Cultivating a Healthy Response to Stress: A Systematic Review of the Use of Mindfulness with Pre-Service Teachers

High rates of burnout and attrition in the teaching profession, exacerbated by emotional and mental strain, pose significant challenges to educational outcomes, undermining teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Mindfulness has gained attention as a promising tool to address these concerns, yet a comprehensive systematic review of its effects on pre-service teachers is lacking.

This systematic review aimed to identify beneficial mindfulness practices for teacher preparation programs to support personal and professional development in a more holistic way. Implementing mindfulness could be a viable option for helping young educators cope with stress.

Using the PRISMA-P protocol, this systematic review utilized various databases to identify and analyze 13 empirical studies focusing on mindfulness interventions for pre-service teachers within formal teacher preparation programs. Primary coding and secondary coding were utilized to identify study characteristics and outcomes, and the Quality Assessment for Diverse Studies (QuADS) rubric was used to assess quality.

Two (15%) of the studies were randomized controlled trials and scored the highest quality, while the remaining studies were judged to be of moderate to low quality. The review identified that mindfulness practices, including meditation, breathwork, and mindful movement, were primarily used to reduce stress and enhance well-being.

Key outcome themes included utilizing mindfulness in daily life (33%) and the transfer of mindfulness practices to the classroom (24%). These findings suggest that mindfulness interventions can play a crucial role in supporting pre-service teachers’ emotional resilience, potentially mitigating burnout and fostering long-term retention in the profession.

None of the work or research conducted in this study was preregistered.