Mindfulness for Resilience and Coping in Postsecondary Mathematics

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Eighteen
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Burnout and Stress (Table 19)

Abstract

Responding to calls reinforcing equity, diversity, and inclusion in consequential educational research, this paper examines mindfulness practices in higher education. The practices support the advancement of resiliency and coping with stress through a greater understanding of breath, movement, and the physiology of emotions in a mathematics course. Quantitative and qualitative data collected suggest that the practices led participants to a deeper sense of community, supported stress and anxiety reduction and increased resiliency. Important considerations about the sustainability of the practices and the development of attributes like self-compassion and non-judgement emerged. Results indicate that secular mindfulness practices introduced into the curricula in higher education can be positioned as dispositions cultivating resiliency and the ability to cope with challenging contexts.

Authors

• Leslie P. Shayer, University of British Columbia - Okanagan
  Presenting Author

• Karen Ragoonaden, University of British Columbia
  Presenting Author