellbeing and performance (Hwang, Bartlett, Greben, and Hand, 2017); https://ac-els-cdn-com.ezproxyles.flo.org/S0742051X17301130/1-s2.0-S0742051X17301130-main.pdf?_tid=4e35d01a-b5ed-4c1f-8220-97ddd9d5e89f&acdnat=1538749918_8b6071393541c4c756a8e243921163a3

o   Blog:

§  How does/can positivity influence perceptions and relationships?

§  Explain the impact of mindfulness on teaching efficacy

o   Journal: notes, thoughts, and connections

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Before addressing how mindfulness can impact or influence efficacy, I needed to know what exactly is ‘teaching efficacy’?

Article: https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/curriculum-teaching-strategies/improve-teacher-efficacy/

“Teacher efficacy is when a teacher believes in their own ability to guide their students to success. For over thirty years, researchers have explored the link between teacher self-efficacy and student achievement. Research suggests that teachers with a strong sense of self-efficacy tend to be better planners, more resilient through failure, and more open-minded and supportive with students. Collective efficacy is when a staff of teachers believe that together they can inspire growth and change in their students.” (excerpt from a blog post from Room 241, Concordia University-Portland, 2018).

POST

How does/can positivity influence perceptions and relationships? Explain the impact of mindfulness on teaching efficacy.

Positivity (positive emotions) influence perceptions and relationships in a number of ways:

·         They broaden our visual search field because research has shown that positive emotions cause us to pay more attention to the needs of others, as well as enhancing cognitive abilities. This can result in building relational trust, expanding social opportunities, and reducing bias (p. 88).

o   “Positive emotions enhance cognitive abilities and promote strong and enduring social relationships, good health, longevity, resistance to illness, agency, and efficacy (p. 88). All these things contribute to wellbeing and “overall life satisfaction” (p. 88).

·         Enhanced cognitive abilities, as the result of positive emotions, increases flexibility, innovation, open-mindedness, and creativity. Overall, positive emotions grant us a positive outlook with hope and resilience in the face of challenges (p. 88).

·         Positivity is contagious in a group setting (such as a classroom) and becomes self-reinforcing, “once you establish a positive emotional climate … research has shown that your students will help reinforce it” (p. 89). This positive climate also promotes prosocial behaviors of generosity and helpful (and less defensive) toward others (p. 89).

·         Jennings stated that “truly supportive relationships with caregivers are characterized by trust, responsiveness, and involvement” (p. 105).

Positivity and positive emotions create a climate of respect, trust, flexibility, and shared experience that fosters more positivity. “Studies involving children have shown that positive emotion facilitates memory, learning, and prosocial behavior, and that negative emotions impair these functions” (106). This is in keeping with everything I believe about working with anyone, but children in particular because they are so easily influenced. I know that they must feel respected and cared about in order for them to feel safe enough to be open to new ideas (and be willing to make mistakes in that learning process) in a learning environment. The entire group, including the teacher, must feel respected and valuable.

In this regard, mindfulness is a good fit for practicing attentive awareness to the relational nuances required in a classroom. Practicing attentiveness to arising emotions, feelings, and experiences in a meditative setting allows those skills to be applied in a social setting. (For this reason, I thought it was a good idea to introduce mindful dialogue to students last year – the pause, relax, and open guidelines of Insight Dialogue meditation were a good way to introduce conversation about respecting each other through deep listening, both to themselves and others).

Mindfulness gives a good foundation for building efficacy (confidence). Featured in the Sherretz dissertation was characteristics of mindful teachers:

·         They prioritized the problem-solving process over outcomes

·         They offered choices both in how assignments were completed and where (social settings)

·         They utilized questioning and modelling to encourage critical thinking

·         They emphasized building  relationship with students and having fun (interest)

This mindful attentiveness to the needs of the students is key to efficacy; as the classroom atmosphere is build on mutual respect, sharing in the learning process, and flexibility, I would imagine that the students would naturally respond. As Jennings said, “when teachers are supportive, they provide students with a sense of connection with the school environment and the security to explore new ideas and take risks – both of which are fundamental to learning” (p. 105). And when the students are engaged in the learning process, assessment and achievement scores are bound to go up. It is a self-fulfilling cycle of positivity: the teacher is teaching and the students are learning – the more learning, the more the teacher feels confident that they are meeting the needs of the students and helping them to succeed.

