A Well-being Training for Preservice Teachers

Participants in this study will be undergraduate pre-service teachers already enrolled in the
Early Elementary Certification Program (EECP) in the School of Education. This competitive
admission program is four semesters long and consists of 4 certificate granting areas. Over
the course of 2 years (i.e., 4 semesters), the investigators will recruit a total of 8
cohorts; 2 from each certificate granting area. Participants will be recruited during their
second semester in the program for enrollment during the third semester (i.e., enrollment
first semester of senior year). Cohorts will be match randomized by cohort type, ensuring
that 4 cohorts are randomized to treatment and 4 cohorts are randomized to teacher education
as usual, and that one of each type of cohort is randomized to treatment and control,
respectively.

All participants will complete a battery of self-report and behavioral tasks, as well as
undergo a standardized classroom observation prior to the start of the intervention,
immediately after the intervention, and at follow-up (5-8 months post intervention).
Follow-up testing will occur during the final month of the final semester in the EECP
program, a time during which participants will be full-time student teaching, training that
best approximates in-service teaching. The qualitative component of this study will involve
participants partaking in approximately four-hours of interviews (either group or individual
based on a hierarchal sampling criterion), before and after the intervention period. In
addition, all student EECP records will be qualitatively analyzed (i.e., supervisor notes,
state certification portfolios). Each September for three years post-graduation, participants
will be contacted and instructed to complete an online survey consisting of self-report
inventories and information about whether they are continuing to teach and if so, the name
and district of the school they currently work.

Participants randomized to treatment will receive 1.5 hours of mindfulness training for 8 to
10 weeks during their third semester. Thirty minutes of this will occur during mandatory
cohort seminar time, with the remaining one-hour after the end of cohort seminar time. In
addition, during the intervention period they will participate in two 4-hour "Days of
Mindfulness." In total, intervention participants will receive about 21 hours of instruction
in mindfulness over the intervention period. During the following semester (4th semester),
intervention participants will receive 15 minutes of mindfulness "booster" practice each week
as part of their mandatory cohort seminar.

This novel mindfulness based intervention is incorporates elements of Mindfulness Based
Stress Reduction (Kabat-Zinn, 1982), as well as contemplative practices that might be defined
as social connectedness practices or constructivist practices (Dahl, Lutz, & Davidson, 2015).
The curriculum has been developed by experienced mindfulness teachers (>10 years teaching
experience, on average), all of whom have extensive meditation histories and most of whom
have long-term experience as classroom teachers. The training will consist of formal and
informal mindfulness meditation practices.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Undergraduate students in good academic standing entering their third semester of one
of the following teacher education certificate programs (Early Education ESL, Middle
Education SPED, Middle Education Content, Middle Education ESL). Note that good
academic standing is a requirement for continuation in the certification program.

Exclusion Criteria:

- A history of schizophrenia-spectrum, bipolar disorder, or other psychotic disorders