Abstract
Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on teachers professional and personal lives. Our primary aim was to assess the effect of a blended Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR), an emerging mindfulness and cognitive reframing intervention on teacher’s well-being. Our secondary aims were to assess the effect of IBSR on resilience, burnout, mindfulness, and stress among teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study was a prospective controlled trial with an intervention group (N = 35) and a comparison control group (N = 32). The intervention took place in the Jerusalem District throughout the school year from November 2019 to May 2020. The sessions were conducted in blended learning that included traditional learning (face-to-face) and online learning. Data was analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis. Results: IBSR blended intervention enhanced the resilience and improved the subjective and psychological well-being of teachers in spite of the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first lockdown in Israel. Simultaneously the control group suffered from enhanced burnout levels and a decline in psychological and subjective well-being. Conclusions: Implementation of IBSR blended intervention during the school year may benefit teachers’ well-being and ability to flourish, even during stressful events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caught the Israeli education system by surprise
No significant differences in baseline metrics were identified between dropouts and completers (Supplementary Material Table S2) and they were not included in further analysis
Our findings demonstrate that Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR) blended intervention enhanced the resilience and improved the subjective and psychological well-being of participants, while the control group suffered from a decline in psychological and subjective well-being and enhanced levels of burnout
Summary
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caught the Israeli education system by surprise. The psychological and subjective effects on teachers’ well-being as a result of quarantine and social distancing may manifest as psychological distress, anxiety and depression [4,5,6,7]. Such negative outcomes have been shown to be reduced in teachers who participated in psycho-social and mindfulness-based interventions [6,8,9]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have