Exploring the impacts of mindfulness training for an EFL teacher: Insights from a narrative inquiry study

Mevlüde Çiçek
Karadeniz Technical University, Turkey (Türkiye)
Nurdan Gürbüz
Middle East Technical University, Turkey (Türkiye)

The present study investigates how an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher's mindfulness training transforms her interactions with students, resilience and wellbeing. An EFL teacher who had mindfulness training participated in the study over one term. A narrative inquiry approach was adopted to record the perceived impact of the training on the teacher's resilience, wellbeing, and teacher-student interactions. Semi-structured interviews and a reflective teacher diary were used to record the experiences of the teacher. The storied mindfulness experiences are presented under two themes: student-teacher interactions, and resilience and wellbeing. Analysis of the data revealed that the EFL teacher has experienced positive changes in her teaching, found it easier to cope with the stress-generating sources effectively both in class and out of class, and observed improved student-teacher interactions and less conflict in the classroom. This small-scale study aims to broaden a growing understanding of the potential of mindfulness practice as a training mechanism for in-service teachers. Mindfulness, as a positive psychology strategy can offer tools to support teachers in their demanding profession.
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Authors: Ms Mevlüde Çiçek (corresponding author) is a PhD student at the Department of ELT, Middle East Technical University and she is employed at the School of Foreign Languages, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey (Türkiye). Email: m.abdioglu@ktu.edu.tr Dr Nurdan Gürbüz is an Associate Professor in the Department of English Language Teaching, Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey (Türkiye). She holds a BA and an MA in English Language Teaching from Gazi University and Middle East Technical University respectively, and a PhD from the Department of English Studies at University of Nottingham, UK. Email: nurdano@metu.edu.tr Please cite as: Çiçek, M. & Gürbüz, N. (2023). Exploring the impacts of mindfulness training for an EFL teacher: Insights from a narrative inquiry study. Issues in Educational Research, 33(2), 471-487. http://www.iier.org.au/iier33/cicek.pdf