Mindfulness training for school administrators: effects on well-being and leadership

Abstract

Purpose Based on a need to utilize strategies and develop social-emotional competency skills of school administrators, the purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE), a mindfulness-based professional development program, on the leadership and well-being of 13 school administrators. Design/methodology/approach The empirical data consist of in-depth interviews with 13 administrators before and after the implementation of CARE program, observation notes from shadowing their activities during school time and attending the CARE program as a participant observer. Employing the pro-social classroom model (Jennings and Greenberg, 2009) as a theoretical foundation, the paper is based on an ongoing, iterative data analysis process, following the coding and interpretive techniques of grounded theory. Findings The positive outcomes that emerged from the data relate to improved leadership skills, such as increased self-reflection, better relationships and attendance to self-care. These skills are tied to increased self-awareness, self-management and self-compassion. Participants also reported an improved ability to recognize their emotional reactions, which enabled them to better understand their leadership roles in shaping their school climates. Research limitations/implications The findings reveal significant insights about the implementation of social-emotional, mindfulness-based professional development with school administrators and potential outcomes. Implications for professional development that fosters school administrators’ social-emotional competencies are discussed. Originality/value As a study of one of the first implementations of mindfulness-based professional development programs among school principals, this research illuminates the specific benefits of such programs for school leaders and how mindfulness could be integral in their lives and education. Specifically, this study is one of the first to reveal how the CARE professional development program influences principals’ well-being and leadership.

The case for focusing on school principals’ social–emotional competencies

“…The programme focuses on three major instructional components: mindfulness and awareness practices, emotion skills and caring and compassion skills. In a study with principals in a rural school district in central Pennsylvania in the United States, principals qualitatively reported improvements in leadership skills, relationships, and self-care, and increased self-awareness, ability to regulate emotions, self-management and self-compassion after completing the CARE programme (Mahfouz, 2018). Although these findings are promising, experimental research is needed to investigate the effects of mindfulness programmes.…”

‘Head’ First: Principal Self-care to Promote Teacher Resilience

“…Although mindfulness training has been shown to support resilience in a range of professions and in the corporate sector, with the exception of Mahfouz (2018), there is limited research exploring the influence of mindfulness training on school leaders. This study is unique in the field and offers insights about how mindfulness can support school principals to adopt a mindful approach to leadership, their self-care and their resilience.…”

Guest editorial

“…To succeed – or, at the very least, survive – in a challenging environment, many school principals have made cognitive, emotional and behavioural efforts to cope with work-related pressure and occupational stress. Mindfulness is amongst the many coping strategies that school leaders use to promote their own health and well-being (Aviles and Dent, 2015; Mahfouz, 2018a,b; Wells, 2015). The reasons for investigating school principals' well-being and mindfulness are many.…”

“…The reasons for investigating school principals' well-being and mindfulness are many. We know before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, public education systems across the world were, to varying degrees, experiencing the effects of political polarization; growing social injustices; increasing prevalence of school bullying, aggression and physical assault; increased teacher stress and burnout; higher numbers of students with emotional needs; and principal recruitment and retention issues (Mahfouz, 2018a, b; Pollock and Wang, forthcoming; Swearer et al , 2010; Wang and Pollock, forthcoming). As a result, school leaders are under unprecedented amounts of pressure in the current global landscape.…”

“…As Cayer and Baron neatly summarized in their 2000 report, there have already been medical studies examining the impacts of mindfulness on chronic pain, stress and immune systems; education studies on how mindfulness impacts student learning in schools; cognitive science studies on how mindfulness enables people to express their subjective experience; organizational studies on how mindfulness impacts decision-making and management studies on the impact of mindfulness on ethical decision-making. Only recently, however, have researchers considered using mindfulness as a practice or coping strategy in professional learning for school leaders to promote their own occupational self-care and well-being (Aviles and Dent, 2015; Mahfouz, 2018a, b; Wells, 2015). Widely credited as introducing mindfulness into the world of medicine, Jon Kabat-Zinn combined his teaching in Buddhist philosophy and yoga with his medical background to develop the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program in the late 1970s and early 1980s.…”