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Mindful Artmaking In Elementary Classrooms: A Path To Emotional Regulation, Christine Gober

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Abstract

In an era dominated by technological advancements and mounting external pressures, the emotional and mental well-being of the younger generation is a growing concern. This research paper explores the intricate relationship between mindfulness, art-making, and emotional regulation within the context of elementary classrooms. The modern world, filled with a plethora of stimuli, has escalated stress levels among individuals, especially children, leading to a surge in mental health issues. Mindfulness, deeply rooted in ancient traditions, teaches individuals to stay present, fostering a non-judgmental awareness of their thoughts and emotions. Art-making, on the other hand, serves as a medium for emotional …

A Balancing Act: Analyzing The Effects Of Embedded Versus Isolated Self-Regulation Breathing Techniques On Inattention And Phonemic Segmentation Skill Acquisition In Kindergartners, Kimberly A. Atkinson

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

Using a mixed-methods convergent design within an Improvement Science framework, this Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice analyzed the effects of embedding self-regulation breathing techniques into the phonemic segmentation lesson versus conducting the techniques prior to the lesson or not at all. The project was conducted across two elementary schools, using six kindergarten educators and classes. The research began with a pre-assessment, followed by two days of applying or withholding the intervention across three groups (no intervention, isolated intervention, embedded intervention), and concluded with a post-assessment. The researcher conducted the academic lessons while the educators conducted inattention behavioral observations. After each …

Building Emotionally Skilled Teachers: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring The Impact Of Mbi On Perceptions Of Self-Management, Enhanced Mindfulness, Well-Being, And Stress, Emily Coffin Daigle

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) aimed to understand to what extent mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) designed for the school setting aided in the development of middle school teachers’ perceptions of self-management skills and what impact MBIs had on participants’ perceptions of enhanced mindfulness, well-being, and stress. Additionally, the study reported on the indirect impact participation in the mindfulness program had on teachers’ perceptions of classroom management, climate, and relationships with students. Using a mixed-methods design, the researcher investigated the impact of a two-phase mindfulness program designed to provide high-quality professional learning and structured intervention to a group of 20 …

The Effects Of Mindful Yoga Instruction On Participants' Academic Stamina And Self-Regulation In A Kindergarten Classroom, Taylor Jeppson

Education Masters Papers

This study consisted of 15 participants in a kindergarten classroom. Participants were involved in an intervention where they participated in mindful yoga instruction. Mindful yoga instruction refers to the concentration on the present moment in time (Germer, 2004) and consisting of yoga poses that involve stretching in combination with the inhalation and exhalation of the breath (Field, 2011). The yoga instruction was given to participants for ten minutes a day, every day, for a four-week long duration. This intervention was given by the classroom teacher (researcher) and was conducted before participants’ whole-group math lesson. The data collected reflects the impact …

Calming Station: Mindfulness Breathing Techniques And Yogic Stretches To Promote Self- Regulation, Anna Olson

Education Masters Papers

Self-regulation is a life skill that is universal. Everyone has a different level of regulation. Amongst the many different strategies for self-regulation, mindfulness breathing and yogic stretches have substantial amount of positive data based on adults. Mindfulness is an idea that has been explore more and more in a school setting with children. There have been different mindfulness curriculum made to incorporate into a classroom setting. Yoga is also a term that has been used more in schools to help regulate both adults and children. This study is designed to investigate if mindfulness breathing and yogic stretches help promote self-regulation …

Meditation And The Inner Life Of Today’S Educator, Summer Nicklasson

Education | Master's Theses

This project stemmed from the researcher’s feeling stress as a new teacher and the need for self-care. The study is contextualized and the theoretical frameworks include meditation and mindfulness. (Venditti et al., 2020). Teaching is a stressful profession and many teachers experience daily stresses that can often lead to teacher burnout. When teachers are stressed, their ability to effectively teach and connect with students is diminished. This is further exacerbated by the fact that educators are teaching through the unprecedented times of COVID-19. Meditation and mindfulness are universal and free tools that educators can use to decrease stress and increase …

