Date of Award

Summer 9-15-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Mindfulness Studies

First Advisor

Yasemin Isler

Second Advisor

Cacky Mellor

Abstract

Public school teachers face the risk of burnout. Mindfulness has been suggested for addressing the chronic stress that can lead to teacher burnout. However, criticisms have been raised regarding the sometimes problematic nature of mindfulness programs (MPs) for public school teachers. For example, MPs may be perceived as religious and therefore not appropriate for secular public schools. Additionally, MPs may not be designed with enough of an ethical framework and may not do enough to authentically help teachers address the systemic challenges they face. In response to these limitations, this paper suggests the synthesis of the following MP enhancements to help avoid the risk of burnout: (1) using mindfulness to increase inspiration to energize teachers, (2) employ syncretism as a secular, inclusive solution to the problem of religion in public schools and empower teachers to self-select guidance and input as they practice mindfulness, and (3) aligning mindfulness practice with teachers' union protections in order to more explicitly support teachers as they practice during their workday, seeking to solve professional and systemic problems. Previously, these three approaches have partially appeared as separate solutions in contexts not related to mindfulness for teachers. This paper addresses a gap in the existing literature by proposing a novel synergistic approach that unifies the three enhancements to form a comprehensive MP specifically tailored for public school teachers, titled "The MIND Method: Mindful Inspiration for New Day."

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