Reimagining mindfulness training to deepen K-12 Teachers’ social, emotional, and cultural competencies

As more attention is placed on the importance of developing K-12 teachers’ social, emotional, and cultural competencies (SECCs), efforts are needed to reimagine approaches that most effectively support teachers’ SECC development. The nascent field of Adult SEL offers an opportunity to situate SEL approaches for teachers not as simply “self-care” support, but rather as professional development that centers skills and practices related to teacher agency, social relationships, and a sense of community. In this practice paper, we will a) describe the practice of mindfulness as a promising approach for cultivating teachers’ SECCs and b) offer a reimagining of mindfulness training for K-12 teachers that balances a focus on self-care with a broader aim of collective care and transformation. We offer recommendations for researchers and practitioners on how training to support teacher mindfulness can be designed, implemented, and evaluated in ways that include outcomes related to a more collectivist approach. As support for this reorientation, we also provide preliminary qualitative evidence from K-12 teachers. We close by discussing how shifting teacher well-being efforts from the individual “me” toward a collective “we” can empower teachers to work together to establish personal and professional well-being.