| This dissertation explores the role that teacher education can play in preparing new teachers to meet the challenges of the profession by offering a more holistic approach to preservice education. Upon entering the classroom, new teachers are oftentimes overwhelmed with the realities of teaching and feel unprepared to handle the challenges they face. A lack of preparation, insufficient support, poor working conditions along with rising levels of stress and burnout under high-stakes reforms contribute to the `revolving door' problem in education with more than 50% of teachers leaving the profession in the first five years of service. The causes and effects of teacher stress and burnout are well documented, yet interventions that address the problem remain elusive. This dissertation contributes an intervention that addresses teacher stress and burnout by proposing a holistic model of integrative education and a pilot program for preservice teachers based on mindfulness and social emotional learning.;While there is extensive empirical evidence documenting the benefits of mindfulness among various populations, as it relates to preservice teachers, research in this area is in its infancy. The same is true for the inclusion of social emotional learning into teacher education programs. While the integration of mindfulness and social emotional learning is gaining strength at the K-12 level, these evidence-based skills and practices remain largely absent in preservice education, even though interest in these areas is growing.;As a conceptual dissertation, this project hypothesizes that social emotional learning and contemplative practices within a holistic educational framework can equip new teachers with research, practices and evidence-based tools that can reduce stress, enhance well-being and strengthen resiliency prior to entering the classroom in order to support them in responding effectively to the challenges of the profession once they get there. Based on this premise, I have developed a model for holistic education and designed a pilot program for preservice teachers called SELF in Teaching, which stands for "Social Emotional Learning Foundations in Teaching". Both the model and program emerged from a combination of teaching experience at the K-16 level and research in various fields including: holistic education, affective neuroscience, contemplative education, mindfulness and social emotional learning. |
