Compassion-based mindfulness training in teacher education: The impact on student teachers at a South African university

Lucy Draper-Clarke

doi:10.20853/34-1-2525

Compassion-based mindfulness training in teacher education: The impact on student teachers at a South African university

Lucy Draper-Clarke

South African Journal of Higher Education March 1, 2020 DOI: 10.20853/34-1-2525 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract

Characteristics	Mixed methods study Peer reviewed
Sample size	14
Population	Student teachers in Gauteng, South Africa
Topics	Meditation
Citations	7
Key points	The authors argue that including compassion practices in mindfulness-based interventions benefits student teachers under stress, and that compassion-based mindfulness can improve individual resilience while also serving as a means of enhancing social engagement. They propose this combined approach could address critiques that secular mindfulness training omits ethics, compassion, and social engagement, particularly in developing-world contexts.

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a teacher education study, exploring the implications of mindfulness training on student teachers in the context of a transitional society, South Africa. Western secular mindfulness has been expanding to new continents, from its origins in the East, and now needs to be contextualised. Recent critiques of the contemporary mindfulness movement identify elements that are missing from much secular mindfulness training, such as ethics, compassion, and social engagement.As part of a mixed methods research study, in-depth interviews were carried out with fourteen student teachers in Gauteng, aiming to understand the level and causes of their stress, and evaluate whether a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) was beneficial. The study’s findings extended the current literature, highlighting the benefits of including compassion practices in MBIs, particularly in stressful contexts. Compassion-based mindfulness has the potential as a practice that not only improves the resilience of individuals, but also becomes a means of enhancing social engagement. For student teachers in developing world contexts, mindfulness combined with compassion could address some of the current critiques of MBIs.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study	Year	Design	Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan...	2017	Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system	2004	Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety	2006	Exploratory mixed methods study	n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context	2001	Qualitative study	n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators	2013	Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

Citations in the library

Cited by 1

Mindfulness-based interventions for student coping in higher education: a systematic review Advances in Mental Health July 10, 2026

Cites 7

and 2 more in the library