Without adequate training, teachers may fail to identify the underlying causes of disruptive behaviors, despite the students’ attempts to convey distress through these behaviors. Children exposed to trauma or adversity often have disrupted self-regulatory and attachment capacities that may manifest as disorganized behavior in the classroom (Brunzell, Stokes, & Waters, 2016). Adversity-Affected Studentsĭue to the high prevalence of childhood trauma and adversity, coupled with the lack of trauma-informed training available to teachers, supporting adversity-affected students can be a source of amplified teacher stress. The findings signify the importance of providing teachers with proactive classroom management strategies to enable them to create an orderly learning environment and alleviate stress. A promising way to break this stress cycle is by preparing teachers to manage behavioral challenges in the classroom, which is associated with higher self-efficacy and lower burnout (Pas, Bradshaw, & Hershfeldt, 2012). The teacher’s inability to de-escalate situations reinforces student misbehavior, which in turn, further exacerbates symptoms of teacher stress (Osher et al., 2008). In addition to stress contagion threatening the classroom climate, teachers who experience high stress are more likely to resort to punitive strategies when managing challenging behavior. Oberle and Schonert-Reichl ( 2016) examined the connection between teacher burnout levels and students’ physiological stress response and found that higher levels of teacher burnout are associated with higher cortisol levels in students. Similarly, previous studies indicate that managing troublesome behavior in the classroom is a significant contributor to teacher stress and emotional exhaustion, as well as low self-efficacy, enthusiasm, and job satisfaction (Aldrup, Klusmann, Lüdtke, Göllner, & Trautwein, 2018 Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2012).Ĭhronic emotional exhaustion in teachers also threatens instruction quality and students’ school functioning. Emotional exhaustion triggered by discipline problems is negatively related to job satisfaction, and both emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction are predictive of teachers’ motivation to leave the profession. Researchers have found that one of the significant predictors of emotional exhaustion in teachers is disruptive student behavior (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011). Maslach, Jackson, Leiter, Schaufeli and Schwab ( 1996) identified emotional exhaustion, the feeling of being emotionally drained from one’s work, as the initial aspect of burnout syndrome in teachers. Given that approximately half of new teachers in the USA leave the profession within the first five years due to burnout, there is an urgent need for resources to support teacher well-being (Ingersoll, Merrill, Stuckey, & Collins, 2018). Our results show that infusing trauma-informed training with an existing mindfulness-based SEL intervention may encourage teachers to embrace trauma-sensitive attitudes and reduce burnout. These findings were supported by focus group data. Greatest improvements in self-efficacy and personal accomplishment were observed among educators who implemented MindUP for two consecutive years. Results showed that educators in the intervention group reported significant decreases in emotional exhaustion, and significant improvements in the reactions subscale and overall scores on the ARTIC scale. Pre- and post-intervention quantitative data were augmented by qualitative focus group data. We compared trauma-informed attitudes and burnout levels among 112 educators ( n = 71 intervention, n = 41 comparison) using the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Comparison educators did not participate in training and taught their usual curriculum. Intervention educators received trauma-informed and MindUP training and implemented MindUP in their classrooms. The purpose of the study was to investigate the benefits of trauma-informed training and MindUP delivery on educator attitudes and burnout. Because existing research on SEL programs has predominantly focused on student well-being, there is a paucity of research examining teacher outcomes and the integration of a trauma-informed framework. Mindfulness-based social–emotional learning (SEL) programs equip teachers with essential tools to create a trauma-informed classroom, which in turn helps alleviate stress associated with supporting trauma-impacted children. A trauma-informed approach can give teachers the strategies they need to help children affected by trauma reach their full potential in the classroom.
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