How Teachers Can Learn From What We Know About Stress Management: The Process of Engaging in Stress Management Intervention at School

• In Event: Advances in Stress and Coping in Education

Abstract

This paper describes a qualitative inquiry into teachers’ experience of a stress management intervention (SMI) at school. The SMI was delivered in 8 consecutive weekly sessions and included mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral stress management strategies. Fourteen teachers from a rural elementary school in the south-eastern United States participated in the SMI and in semi-structured interviews. Teachers reported an improved ability to cope following the intervention. Personal and systemic factors either helped or hindered improvement in coping and the assimilation of research-based stress management strategies. Self-awareness, reflection and time management were important factors. This study elucidates the process of the application of research to practice and points to the importance of theories of psychological change in framing future research.

Author

• Claire W. Lyons, James Madison University