Stress and Release: A Qualitative Investigation of the Change Mechanisms in a Socioemotional Learning Intervention

• In Event: 49.083 - Exploring Processes of Effectiveness and Impact in Social Emotional Learning Programs for Educators

Abstract

The CARE (Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education) for Teachers program is a mindfulness-based intervention developed to improve teachers’ awareness and well-being and to enhance classroom learning environments. In addition to knowing which outcomes changed significantly as a result of teachers’ participation in the program, it is also vital to know how those changes occurred. The purpose of this paper is to examine specific stressors experienced by teachers and the mechanisms of change by which CARE helps alleviate this stress. We also examine how teachers perceive the role teacher and student emotion plays in the classroom.
Given the magnitude and depth of needs K-12 teachers are expected to meet it is not surprising that burnout and attrition threatens an alarming percentage of teachers who experience overwhelming stress. One approach to reducing stress and promoting well being, emotional awareness/regulation, attention regulation and prosocial behavior such as empathy and compassion is through practicing mindfulness and/or other self-awareness methods (Carmody & Baer, 2008; Eisenberg, 2002; Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992; Lutz et al., 2008a; 2008b; Ortner, Sachne, & Zelazo, 2007). Research indicates that regular mindfulness practice facilitates emotional self-awareness (Brown & Ryan, 2003) and enhances aspects of well being and the ability to regulate distress (Ramel et al., 2004; Shapiro, Schwartz, & Bonner, 1998). Thus, mindfulness practices may promote cognitive and emotional regulation by supporting the ability to reflect upon one’s internal and external experience from a broader perspective which provides a wider variety of interpretations of and responses to stressful situations (Zelazo & Cunningham, 2007).
This paper reports on individual teacher interviews conducted after the delivery of the CARE intervention (part of an IES-funded efficacy trial). Two cohorts participated in the intervention during the 2012-2014 school years, and a total of 222 elementary teachers from 36 schools in a large, northeastern, urban district were recruited for the larger sample. The 24 teachers participating in interviews for this study were selected based on their availability and demographically mirrored the larger sample. They had completed all aspects of the intervention and follow-up measures.
Interviews were semi-structured and lasted approximately one hour. The interview protocol consisted of questions about teacher’s sources of stress, how they handled specific stressors before and after program intervention, most and least helpful aspects of the intervention, and the perceived role of teacher and student emotion in the classroom. Coding consists of summative content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) to align strategies teachers used to manage stress with relevant outcomes (well-being, efficacy, burnout/ time pressure, mindfulness), and axial coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) to identify contextual dimensions identified by participants.
Preliminary results suggest teachers experienced different sources of stress, but that self-care, collective efficacy, and awareness/self-regulation of emotions were significant in reducing stress. These data provide insight into how professional development can increase teachers’ social-emotional competence and decrease stress that may lead to burnout.

Authors

• Deborah L. Schussler, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park

• Anna DeWeese, Fordham University

• Sebrina Doyle, The Pennsylvania State University

• Patricia A. Jennings, University of Virginia

• Joshua L. Brown, Fordham University

• Regin Tanler, Fordham University

• Damira S Rasheed, Fordham University

• Jennifer L Frank, The Pennsylvania State University

• Mark T. Greenberg, The Pennsylvania State University