Building Teachers' Social-Emotional Competence Through Mindfulness Practice

• In Event: 72.064 - Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 72.064-9 - Building Social Emotional Learning Capacity: Lessons Learned and Future Directions

Abstract

Recent research suggests that building teachers’ social-emotional competence, including through mindfulness training, can improve teachers’ overall effectiveness and help equip them with the tools needed to respond to the unique stressors of the teaching profession. However, few publications describe the extent to which pre-service teachers are being taught within their professional education programs to develop skills such as mindfulness to increase their social-emotional competence. This study provides a portrait of the process and lessons learned from three years of experimenting with integrating mindfulness and contemplative practices into my education courses as a way to build teachers’ social-emotional competence, highlighting key themes that emerged from data analysis, and reflecting on ways the process evolved over time.

Author

• Elizabeth Hope Dorman, Fort Lewis College