Rupprecht 2017

Source:   RESEARCH ARTICLE

APA Citation:

Rupprecht, S., Paulus, P., & Walach, H. (2017). Mind the teachers! The impact of mindfulness training on self-regulation and classroom performance in a sample of German school teachers. European Journal of Educational Research, 6(4), 565-581.

Author bio:

Silke Pupprecht – Luephana University (Germany)

Petal Paulus – Leuphana University (Germany)

Harald Walach – Europa Viadrina University (Germany)

Notes:

·         Pilot non-randomized, waitlist-controlled study investigated the impact of a mindfulness intervention (MBSR) on teachers’ wellbeing, self-regulation ability and classroom performance applying a mixed-method design

o   Unexpectedly, the intervention seemed to negatively affect teacher engagement. Qualitative interviews highlighted the way mindfulness may influence teacher engagement and improve performance

§  Teachers explained that they became more aware of stressors and in turn, engaged more wisely with work demands; deciding where effort is 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 577

·         This study is the first to investigate whether MBSR enhances teachers’ self-regulation ability and classroom performance

·         Teachers improved significantly on measures of stress and health, coping abilities, emotion regulation, and self-efficacy from the intervention

o   Training effects stabilized or improved at the 3-month follow-up 577

·         Changes in mindfulness at post-test fully mediated (brought about) changes in self-regulation at 3-month follow-up. This indicates that increased mindfulness led to these changes 577

·         The researchers are confident to summarize that a mindfulness training of teachers together with diligent home practice of mindfulness can help teachers to improve their self-regulation capacity, their well-being and their self-efficacy 578

·         Definitions:

o   Self-regulation – the ability to initiate, coordinate, and govern behavior in accordance with personal goals. This ability is regarded as central for health promotion. In the context of teacher training, the term self-regulation refers more generally to the capability of teachers to ‘manage their own resources in a professional setting’ 565

§  Good self-regulation of teachers is an important prerequisite of successful classroom outcomes; teachers displaying healthy self-regulation not only showed better health outcomes compared to teachers with less healthy patterns; their instructional quality was also rated significantly higher by their students 565

o   Self-efficacy – is the belief of ability to handle difficult classroom events; this belief affects choices, goals, effort, perseverance

§  Self-efficacy of teachers is positively linked to student learning motivation and student self-efficacy as well as teacher motivation and teacher health outcomes; a low sense of self-efficacy in teachers predicted burnout five years later 566

o   Emotional regulation – the ability to show certain emotions or hide or regulate them; as teaching is emotional work, they need to regulate their emotions frequently

§  This ability was positively associated with job satisfaction, positive affect, and principal’s support

§  Emotionally exhausted teachers were also more likely to describe student behavior as disruptive; the more often teachers experienced negative affect in the classroom, the more negative students rated their instructional quality 566

·         Mindful awareness is a ‘foundation for healthy self-regulation’ 566

o   Mindfulness is a state of mind that most people can attain, but in order to maintain it for longer periods of time, it needs practicing, for example through mindfulness meditation 566

o   MBSR effectively reduced stress and alleviated psychological and physical symptoms of stress; it requires a high commitment – 40 minutes of formal meditation 6 days/week

[Researchers] are confident to summarize that a mindfulness training of teachers together with diligent home practice of mindfulness can help teachers to improve their self-regulation capacity, their wellbeing and their self-efficacy. 578