Abstract

Concerns about the mental health and well-being of K-12 schoolteachers have never been more urgent, with stress levels, burnout, and rates of attrition reaching historically high levels. Mindfulness-based interventions may be a professional development option for teachers to better meet the demands of their career with skills such as mental flexibility, emotion regulation, resilience, empathy, compassion, and interpersonal skills. This study examines the efficacy of the Mindfulness for Humans (MfH) course, an online, self-directed mindfulness curriculum that is grounded in evidence-based practices, is easily accessible and scalable, relatively brief, and requires little or no work on the part of the school system to implement. This study utilized a randomized waitlist-controlled trial to examine the feasibility and impact of the MfH course on the well-being and mindfulness skills of 230 K-12 teachers of regular classrooms using responses to self-report measures and qualitative responses to a satisfaction questionnaire. Evidence suggested that online mindfulness training through the MfH course significantly increases teacher well-being and mindfulness skills, regardless of initial familiarity with the topic of mindfulness, and is engaging and useful to them. Online mindfulness training through the MfH course may support the well-being of K-12 schoolteachers. Future research may examine additional outcomes such as teacher stress, resilience, or psychological distress.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Psychology

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2024-04-16

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd13561

Keywords

mindfulness, teachers, well-being, professional development

Language

english

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