MENDing Teacher Well-Being and Mental Health Through Mindful Nature Experiences

• In Event: Teacher Resilience and Well-Being

Abstract

This paper, based on doctoral research exploring the connection between mindful nature experiences and teacher wellbeing, highlights how attentively engaging with nature can improve mental health in education settings. Transcultural and interdisciplinary research indicate interacting with nature significantly impacts human wellbeing (Rugel, 2015) and that bidirectional links exist between teacher and student wellbeing impacting learning and school culture (Harding et.al, 2019). To open space for diverse ways of knowing, data was collected from open-ended interviews, participant-gathered artifacts, and the visual art method of eco-mandala. Drawing from themes that emerged from this study, recommendations are offered and a MEND model is presented highlighting four ways in which engaging mindfully with nature during the teaching day positively impacts mental health.

Author

• Darlene Loland, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
  Presenting Author