What we do?
The CARE program includes three primary content areas that are presented in a series of 3 or 4 day-long sessions presented over several months. The content areas are emotion skills awareness, mindfulness and stress reduction practices, and listening and compassion practices. These integrated program components are developed across sessions augmented by individual reflection through writing and other forms of expression and group discussion.
Why we do it?
CARE was developed to help teachers cultivate the skills they need to promote a calm, relaxed, but enlivened learning environment that can prepare children for the future by fostering creativity, innovation, collaboration, and cooperation. This sort of classroom requires a teacher who is fully aware and present as she or he teaches and interacts with students, parents, and colleagues, and CARE provides teachers with the tools to achieve this. CARE has been extensively researched and you can review findings at: https://createforeducation.org/care/care-research/
What we have learned?
With today’s high levels of stress and burnout among teachers, schools are looking for science- tested means to support their teaching staff. The results of the CARE data are significant for several reasons. First, the series of CARE studies consistently show improvements for teachers in reducing teachers’ occupational stress and promoting their well-being. Second, the NYC study is the largest and most rigorous study of a mindfulness-based professional development for teachers and the first to examine intervention effects on the classroom. Third, the results of the NYC study showing impacts on the classroom are important because they demonstrate an important relationship between teachers’ well-being and classroom quality. Finally, this study is a “proof of concept” that a mindfulness-based intervention can have impacts on both individuals and their work environment.
