Mindfulness has been shown to significantly benefit the mental, emotional, and physical health of both adults and children. These benefits include reduced anxiety, more positive mood, increased focus, improved sleep, better relationships and work performance, and enhanced immune system (National Institute for Health, 2021). Although research on mindfulness and education has blossomed over the last 15 years, focus has primarily centered on the effects of mindfulness training on PK-12 students, specifically in relation to academic achievement. However, a meta-analysis of the literature by Schonert-Reichel and Roeser (2016) found only 6% of that research focused on the effects of mindfulness practice by teachers themselves. They urged that those “who create the weather in the classroom” (p. 7) should be the focus of more attention. Our experience as teachers and teacher educators leads us to agree.

In this presentation, we will depict implementation and continuation of mindfulness programs for candidates in Early Childhood and Elementary Education programs and describe our ongoing longitudinal research conducted via repeated surveys as participants move through their preservice coursework and clinical experiences, student teaching, and first and third years post-graduation. Survey methods are appropriate for our research because many of the primary outcomes of our mindfulness interventions involve subjective perceptions and internal psychological states. We will also address the primary challenges of clearly defining the mindfulness construct we are measuring, pilot testing our survey procedures, reporting reliability and validity evidence, and strategies for addressing potential survey error, including nonresponse and sampling bias.

Authors:
Katy Hisrich, Governors State University, United States
Glenna Howell, Governors State University, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Katy E. Hisrich is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at Governors State University. Katy is the Coordinator for the Early Childhood Education Program. Additionally, she serves as the committee chair & advisor of the Student Education Association and Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society.

See this presentation on the full schedule – On Demand Schedule

Bookmark