The Impact Of Explicit Teaching Of Emotions In A Second Grade Classroom, Shaina Pine

Education Masters Papers

How can the explicit teaching of emotions affect student behavior and emotional problem solving? This action research project investigated how lessons using the explicit teaching model affected the ability for students to identify their own emotions, problem solve emotional responses, and use the process of affect labeling, or naming an emotion, to help students regulate their emotions within the classroom environment and beyond. Twenty-six second-grade students participated in daily emotional check-ins, explicit teaching lessons about twenty-five different emotions, and journal writing to reinforce emotional identification and problem-solving skills. A pre and post interview was used to assess students’ ability to …

Effective Mindfulness Practices For Reducing Veteran Teacher Perceived Stress, Michael Brouillette

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to measure and describe the extent to which mindfulness practices impact veteran teacher perceived stress. In addition, it was the purpose of the study to capture the most effective mindfulness practices of veteran teachers to reduce veteran teacher perceived stress.

Methodology: This study used a mixed methods study research methodology. Data were collected from 15 teachers in the form of answers to the Perceived Stress Scale and interviews to collect their lived experiences. Responses from veteran teachers who have used mindfulness for at least 1 year were analyzed with the objective …

Mindful Matters; The Efficacy Of An Eight-Week Mindfulness Intervention On Boarding School Teacher Burnout, Nicole Campbell

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Teacher burnout is a serious issue. Studies show that burnout decreases teacher instruction efficacy, increases absenteeism, interferes with student/teacher relationships, and causes attrition, which costs the system millions of dollars each year (Suh, 2015). While there is ample research on traditional teachers and burnout, boarding school teachers are a largely understudied population. These teachers educate students in residential school settings, housing students on evenings and weekends throughout the school year. Many boarding school teachers must work additional hours stretching into evenings and weekends and fulfill multiple roles beyond a classroom teacher. Therefore, most of these teachers work well beyond a …

Using Mindfulness Techniques In Elementary Schools: Training For Staff, Mariah Linnell

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Mindfulness is a state of mind focused on drawing attention to what is happening in the present moment. Students at all levels, whether it be elementary, middle, or high school can experience numerous academic, personal and social, and behavioral benefits from practicing mindfulness. The training presented in this project will address the need for elementary school staff to be using mindfulness techniques when working with the diverse range of students. The objective is that this training will result in the education of school staff on mindfulness and how to effectively implement these techniques with students, which will have a positive …

Effects Of Mindfulness On Teacher Stress And Self-Efficacy, April Netz, Lauren Rom

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

Teachers experience high levels of stress due to the demands of their profession. The purpose of this study is to determine if mindfulness and meditation have an effect on stress levels and self-efficacy. The researcher-participants were two female teachers in public schools. Five days a week for four weeks, the participants practiced mindfulness activities from a curated list including Body Scan, Meditation, Breathing, Yoga, and Journaling.. The participants detailed their stress levels before and after the intervention each day and weekly through different means of data collection. The study used pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, daily journals, and weekly questionnaires to …

Know(Ing) Thyself: Examining Complementary Practices Of Health And Wellness Through A Teacher's Standpoint, Ernest Andre Poole

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

How do we know the nature of a thing; of a person? This is not just a compilation of skills, theories, methods, and methodologies but an examination of the various facets of a human being trying to make sense of a single human being: himself. The research presented here is an attempt to gain a better understanding of self through examination of emotions and how they are expressed, movement and how it brings forth and may hold the possibility of inner wellness, pain and its power as a common language, and the relationship between knowing and feeling. Burgeoning spirituality, self-worth, …

Effects Of Mindfulness Practice On The Academic, Cognitive, And Psychological Outcomes Of First And Second Language Learners: A Literature Review, Tami L. Noblet

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this literature review on Mindfulness and metacognitive studies conducted in a school setting between 1983-2018 was twofold. The first was to investigate the effects of mindfulness on the academic, cognitive, and psychological outcomes of students in a school setting on the general student population as well as language learners. The second was to compare the effectiveness of various mindfulness techniques. In the majority of the studies, mindfulness, particularly Transcendental Meditation (TM), positively impacted student academic, cognitive, and psychological outcomes. Overall, this analysis supports the incorporation of routine mindfulness practice in any school curriculum.

