Weaving Together Mindfulness and 21st Century Professional Learning: Preparing Teachers to Meet Diverse Student Needs
Abstract: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2014) stated that nearly one third of all teachers leave the profession within their first three years; many cited a lack of support as their reason for quitting. It has become clear that teacher educators need to find alternative ways to provide intellectual and emotional support to new teachers; one alternative is to turn to online teacher communities. This presentation will demonstrate results and insights from an on-going study aimed at helping beginning teachers as they seek support and develop their understandings of teaching students with diverse needs, through face to face professional learning sessions supplemented by an online professional learning community. Additionally, the presentation will provide practical examples of current 21st century literacy practices merged with counseling-based mindfulness for stress reduction for teachers and how teacher educators might employ them for their own contexts.