A new study from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education program found that teachers who practice stress-reducing techniques are able to adjust to the demands of the career better, Phys.org says.

Managing a classroom oftentimes relate to emotional exhaustion and a whole lot of stress. Teachers who are familiar with social and emotional techniques to cope are likely to be better at their job.

Specifically, the study took a look at “CARE,” or the mindfulness professional development program that stands for "Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education.”

"Teachers in New York City public schools who participated in 'Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education,' or CARE, a mindfulness professional development program, not only felt an improvement in their own well-being, they also improved the quality of their classroom,” said Phys.org.

Social and emotional training is a big topic in today’s education, but mostly is mentioned when discussing how to best teach children.

This study indicates that such training is equally important for teachers, as well.

The intensive program works like this:

Over the school year, 224 teachers from 36 New York public elementary schools located in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan participated in a series of five six-hour sessions. Between sessions, teachers received individualized phone coaching through two 30-minute calls over two weeks. The program content consisted of: emotion skills instruction; mindfulness/stress reduction practices to promote self-regulation of attention and non-judgmental awareness; and caring and listening practices to promote empathy and compassion.

Using a tool to analyze teacher-student interactions called the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, or CLASS, researchers found that teachers were more emotionally positive following the training and were more sensitive to student needs.

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Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

5/3/2016