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Mindfulness Practice Through The Lived Experiences Of Secondary Educators, Karen H. Styers

Education Dissertations and Projects

Teacher burnout and stress are at an all-time high. The teaching profession is reported to be one of the most stressful occupations, especially in 21st century learning environments. The researcher discovered mindfulness and was amazed how this practice allowed her to “breathe” through the difficult and challenging moments. Inspired by her own mindfulness practice, the researcher wanted to discover if mindfulness was as powerful a tool to other mindfulness teachers and educators. This phenomenological investigation explored the lived experiences of 11 secondary educators who self-identify as mindfulness practitioners. Through carefully constructed open-ended questions, the researcher was able to delve into …

The Effect Of Mindfulness Techniques On Teacher Resilience As Moderated By Conscientiousness, Aundrea T. Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Unmanaged stress in teachers often triggers burnout, which leads to a rise in healthcare costs and absenteeism. Therefore, teachers' resiliency needs improvement to lower the risk of burnout. The purpose of this cross-sectional design study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness techniques and resilience in high school teachers. An additional purpose of this study was to examine if the personality trait, conscientiousness, moderates the relationship between mindfulness techniques and resilience. The frameworks for this study were based on the self-awareness, -regulation, and -transcendence (S-ART) framework, theory of planned behavior, and the concepts of resilience and job burnout. Four surveys …

Mindfulness And Its Effects On Self-Regulation In A Lower Elementary Classroom, Jennifer Yenter

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research was to determine the effect of a variety of mindfulness activities and exercises on self-regulation. Twenty-eight students from a lower elementary class of first, second, and third graders in a public Montessori school participated in the study. Data was collected over a period of six weeks using an on task behavior tally sheet, productivity scoring rubric, observational notes, behavior logs, self-assessments, student feedback, and an auditory following directions matrix. Results show a promising association between mindfulness and self-regulation. All students enjoyed partaking in mindfulness and reported positive associations with the intervention and showed increases …

The Effects Of A Peer-Supported Mindfulness Practice On Teacher Stress Reduction, Dana Vitolo

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project was to measure the effects of daily mindfulness practice with peer-support on teacher stress reduction. Nine female Montessori teachers participated in study and taught at private Montessori schools in suburban or rural settings. The participating teachers practiced a short mindfulness activity daily such as the body scan, sitting meditation, yoga, or mandala coloring and wrote reflections in their daily journal for four weeks. The teachers also participated in a weekly peer support group for community building and wrote reflections in their weekly journal. The teachers participated in a pre- and post- intervention stress …

Using Authentic Inquiry To Unpack Emotions And Thorny Issues Within Teaching And Learning, Leah Denise Pride

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This manuscript-styled dissertation embodies the theoretical and methodological framework of authentic inquiry (Tobin, 2006). In the holistic context of this dissertation, authentic inquiry as a theoretical framework encompasses deep epistemological and ontological questions such as: What is knowledge and how is it informed by research? Who may engage in research? How does positivism compare to authentic inquiry? What are thorny issues and how do they relate to authentic inquiry? How do we research thorny issues in classrooms? What mindfulness practices may be used to research emotions when discussing thorny issues? How do we nuance “safety” in learning spaces where emotions …

Discovering The Leader Within: An Autoethnophenomenographic Study Of Mindfulness In Educational Leadership, Alyssa Fraser

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study combined autoethnographic and phenomenological methods to examine a researcher-leader’s attempt to cultivate cognitive, relational, and emotional capacities through regular mindfulness practice, and how the cultivation of such capacities aligns with the enactment of leadership. The interrogation of lived experience and self-analysis was entered with the intention to better understand the promise of mindfulness as a resource for the development of educational leaders. This study explored the perceived connections between mindfulness practice and the enactment of educational leadership by examining internal and external perspectives of an individual leader’s practice. Methods of self-observation, including both interval and occurrence recording …

