“It was the most comprehensive professional development I’ve ever participated in.”

We have completed our InSchools faculty mindfulness program for the year, and we’re very happy with the results.

The pilot program, which we conducted at Floyd County High School, Christiansburg Middle School, and Shawsville Middle School, and was made possible through funding from the Lenz Foundation and Pure Edge, has been completed by 19 participants, with several others just a few hours away from completion.

Here is some of the feedback we received from our participants:

• I absolutely love the concept & your passion!
  
• It was the most comprehensive professional development I’ve ever participated in.
  
• I feel mindfulness has been shown to be very effective for students, teachers and staff.
  
• The presenters have been excellent.
  
• This course not only teaches you how to teach students and it also teaches teachers to breathe, relax, forgive, to be accepting, nonjudgmental.
  
• Beginning teachers should all have the opportunity to be introduced to mindfulness to better prepare them for the stresses of their new career.
  
• I use it at home, in class, and with students.
  
• I loved the whole experience. I found an inner peace that has helped me at work as well as home.
  
• Being mindful in my daily life has benefited me, my students, and interactions I have with my colleagues.
  
• I’m overall more focused & less stressed. I deal with frustrating students in a more positive way. Teaching Assistants in my room have commented on the change.
  
• I am more relaxed & more in control of my own emotions.
  
• Scale of 1-10: a solid 10.
  
• This program is very near and dear to me & has made all the difference! I want everyone to feel this way.
  
• The lessons I’ve learned about myself and the practice of mindfulness are invaluable.
  
• It is an exciting course, well structured to fit our needs as educators.
  
• I think every teacher should be required to take this class. Wish I would have had this many years ago.
  
• I learned a lot about myself & it positively impacted my personal life as well.
  
• Very practical. I am mindful every day!
  
• I love you guys! You were warm, welcoming, and easy to open up to. You’re great!
  
• Thank you for this opportunity, as it has changed my life.
  
• Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I value so much of what you have imparted to us and the confidence you have given to me to impart to my students and family.
  
• You made me feel joy and understanding and supported. Thank you.

We also conducted some research. Before-and-after results from the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and the Engaged Teachers Scale (ETS) produced some positive findings. We found an increase in several measures of the MAAS, especially on the following questions, where there was an average of between 11 to 15% improvement in mindful awareness:

• I break or spill things because of carelessness, not paying attention, or thinking of something else.
• I tend to walk quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way.
• I snack without being aware that I’m eating.

More importantly, for our purposes of having this program in schools, there was an overall improvement on every measure of the ETS, especially on the questions that measured social engagement with students, with an average improvement of 9% across those four questions. Gallup has found teacher engagement with students to be directly linked to student engagement, and that student engagement is “the noncognitive measure most directly related to academic achievement.”

While these results are by no means statistically significant, due to the small sample size and some minor data collection issues, they are still quite promising for a pilot program. Next year, we are hoping to keep the program in Montgomery and Floyd County Public Schools, and also hopefully introduce it to one or two other Southwest Virginia school divisions, while conducting more thorough research in collaboration with the Radford University Department of Education and Human Development.