I looked at another research paper (Rupprecht, Paulus & Walach, 2017) that studied the impact of mindfulness training on self-regulation and classroom performance of German teachers. It had some expected results, such as mindfulness practice improved the teachers’ stress and health, coping abilities, emotion regulation, and self-efficacy. But what was really interesting, and I think the researchers were surprised, was that “the intervention seemed to negatively affect teacher engagement” (p. 577). It would seem that once the teachers became aware of what was causing them to suffer, they “engaged more wisely with work demands … decided where effort was needed most and retreating from unnecessary additional tasks. The findings suggested a more empowered employee that takes better care of their resources which is at the core of self-regulation as a professional competence” (p. 577). And, that is a great example of insight that comes from mindful meditation – understanding what is causing suffering and changing behaviors to suffer less. Self-efficacy, the researchers stated, “is the belief of ability to handle difficult classroom events … this belief affects choices, goals, effort, and perseverance” (p. 566). They apparently believed that they could make better choices about their efforts – to work smarter instead of harder.

Lastly, I looked at a study by Hwang, Bartlett, Greben & Hand (2017) and their review of mindfulness interventions for in-service teachers. This study was noteworthy because it was a large number of participants (652 educators) and it was a mixed-method study – they utilized self-report questionnaires and objective 3^rd person classroom observation. Educators reported feeling stressed and overwhelmed because of bullying behaviors (of students, parents, school members), challenges due to complex learning needs of students, a lack of support (or lack of appreciation), and self-doubt. The study found that “mindfulness practice was found to be useful for teachers not only to see their choice of actions in the midst of psychologically and physically challenging work situations, but also to be relaxed, centered and calm” (p. 39). I also appreciated the note about the “indirect effects on students who are taught by teachers trained in mindfulness … behaviors and amenability improved, and their teachers responded positively with better wellbeing and teaching performances” (p. 41). This is the positivity cycle again: attentive, aware teachers and students responding to the positivity.

So, I think this is all great. Not a magic bullet, but positivity and hope, respect and attention are all qualities I want to bring into the classroom. I want every child I interact with to feel respected and valued.

Q: I will push you to think specifically about your students and your context. What kind of qualities of a mindful classroom and a mindful teacher would you like to focus on this month, this season, or this year? What are the two qualities of a mindful classroom that your students need most to feel safe and trusting? Why did you choose these two qualities?

I am focusing on getting to know them (being attentive to their special personalities and needs). I want them to know I care about them and am interested in what is important to them. Secondly, I am focused on giving them tools of self-regulation – so, I am starting with teaching them the importance of deep listening (to themselves and their bodies, to their teacher, and to their classmates). I believe that when children feel heard and respected, and they have the skills to listen and hear others, it can go far in fostering a sense of safety and trust. I chose deep listening first because it really feels like the foundation of respect toward others.

Q: you are what schools might typically consider an “outside provider”. In what ways do you feel integrated and disconnected from your students? And how do these ways you feel integrated and disconnected affect the ways mindfulness is being integrated into the classroom?

I feel integrated with the students because they are so eager to have me come into the class and are so open to what I am offering. I know they know I care about them and their class, as a whole, and that I will be coming on a regular basis. I feel rather disconnected in that I am woefully unaware of details about Native American culture as well as their local tribal culture. Also, I am not there but once a week, so right now my coming is like a special treat – this can be good and bad. It’s good that they are excited, but sometimes they are too excited! I am still struggling to remember all of their names and personalities. I still feel like I need build a trusting relationship with them before what I am bringing to them will be integrated into the classroom. It is important to me that they have a positive feeling about me and what I am offering.