Flook 2013

Source:   RESEARCH STUDY/ARTICLE

APA Citation:

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). doi: 10:1111/mbe.12026

Author bio:

All authors – University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thesis/Argument:

Most school-based interventions are designed for students. There are fewer efforts to address stress and burnout among teachers and boost teacher wellbeing … Our goal was to conduct a preliminary evaluation of a modified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (mMBSR) training specifically adapted for elementary school teachers. 2

A primary goal of the present study was to adapt MBSR for teachers … A second goal was to conduct a preliminary evaluation by assessing outcomes across variety of self-report and objective measures that may be impacted by mindfulness training, including observation of classroom teaching practices, computerized tasks related to attention and emotion regulation, and saliva sampling for cortisol as a physiological stress index. 4

We expected mindfulness training to be associated with reduced burnout and psychological symptoms, increased mindfulness and improved performance on attention and emotion related tasks, as well as more effective classroom teaching practices … we expected that increases in mindfulness would be associated with the degree of improvement exhibited across the measures. 4

mMBSR:

·         Specifically designed for educators

·         Extended number of sessions

·         Variety of guided practice time options varying in length

·         Specific school related activities and practices

·         Course offered during the school year (to apply skills in the context of classrooms)

·         Teachers were encouraged to practice between 15-45 minutes per day for 6 days/week

·         Course lasted 8 weeks, 2.5 hours/week + 1 day-long immersion (6 hours)

·         Total 26 hours of group practice and instruction

Design

·         Participants (p. 5)

o   18 public school teachers recruited

o   Low income, racial/ethnic minority school populations

o   16 female, mean age 43, experience teaching = 12.8 years

·         Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or wait-list control group

o   10 were assigned to the intervention condition; 8 were randomized to wait-list control

·         Pretest data collection occurred over the course of approximately 4 weeks

·         Posttest data collection occurred over the course of approximately 3 weeks

Discussion/Conclusion:

In mindfulness, attention can be deployed flexibly either in a narrow, focused way or broadly, to encompass a range of stimuli. From these practices a greater awareness of sensory experiences may arise. Training attention also enables the deliberate cultivation of positive qualities through specific practices designed to promote empathy and prosocial attitudes. This form of mental training is associated with increased activity in cortical areas responsible for empathy and compassion. Mindfulness may make individuals less reactive to negative experience and more likely to notice positive experience, resulting in a cascade of psychological and physiological benefits. 3

Mindfulness is likely to act on the two latter aspects, that is, perceptions of stress and coping with stress. Mindfulness does not directly act on the target of stress, through a shift in perception and response to stressors could conceivably alter the nature of the stressor itself. 3

A key difference with mindfulness is that it entails observing and noticing without reacting to or intentionally altering direct experience in the moment … a mindful approach to stress may involve noticing body sensations, observing thoughts, and emotions related to stress and practicing self-compassion. 3

The results of this pilot study suggest that a mindfulness intervention adapted for educators boosts aspects of teachers’ mindfulness and self-compassion, reduces psychological symptoms and burnout, increases effective teaching behavior, and reduced attentional biases. 9

The amount of change in mindfulness from pre to post intervention was correlated with improvements in burnout, psychological symptoms, and attention in the intervention group. An increase in self-reported non-reactivity was associated with reductions in both psychological symptoms and depersonalization and with increases in an objective measure of sustained attention. 9

Findings from this pilot study also suggest that teachers who do not receive any intervention during the school year may be prone to increases physiological stress as reflected in lower morning cortisol levels and decreased sense of personal accomplishment. Lower morning cortisol, assessed via a single morning time point sample, has been associated with both acute and chronic posttraumatic event distress. Higher morning cortisol levels have been associated with more positive relationship functioning for women in caretaking role. 10

Limitations of this study: small sample size with limited power to detect effects and multiple comparisons [due to it being a pilot study, most certainly] 10

Just as physical health is bolstered by regular exercise, the benefits of mindfulness for mental health are likely to grow from consistent practice … mindfulness-based practices offer promise as a tool for enhancing teaching quality, which may, in turn, promote positive student outcomes and school success. 11