Empowering Educators: Teacher–Researcher Co-Development of a Classroom-Based Mindfulness Intervention
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Teacher stress and burnout can affect teacher well-being, classroom functioning, and student outcomes, yet school-based mindfulness interventions (MBIs) may be difficult to sustain without attention to feasibility, social validity, and cultural and contextual fit. Twelve elementary teachers collaborated in the development and adaptation of an MBI for teacher self-practice and classroom implementation. Guided by community-based participatory research principles and the Making Optimal Decisions for Intervention Flexibility during Implementation (MODIFI) framework, the study used a convergent mixed-methods design involving a 2-hour mindfulness training, qualitative interviews, and the Usage Rating Profile–Intervention Revised (URP-IR). Qualitative data were analyzed for implementation barriers, facilitators, and cultural adaptations, while URP-IR subscale scores were summarized descriptively. Teachers reported stress related to workload, limited time, administrative demands, and classroom behavioral needs, but viewed mindfulness as beneficial and feasible when practices were brief, flexible, and integrated into routines. Adaptations addressed language, developmental appropriateness, delivery format, student autonomy, and classroom context. Quantitative findings showed Acceptability (M = 5.5) and Feasibility (M = 5.7), with lower System Support (M = 3.3). Teacher feedback informed audio-guided options, visual practices, developmentally appropriate scripts, and autonomy-supportive language. Findings suggest that engaging teachers as co-designers may strengthen intervention fit, social validity, and implementation readiness.
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204153959