Date of Award

1-1-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education

First Advisor

P. Bruce Uhrmacher, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Kathy Green

Third Advisor

Paul Michalec

Fourth Advisor

Nicole Nicotera

Keywords

Analysis of variance, Educational criticism, Connoisseurship, Mindful disposition, Mindfulness, Teacher effectiveness, Teacher quality

Abstract

Currently there is high pressure on teachers to demonstrate effectiveness through student outcome scores and observational criteria in classrooms (CO SB 10-191, 2010; Darling-Hammond et al., 2012). What is missing from the teacher effectiveness evaluation process is a voice of the teacher as a professional about their practice. One of the emerging research fields discussing the effects of the pressures on teachers (and students) is mindfulness (Albrecht et al., 2012; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). This study serves to bring these two fields of research: teacher effectiveness evaluation and mindfulness in education together.

Three research questions guided this embedded mixed methods design study: 1) How do students respond on a standardized measure in a classroom instructed by a teacher with a mindful attention awareness disposition? 2) What forms of instruction are dominant in a classroom taught by a teacher who demonstrates a mindful attention awareness disposition? 3) What is the experience of teaching like for a teacher with a mindful attention awareness disposition? To respond to the questions the qualitative research method of Educational Criticism and Connoisseurship developed by Elliot Eisner (1998) was used. Educational criticism is comprised of four dimensions: description, interpretation, evaluation, and thematics. To also respond to question one a quantitative analysis of a 2x(2) mixed-design ANOVA to explore the differences in secondary student outcome data provided by the district was conducted looking at level of mindfulness of the teacher and scores over time.

The findings suggest that the seven attitudinal factors of mindfulness (Kabat-Zinn, 2005) are operationalized in the classrooms of teachers with high mindful attention awareness disposition. However, the teacher's level of mindfulness had no significant effect on standardized student outcome data and there was no statistically significant interaction between teacher disposition and time. This suggests that the current model of standardization in measuring teacher effectiveness is not completely informing what we want to understand as in relationship to effective teaching in the classroom.

Mindfulness has been studied to show positive effects with teachers and students (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Harris et al., 2013; Weinstein, Brown & Ryan, 2009). This study introduces language to describe what mindful disposition looks like when operationalized in the classroom. This language can now be used in future research to support studies that look at the impact of mindfulness programs as well as utilized as reflective language for practitioners who are interested in mindfulness disposition and adding their voice to the discussion of teacher effectiveness evaluation.

keywords: mindful disposition, teacher effectiveness

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Amy Therese Turino

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

137 p.

Discipline

Elementary education, Educational evaluation, Education policy

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