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The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective

It has been suggested that mindfulness training can provide teachers with coping mechanisms and influence their perceptions of self and others. However, how does mindfulness help teachers cope in a stressful security situation both as Israeli citizens who live in a war zone and as teachers who are r...

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Autores principales: Litvak-Hirsch, Tal, Lazar, Alon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7312907/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32521779
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114096
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author Litvak-Hirsch, Tal
Lazar, Alon
author_facet Litvak-Hirsch, Tal
Lazar, Alon
author_sort Litvak-Hirsch, Tal
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description It has been suggested that mindfulness training can provide teachers with coping mechanisms and influence their perceptions of self and others. However, how does mindfulness help teachers cope in a stressful security situation both as Israeli citizens who live in a war zone and as teachers who are responsible for their students’ lives? Fifteen female teachers, who lived and worked in the western Negev and who had completed two-years of mindfulness training, were interviewed. Interviewees reported that their coping skills had been heightened as result of being able to put aside intrusive thoughts and feelings that used to paralyze them and to focus on active coping, centered on what they needed to do promptly. Most also noted a more accepting attitude of themselves, without self-criticism or blame for what they should have or should not have done when facing the stressful situation. In relation to their students, they were more accepting of the behaviors and emotions expressed by their students and reported being more compassionate. The results will be discussed through the prism proposed by Lazarus and Folkman (1991). Educational implications of the outcomes of mindfulness training for those living in areas under the shadow of war will be suggested.
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spelling pubmed-73129072020-06-29 The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective Litvak-Hirsch, Tal Lazar, Alon Int J Environ Res Public Health Article It has been suggested that mindfulness training can provide teachers with coping mechanisms and influence their perceptions of self and others. However, how does mindfulness help teachers cope in a stressful security situation both as Israeli citizens who live in a war zone and as teachers who are responsible for their students’ lives? Fifteen female teachers, who lived and worked in the western Negev and who had completed two-years of mindfulness training, were interviewed. Interviewees reported that their coping skills had been heightened as result of being able to put aside intrusive thoughts and feelings that used to paralyze them and to focus on active coping, centered on what they needed to do promptly. Most also noted a more accepting attitude of themselves, without self-criticism or blame for what they should have or should not have done when facing the stressful situation. In relation to their students, they were more accepting of the behaviors and emotions expressed by their students and reported being more compassionate. The results will be discussed through the prism proposed by Lazarus and Folkman (1991). Educational implications of the outcomes of mindfulness training for those living in areas under the shadow of war will be suggested. MDPI 2020-06-08 2020-06 /pmc/articles/PMC7312907/ /pubmed/32521779 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114096 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Litvak-Hirsch, Tal
Lazar, Alon
The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective
title The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective
title_full The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective
title_fullStr The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective
title_full_unstemmed The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective
title_short The Contribution of Long-Term Mindfulness Training on Personal and Professional Coping for Teachers Living in a Conflict Zone: A Qualitative Perspective
title_sort contribution of long-term mindfulness training on personal and professional coping for teachers living in a conflict zone: a qualitative perspective
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7312907/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32521779
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17114096
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