A systematic review of mindfulness interventions for in-service teachers: A tool to enhance teacher wellbeing and performance

This systematic review was conducted to report on developments in and implementations of mindfulness-based intervention research for in-service teachers, and the status of that research. The review reported on sixteen studies published up to 2015 from an initial search of 1788 records in PsychINFO, EBSCOhost, Education Source, Scopus, Google Scholar and Mindfulness, a major publication outlet for research in mindfulness. Dimensions of the review included research and intervention design, interventionists, intervention results, intervention fidelity, and measurement validity and reliability. Researchers of quantitative studies predominantly used a randomised-control trial design with a wait-list control group. Analysis of results revealed that (a) relatively few mindfulness-based intervention studies have been conducted, (b) interventions were provided primarily to enhance teacher wellbeing and teacher performance, (c) different definitions of mindfulness and components of practice were incorporated into descriptions of mindfulness-based interventions, (d) intervention fidelity was rarely reported, and (e) researchers seldom used both direct and indirect measures of effects. A secondary analysis was conducted of studies using qualitative methods. This highlighted in-service teachers' experiences of learning and practising mindfulness, and provided potential explanations for the effects of mindfulness-based interventions found in primary quantitative studies. The review results are discussed collectively within the framework of evidence-based practice in education. Limitations of the review and future research directions are discussed.