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Teachers, Feeling Stressed? ... Just Breathe: Mindfulness Interventions and Their Impact on Teacher Stress and Burnout

Bae, Emily Kathleen
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1560713463538433

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Education (M.Ed.), Xavier University, Education.
Educators face increasing pressures from parents, standardized testing, and state and district mandates. Amid these pressures, teacher stress and burnout is a growing concern for American schools. Burnout is most clearly distinguishable by the following three components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. Current research reveals that teachers with high levels of burnout also suffer from higher levels of depression. Teachers suffering from burnout also evince lower rates of student achievement and higher rates of discipline issues. Research within the field suggests that mindfulness-based interventions provide a low-cost and low-risk possibility for decreasing teacher burnout and increasing positive emotions that lead to more effective teaching. The subgroup of American public Montessori school teachers face more demands than a typical public school teacher, thus creating more stress which leads to burnout. This has not been currently studied and provides a unique setting to study teacher burnout and a intervention designed to reduce burnout. This mixed-method study examined factors that lead to teacher burnout within a public Montessori school and the effects of a five-week mindfulness-based intervention on a small sample group of public Montessori school teachers. The study was conducted at a public Montessori school within the Cincinnati area, serving students grades PreK-6. 30 teachers’ levels of stress and burnout were assessed pre- and post-intervention, and interventional and control groups’ results were compared. Additionally, 7 teachers within the interventional group were interviewed regarding the main stressors that they perceive in their work life and their experience with the mindfulness intervention. Data was analyzed to determine the most common factors influencing teacher stress and burnout within the sample group. Among the most frequently described negative experiences, the following can be seen as leading to professional conflict within the role of a teacher: “feeling unsupported by administration,” “parent issues,” and “testing/assessments/district curriculums.” Additionally, the following can be seen as leading to work overload: “not having enough time to complete all tasks,” “paperwork,” “testing/assessments/district curriculums,” and “challenging student behaviors.” The results of this study show that within the intervention group, there were significant drops in levels of perceived stress as well as reductions in the factors of burnout after just a 5-week intervention, with participants only attending three 30-minute sessions per week. Furthermore, the experience was described as positive and worthwhile by all participants. Looking forward, I recommend to administrators that they work to decrease the amount of emotional exhaustion that their staff is likely to incur, whether by decreasing the number of meetings, streamlining paperwork processes, or supporting their teachers in district decisions or in conflicts with parents. Furthermore, findings from this study suggest that administrators should work to provide opportunities for stress-reduction interventions to their staff to reduce burnout. Finally, for teachers themselves, I would suggest that they join a pre-existing group which practices mindfulness strategies or begin a group within their own school. Significant changes in perceived levels of stress and burnout are possible after only a 5-week intervention, making this a risk and cost-free option for teachers and administrators hoping to improve teacher mental health.
Laura Edwards (Advisor)
98 p.
Early Childhood Education; Education; Educational Psychology
teacher stress; burnout; meditation; mindfulness; MBSR; stress reduction; teacher burnout; montessori; public montessori; burnout prevention

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bae, E. K. (2019). Teachers, Feeling Stressed? ... Just Breathe: Mindfulness Interventions and Their Impact on Teacher Stress and Burnout [Master's thesis, Xavier University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1560713463538433

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bae, Emily. Teachers, Feeling Stressed? ... Just Breathe: Mindfulness Interventions and Their Impact on Teacher Stress and Burnout. 2019. Xavier University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1560713463538433.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bae, Emily. "Teachers, Feeling Stressed? ... Just Breathe: Mindfulness Interventions and Their Impact on Teacher Stress and Burnout." Master's thesis, Xavier University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1560713463538433

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Xavier University Education and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12