Promoting Teachers’ Social and Emotional Competence: The Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education Program

• In Event: Mindfulness-Based Approaches for Supporting Teachers’ Social and Emotional Skills and Dispositions

Abstract

We report on a study that tested the efficacy of an intervention to reduce teachers’ stress and promote their well-being, efficacy and mindfulness. Successful implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum de¬pends upon the teacher’s ability to serve as a positive role model, facilitate interpersonal problem solving, and create environments that are conducive to social and emotional learning. To do this, teachers must employ a high degree of social and emotional competence (SEC). However, most teacher preparation programs do not prepare teachers to manage these demands. The emotionally demand¬ing events teachers typically face often involve interac¬tions with children who are not well-regulated due to exposure to numerous risk factors and are in greatest need of a supportive relationship with their teacher to develop their social and emotional competencies.

There has been growing interest in applying mindfulness-based approaches to reducing stress and promoting SEC. “Mindfulness” refers to a particular kind of attention characterized by intentionally focusing on the present moment with a non-judgmental attitude. Research on the effects of mindfulness training with adults has shown numerous positive effects including reduced stress, increased self-awareness, empathy and emotion regulation. The Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) program involves the integration of mindful awareness practices with emotion skills techniques.

We report on a study that examined program efficacy among a sample of 51 elementary school teachers randomly assigned to CARE or waitlist control condition. The CARE program was delivered to the treatment group over the course of five full days spread out over 4 months. Between program sessions, facilitators provided phone coaching to participants to support their understanding and application of skills and information learned during the program.

The results reported here are from teacher self-report data collected during the first year cohort of a 4-year cluster randomized controlled trial. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures at pre- and post-intervention to assess the impact of the CARE program on well-being, efficacy, burnout/time pressure, and mindfulness. ANCOVAs were computed between the CARE group and control group for each outcome, and the pre-test scores served as a covariate.

Compared to teachers assigned to the control group, CARE participants were significantly less anxious, reported better emotion regulation and fewer gastrointestinal symptoms. They also reported a reduced sense of time urgency and increases in two dimensions of mindfulness (observe and non-react). There were trends towards improvements in positive affect, depression, sleep, the non-react dimension of mindfulness and the interpersonal awareness dimension of interpersonal mindfulness.

CARE fills an important professional development need long ignored by education research. The program may reduce burnout, alleviating school district personnel health care costs, absenteeism and early resignation; CARE emphasizes the teacher’s own development which needs further attention in educational policy and research; and CARE may help teachers establish supportive relationships with students at risk of school failure, thereby promoting school attachment and school climate. Finally, CARE may improve classroom climate which may result in improvements in students’ academic achievement, thus supporting initiatives and policy aimed at these outcomes.

Authors

• Patricia A. Jennings, University of Virginia

• Joshua L. Brown, Fordham University

• Jennifer L Frank, The Pennsylvania State University

• Sebrina Doyle, The Pennsylvania State University

• Regin Tanler, Fordham University

• Damira S Rasheed, Fordham University

• Anna DeWeese, Garrison Institute

• Mark T. Greenberg, The Pennsylvania State University