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Assessing Potential Impacts of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Teachers and Students in the Early Childhood Years

Fri, April 17, 10:35am to 12:05pm, Hyatt, Floor: East Tower - Green Level, Plaza B

Abstract

Purpose
This quasi-experimental, feasibility study investigated the impact (at teacher, classroom, and student levels) of the implementation of mindfulness-based interventions for teachers and students (pre-K to third grade) within the 2013-2014 schoolyear. Does mindfulness training (MT) impact teachers’ self-regulatory skills, stress reduction, classroom management, emotional climate, and students’ self-regulatory skills? In this exploratory study, we describe cross-time changes and effect sizes for the impact of the teacher- and child-focused programs on key indicators across these three levels.
Theoretical Framework
MT is a novel approach to teacher professional development (e.g., Roeser et al., 2013) and students’ social-emotional learning (e.g., Schonert-Reichl et al., in press). As a state, mindfulness has been defined as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 145). Through mindfulness training (MT), the state of mindfulness is hypothesized to become more trait-like by enhancing skills like focused attention, working memory, and emotion regulation (Cullen, 2011). Some research shows both teachers and children benefit from MT (see Roeser, in press), but little is known about the collective impact of interventions for both teachers and students. Based on prior research, we predict teachers receiving MT will show enhanced self-regulation and diminished job stress; improvements in classroom climate; and their students will show improvements in self-regulation compared to those in control classrooms.
Method and Measures
Twenty-four teachers and 212 of their pre-K to grade 3 students participated in the study (14 treatment classrooms in one childcare center/elementary school; 10 waitlist control classrooms in another childcare/elementary school). MT for teachers was delivered in fall, followed by MT for students in Winter and Spring. Teacher survey measures were collected at pre/mid/post-year; classroom observations and behavioral measures of executive function were collected pre/post.

Preliminary Results
Teacher Impacts. Results showed treatment teachers, at both midyear and end-of-year, reported less job stress (Cohen’s d = -.08, -.15; respectively), burnout (d = -.43, -.90; respectively) and job rumination at home (d = -.30, -.53; respectively) compared to control teachers (see Figure 1). Results showed no differences in treatment and control teachers on measures of cognitive control and flexibility at the end of the year.

Classroom Impacts. Hour-long video recordings of each classroom were collected on three days in fall and spring and are currently being coded by 2 trained observers blind to teachers’ study condition using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Ratings will be completed in Fall 2014 and differences in treatment and control classrooms on the changes in CLASS indicators will be reported.

Student Impacts. No treatment-related differences in assessors’ reports of children’s attention and impulse control were found. Results examining group differences in treatment and control students on behavioral measures of cognitive control and flexibility at the end of the year, controlling for baselines measures, are currently being analyzed.

Significance of the Findings
Results of this study will contribute to our understanding of systematic, high quality implementation of MT in early childhood and elementary school settings.

Authors