The study

MacLochlainn, J., Kirby, K., McFadden, P., & Mallett, J. (2022, January 5).

An evaluation of whole-school trauma-informed training intervention among post-primary school personnel: A mixed methods study. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 15, 925-941. doi.org/10.1007/s40653-021-00432-3

A mindful approach to teacher burnout

Another recent study about a trauma-informed program in Ontario, Canada, is a good complement to the MacLochlainn study and highlights a range of ways to infuse trauma-informed practices into classroom practice. Kim et al. (2021) conducted a mixed method study of how a two-year trauma-informed, mindfulness-based program impacted educators’ attitudes and burnout levels.

The Kim study looked at 112 educators over three years: 41 in the comparison group and 71 educators implementing a mindfulness and social and emotional learning curriculum called MindUP. The professional learning included a half-day focused on trauma-informed practices and two full days focused on the MindUP curriculum. The curriculum includes 15 teacher-led lessons along with four units about neuroscience, mindful awareness, and social and emotional learning. A core practice of the curriculum is a mindful breathing exercise three times a day.

As in the MacLochlainn study, the researchers administered the ARTIC scale to educators. They also had educators complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which includes items such as, “I deal very effectively with the problems of my students.” Researchers conducted 17 focus groups across the three years as well.

The overall ARTIC scores significantly increased for educators in the participant groups, even after the educators rated themselves fairly highly on the ARTIC scale before the program started. There were also significant improvements on the self-efficacy items among educators who participated for two years. There were some subscales with no statistically significant changes over the course of the study.

The focus group responses revealed the value of the new knowledge about how trauma can show up in students and classrooms. Educators made comments like, “Sometimes, something so small that normally wouldn’t bother a child makes this particular child just snap. From that training, you realize there’s so much going on. … It changes how you approach everything.”

The researchers summarized the focus group data by saying, “Taking this approach has allowed educators to be more ‘understanding and patient,’ ‘forgiving,’ and ‘compassionate.’ ” Teachers observed that students’ breathing breaks and mindful pauses and behaviors resulted in improved listening skills, emotional self-regulation, and classroom behaviors.

The study found that the curriculum had a positive impact on the teachers as well. Improvements were especially noticeable among teachers who had participated for two years. One teacher said, “It’s not just them that needs the brain break, it’s me. That has really changed for me as a teacher, for getting a handle on my own frustrations that are inevitable in teaching when you are in a room full of kids with interruptions.”

Another educator expressed the value of slowing down the pace of the classroom with mindfulness breaks: “That’s time I need to spend because I’m going to gain it back later with more productive work.”