Teaching While White: White Identity Development And Antiracism For Educators, Amber Mackenzie Taylor

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project explores the use of mindfulness in antiracist professional development for educators, documenting the development and implementation of workshop curriculum across three conference settings. The purpose of the project was to engage White educators in the important inner work of understanding White racial conditioning and actively challenging the institutional and structural racism inherent in our education system. Beginning with an understanding of race, racism and Critical Race Theory, the curriculum was designed to support White educators in developing their own racial identities to further their own personal development. The workshop focuses on White Identity development (Helms, 1990) to support …

The Effects Of Mindfulness Practices And Activities On Student Attention And Work Engagement In A Multi-Age 4th To 6th Grade Montessori Classroom, Jamie L. Schaub

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to test whether the implementation of mindfulness exercises would increase focus and work engagement of students. This study incorporated breathing and visualization exercises three times a week. The 5-week study involved 44 children between the ages of 9 and 12 years in a private Montessori school in Northern Michigan. Data collection included daily tallies of on and off task behavior, daily observations of work engagement, pre and post questionnaires about mindfulness completed by each child, and oneon- one discussions with each participant. Results showed an increase in the number of students on task and …

What Does It Mean For A Teacher To Bring The Whole Person To The Classroom? Reflections And Strategies To Access The Authentic Self And Connect With The Energy Of Joy In The Classroom Learning Experience, Arline M. H. Saturdayborn

MA TESOL Collection

Since I began teaching 10 years ago, I have been summoned by an energy, a vitality that is guiding me. Most days when I walk into the classroom, no matter what is going on in my life, I connect with an energy that makes my heart feel full, brings my whole body alive and fills me with joy. This thesis is an investigation of what I experience when I enter the classroom. I love the energy I have in the classroom. I don’t think it is special to me. I think this energy is available to anyone, if they are …

Breathe To Understand, Maxine Swisa

MA TESOL Collection

BREATHE is an acronym for Breathe, Reflect, Empathize, Accept, Thank, Hearten, Engage. The addition of Understand allows for a holistic approach to living a healthy and balanced life both inside and outside the classroom. This paper took form as a result of my personal, spiritual journey, as well as my teaching practice. I noticed that the majority of my students enjoyed experiential activities that included time and space for self-reflection, relaxation and meditation. I began looking for books, seminars, and workshops that explored these areas. Deepak Chopra, Jonathan Kabat-Zinn, Dan Siegel, Eckhart Tolle, et al. offer insights into the benefits …

Cycle Of Renewal: Yoga’S Influence On The Professional Lives Of Novice Teachers, Danette V. Day

Doctoral Dissertations

Teachers must acquire the appropriate knowledge, skills and dispositions to effectively meet the demands and challenges of the teaching profession (Darling-Hammond, 2006, 2010; Shulman, 2000). There is considerable research about how someone perceives they can perform effectively as a teacher, and what constitutes effective teaching (Bandura, 1995, 1997; Ashton & Webb, 1986). Research suggests that novice teachers feel unprepared, unsupported and ineffective; and 50% of novice teachers leave the profession within the first few years of teaching (Levine, 2006; Kaufman, et al., 2002; Kelley, 2004; Maciejewski, 2007) This study examined the question, “To what extent do novice teachers’ experiences and …

The Role Of Mindful Disposition In Exploring Teacher Effectiveness In An Arts Integrated School: An Embedded Mixed Method Design, Amy Therese Turino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently there is high pressure on teachers to demonstrate effectiveness through student outcome scores and observational criteria in classrooms (CO SB 10-191, 2010; Darling-Hammond et al., 2012). What is missing from the teacher effectiveness evaluation process is a voice of the teacher as a professional about their practice. One of the emerging research fields discussing the effects of the pressures on teachers (and students) is mindfulness (Albrecht et al., 2012; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). This study serves to bring these two fields of research: teacher effectiveness evaluation and mindfulness in education together.

Three research questions guided this embedded mixed methods …