A new program from UNT-Dallas' Emerging Teacher Institute has received a $500,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve teacher retention and recruitment by figuring out how to help them avoid burnout.

While teachers are frequently told that mindfulness techniques, meditation and physical activity will help combat the daily stress of running a classroom, little research exists to elaborate on how and why such practices work.

That's why the university has made it its initiative to figure out the specifics—and one day use its findings to benefit the teaching profession as a whole.

For now, the "university will work with principals throughout the area—specifically in southern Dallas—to open up a bigger pipeline of educators. Plans also call for current instructors to get professional training through institute workshops to help them recognize their stress triggers and successfully manage through them,” says the Dallas Morning News.

The program’s logic is that by finding ways to help teachers cope with personal stress, more teachers will remain in the profession and will therefore alleviate the burdens that stem from annual teacher shortages.

Dallas schools will soon serve as a model for what can be accomplished when both students' and teachers’ emotional health is taken into consideration.

"Imagine the potential game-changing improvements that could happen in the classroom environment and achievement if the emotional health of both students and teachers is a top priority in Dallas schools,” said the Dallas Morning News.

Read the full story.

Nicole Gorman, Senior Education World Contributor

Related Resources:

• Teacher Burnout, Student Stress Found to Be Correlated in Recent Study 
• How Mindfulness Can Help Educators and Students
• Reducing Educator Stress: 5 Tips