Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Just Be: A Mindfulness-Based Intervention Pilot Study for Preschool Teachers
Abstract
Teachers play a vital role in building classroom environments that promote sensitive interactions with their students, engagements between children, and contribute importantly to children’s learning and well-being (Flook, et al., 2013; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). Yet, early childhood teachers encounter a variety of challenges that negatively impact their well-being and can lead to burnout (Whitebook et al., 2014, 2018). To address the growing concerns, the current study replicated and extended a study published by Flook et al. (2013) to examine the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) in providing strategies and skills for stress management and increasing general well-being among teachers. Within a sample of 28 Nebraska early childhood teachers (intervention group = 9, comparison = 19), three aims were investigated: group differences on teachers’ distress, burnout, mindfulness, well-being, and satisfaction with life; if initial levels of distress, burnout, well-being, and satisfaction with life were associated with changes in mindfulness scores; and if there was an association between the amount of time teachers in the intervention group engaged in mindfulness practices at home and changes in their mindfulness scores post-intervention. Four main findings emerged: (a) teachers in the intervention group had a significant increase in their dispositional mindfulness and well-being from pre-test to post-test relative to teachers in the comparison group; (b) teachers’ initial levels of distress, burnout, well-being, and satisfaction with life did not impact changes in teachers’ mindfulness scores at post-test and 8-week follow up; (c) there was a negative association between changes in intervention group teachers’ dispositional and intrapersonal teaching in mindfulness at post-test and their total minutes of mindfulness practice and total days of at-home practice over the 8-week intervention; and (d) intervention group teachers who participated in the focus groups perceived that the intervention helped them both personally and professionally.
Subject Area
Early childhood education|Social studies education|Teacher education|Educational administration|Educational leadership|Mental health
Recommended Citation
Colgrove, Amy N, "Just Be: A Mindfulness-Based Intervention Pilot Study for Preschool Teachers" (2020). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI28259361.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI28259361