Meditation and the inner life of today’s educator
Location
Online - Session 2A
Start Date
4-21-2021 11:50 AM
Major Field of Study
Education
Student Type
Graduate
Faculty Mentor(s)
Matthew Davis, Phd
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Research stemmed from researcher feeling stress of being a new teacher and needing self care, exploring the self care needs of educators teaching in a school. 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 joy in their own lives.
Summary: Study used a mixed methods approach to the study of meditation and a group setting with 8 educational professionals who met weekly for 6 weeks. The findings of this research include that there is a universal sense that these educators are feeling lonely and seeking community, that there are high levels of criticism around meditation and self care, and that the impact of participants in group mediation resulted in participants engaging in activities beyond the core practice of the group. This has important implications for time and resources for teachers to gather and for community practices that focus on meditation or other self care practices.
Meditation and the inner life of today’s educator
Online - Session 2A
Research stemmed from researcher feeling stress of being a new teacher and needing self care, exploring the self care needs of educators teaching in a school. 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 joy in their own lives.
Summary: Study used a mixed methods approach to the study of meditation and a group setting with 8 educational professionals who met weekly for 6 weeks. The findings of this research include that there is a universal sense that these educators are feeling lonely and seeking community, that there are high levels of criticism around meditation and self care, and that the impact of participants in group mediation resulted in participants engaging in activities beyond the core practice of the group. This has important implications for time and resources for teachers to gather and for community practices that focus on meditation or other self care practices.