Promoting the Wellbeing of Teachers Working With Students With Special Needs: A Mindfulness-Supporting Programme

A qualitative case study with nine teachers of students with special needs in a New Zealand secondary school found that a two-phase mindfulness-supporting programme (4-week intervention, 8-week follow-up) contributed to wellbeing by improving affect management, relationships, and ability to navigate challenges. Participants viewed mindfulness primarily as directing attention and monitoring attitudes. The programme developed mindfulness practices and perspectives, though some disliked the adapted Mindfulness in Education Heuristic and Smiling Mind© app. Challenges included lack of time, motivation, and dedicated spaces. The authors argue mindfulness has potential to enhance wellbeing for this teacher group.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Teachers in New Zealand have experienced many issues that affect their wellbeing, such as heavy workload and work-related stress. The situation also appears to be particularly unfavourable for teachers working with students with special needs. Nonetheless, published studies about enhancing the wellbeing of this group of teachers in New Zealand is still missing. Mindfulness is widely recognised for its positive impacts on the wellbeing of practitioners, including teachers, despite some concerns about whether mindfulness works for everyone. However, concerns about challenges in introducing mindfulness into secular life, such as the availability of adequately experienced trainers and its strict duration and intensity, leading to difficulties in recruiting and retaining time-poor participants, have been increasing. Recent research highlights the potential of mobile mindfulness apps and their integration with other mindfulness-based practices to increase accessibility. In New Zealand, studies on mindfulness in education are limited and mostly focus on students, leaving a gap in understanding its impact on teachers, particularly those working with students with special needs. This qualitative case study aimed to explore how mindfulness contributed to the wellbeing of teachers working with students with special needs. Grounded in a constructivist paradigm and guided by an authentic inquiry and reflexivity framework, this study implemented a two-phase mindfulness-supporting programme with nine teachers who worked with students with special needs in a New Zealand secondary school. The programme consisted of a 4-week intervention and an 8-week follow-up, with key components including the adapted Mindfulness in Education Heuristic and the Smiling Mind© mobile mindfulness app. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, solicited diaries, and heuristics and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Basic statistical analysis was also conducted to examine the idea of using the adapted Mindfulness in Education Heuristic as a tool to track participants’ frequency of mindfulness practices over time. This study revealed three important findings. First, participants viewed mindfulness from various perspectives: as a process of directing attention and monitoring attitudes and responses, a psychological state, and a pathway to a balanced life, with the first perspective being the most prevalent. Second, the mindfulness-supporting programme was found to develop participants’ mindfulness practices and perspectives, although a few participants expressed unfavourable experiences towards the adapted Mindfulness in Education Heuristic and the Smiling Mind© app. Third, mindfulness was found to positively contribute to various aspects of participants’ wellbeing: improving participants’ ability to manage their affect and responses; enhancing participants’ relationships with their students, colleagues, and family members; and improving participants’ ability to navigate situations that arise in their lives to better support their students and colleagues. However, participants also found it challenging when incorporating mindfulness into their daily lives due to the lack of time, motivation, and spaces that they could dedicate for mindfulness practices, both in school and home settings. This study argues that mindfulness has the potential to be a valuable approach for enhancing the wellbeing of teachers working with students with special needs.