ReviewsA systematic review of mindfulness interventions for in-service teachers: A tool to enhance teacher wellbeing and performance
Introduction
Interventions on mindfulness constitute a field of burgeoning interest in professions serving individuals at risk of poor developmental outcomes in critical areas of the community (Brown, Creswell, & Ryan, 2015). The term “mindfulness” comes from the Pali word sati, meaning memory. It signifies “presence of mind, attentiveness to the present, rather than the faculty of memory regarding the past” (Bodhi, 2000, p. 86). Mindfulness practice is a systematic training of attention and awareness to keep the present in mind (Hwang & Kearney, 2015). Contemporary applications find their origins in the teachings of contemplative Buddhist traditions.
As a pioneer of contemporary adaptations of mindfulness, Kabat-Zinn (1994) operationally defined it as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and nonjudgmentally” (p. 4). In the late 1970s he developed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to reduce the stress of people with chronic health problems. Referred to as First Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions (FG-MBIs) that focus on utilising attention processes to regulate maladaptive cognitive and affective processes (Singh, Lancioni, Winton, Karazsia, & Singh, 2014), MBSR and its adaptations (e.g., Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) have been successfully applied to induce positive changes in the mental and physical wellbeing of people living with various health problems. Frequently noted effects of FG-MBIs include improvements in self-perceived stress (e.g., Baer, Carmody, & Hunsinger, 2012), burnout (e.g., Krasner et al., 2009) and anxiety and depression (e.g., Neece, 2013).
Despite its capacity for enhancing mental and physical wellbeing, the traditional mindfulness community raised concerns about FG-MBIs for approaching mindfulness as a technique for symptomatic relief and the absence of explicit ethics in the teachings (Monteiro, Musten, & Compson, 2015). In response to these concerns, Second Generation Mindfulness-Based Interventions (SG-MBIs) were introduced, which are more closely aligned with traditionally held conceptual understandings of, and practice approaches to, cultivating mindfulness (Shonin, Van Gordon, & Griffiths, 2014). It is taught and practised within a context that includes the cultivation of other key principles (e.g., ethical conduct and concentration) traditionally perceived to be critical for the development of meditation (Shonin & Van Gordon, 2015). In some studies (e.g., Singh, Lancioni, Winton, Karazsia, & Singh, 2013) adopting SG-MBI models, positive effects (e.g., reduced aggressive behaviour) were also reported for people (e.g., students) with whom participants interacted, in addition to improvements in the psychological and behavioural health of the participants (e.g., teachers).
Education constitutes a field of reporting where mindfulness-based interventions have become a prominent feature in attempts to alleviate personal and professional issues aligned with teacher wellbeing and performance. Teacher wellbeing is a construct involving teachers' models of the quality of their personal, professional and relational selves (Spilt, Koomen, & Thijs, 2011). Teachers may have depleted wellbeing in one or more of these three areas, associated with low levels of physical or mental health. Teacher performance is essentially teachers' action in building students' academic outcomes (Lavy, 2016) and such action, too, can be variable, particularly in schools where high incentives and disincentives are used in attempts to improve teaching quality (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2006).
The literature on teacher wellbeing and performance extends also to challenges in reversing high rates of teacher attrition, particularly for early career teachers and notably for those in challenging schools and circumstances with little support (Borman & Dowling, 2008) to help maintain their resilience and commitment to teaching practice (Brunetti, 2006, Tait, 2008). Teachers' resilience and their commitment to the profession also positively influence students' outcomes. Day (2008) reported that students of resilient, committed teachers are more likely to attain positive outcomes than students whose teachers are less resilient and committed. In an extensive literature review, Mansfield, Beltman, Broadley, and Weatherby-Fell (2016) established that teachers who were equipped with personal resources (e.g., motivation, efficacy), contextual resources (e.g., trusting relationships with leaders, fellow teachers and students) and strategies (e.g., problem solving, self-care, a work-life balance and mindfulness) were likely to have resilience and therefore to experience wellbeing.
Evidence-based practice (EBP) refers to the use of current best evidence in making decisions about interventions or educational supports, a meaning that originally migrated with the term itself from the health sciences in the 1990s (Schalock, Verdugo, & Gomez, 2011). Best available evidence, professional judgement, and client values and context are three pillars of EBP (Slocum, Spencer, & Detrich, 2012). Best evidence concerns matching the most relevant evidence to the decision and using evidence that has the highest degree of certainty (Spencer, Detrich, & Slocum, 2012). The certainty of evidence is determined by meeting prescribed standards for quality of research methodology and quantity of research (Cook, Tankersley, & Landrum, 2009).
For example, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC, Version 3.0) standards from the U.S. Department of Education's National Centre for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) specify evidence for positive effects of an intervention in education if two or more studies show statistically significant positive effects (i.e., quantity of research), at least one of which meets WWC group design standards without reservation (i.e., quality of research methodology), and no studies show statistically significant or substantively important negative effects (i.e., quality of research methodology).
Educational professionals should be informed by the best available evidence when making decisions about interventions. Spencer et al. (2012) reminded educators that when taking such evidence into consideration their understanding of the limitations of the studies from which it is derived is important, along with their practice-based knowledge of the intended beneficiaries and of the contexts within which interventions are to occur.
Our systematic review presents a collective account of empirical studies where mindfulness-based interventions were intended to make a difference for in-service teachers in either or both their personal and professional lives. Our aim was to provide education professionals with a transparent research synthesis so they can make informed judgements about the value of mindfulness-based interventions in line with the concept of EBP. We have systematically examined the nature and context of mindfulness-based interventions for in-service teachers, on which a synthesis of the findings of primary quantitative mindfulness-based intervention studies (i.e., intervention effects) is grounded. Research evidence is assessed against the WWC Standards to determine at what level mindfulness-based interventions are supported by data on their effectiveness. The findings of primary qualitative mindfulness-based intervention studies are then configured to highlight experiences in-service teachers have reported in their exploration of mindfulness practice. The findings of secondary qualitative analysis can explain and clarify the effects of mindfulness-based interventions found in primary quantitative mindfulness-based intervention studies for in-service teachers.
Section snippets
Methods
A systematic search was carried out in PsychINFO, EBSCOhost, Education Source, Scopus, and Google scholar. We also examined Mindfulness, a major publication outlet for research findings in mindfulness (Fig. 1). The following search terms were included: teacher and education, teacher and training, and professional development, with each word group searched in combination with mindfulness. Reference lists of relevant identified articles also were hand searched. The search was carried out in 2015
Results
This review analysed 16 studies that applied mindfulness in interventions for in-service teachers. Table 1 presents intervention participants, objectives, duration, content, method, instructor, measures, methodological quality and results of the eight quantitative intervention studies and the mixed method study, since its qualitative data were quantified for analysis. Those of the single subject study and qualitative studies are presented in Table 2, Table 3, respectively. The review outcomes
Discussion
The review findings are discussed in line with the potential of mindfulness-based interventions for teacher wellbeing, performance and resilience and the framework of EBP in education. Areas of improvement for mindfulness-based interventions are highlighted. Limitations of the review and future research directions are discussed.
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