RESEARCH PROJECT

This research project, which evaluates the effects on Head Start teachers who undergo Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) training, adds to current Fetzer research studies on transformative professional development programs in education and continues Fetzer’s support of research assessing CEB. Fetzer supported development of the first CEB training program, a pilot study, and a clinical trial.

The CEB training involves integration of secularized meditation practices with various techniques drawn from Western psychological science designed for understanding and regulation of one’s emotional life. CEB was developed by world-renowned meditation teacher Alan Wallace and psychologist Paul Ekman. This study with Patricia Jennings, Ph.D., as Principal Investigator examines effects of the program, especially its effect on

• Teachers’ self-reported depression, anxiety, and rumination, and teachers’ mindfulness, reflection, empathy, and sympathy
• Teachers’ responsiveness to individual pupils’ needs and feelings, their level of supportiveness versus criticism, and their ability to manage pupil behavior and conflict
• Teachers’ negative emotional responses to pupils, including disgust, contempt, and hostility, and teachers’ positive emotional responses, including compassion and empathy
• Classroom behaviors, including reduced disruptive behavior and increased cooperation, problem solving, and caring

The research is in its final data analysis and write-up stage.

Latest News

Based in part on this research, the Department of Education Institute of Educational Sciences recently awarded a grant to Pennsylvania State University and the Garrison Institute to complete development and preliminary testing of the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education program, an adaptation of CEB that is specifically geared toward improving teachers’ social and emotional competence in the context of classroom behavior.

Publications

Patricia Jennings and Mark Greenberg recently published a theoretical paper based on their work. The article proposes a model of the pro-social classroom that highlights the importance of teachers’ social and emotional competence and well-being in the development and maintenance of supportive teacher-student relationships, effective classroom management, and implementation of successful social and emotional learning programs.

Jennings PA, Greenberg MT. The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research 2009 79: 491-525.