Mindful practices to support university faculty sense of wellbeing and enhance their teaching-learning scholarship: a mixed-method pilot study

Teaching-learning approaches of university faculty increasingly include supporting their own wellbeing, as well as that of their students. Engaging in mindful practices has the potential to increase faculty capacity for reflexivity and compassion, which they can incorporate into their teaching-learning. However, few faculty have knowledge and skill of such practices. The aim of this mixed-method study was to pilot-test a mindfulness intervention designed to build faculty capacity for mindful practices. Faculty from an urban university in Canada participated in a three-workshop series on mindful practices, which they were then encouraged to practice and bring into their classrooms. Data collection included pre and post-test measures of mindfulness, wellbeing and self-compassion. Qualitative focus-group interviews were conducted at the end of the study. Mindfulness scores significantly increased. While wellbeing and self-compassion scores also improved, the change was not statistically significant. Faculty described potential benefits and barriers to applying mindful approaches in the classroom. Mindful practices were well received by faculty and show promise in supporting their wellbeing and the quality of their teaching-learning. Further research is required to address how best to position faculty to engage in mindful practices in a sustainable way to also enhance the quality of students’ teaching-learning experience.