Investigating school mindfulness at teacher and school levels: A mixed-methods study

This study, inspired by the conceptual framework adapted into school settings by Hoy, investigated teacher and school level factors predicting school mindfulness, and employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. Quantitative data came from 1354 teachers nested in 69 middle schools in Ankara. The role of teacher (gender, age, level of education, length of time with principal, years of experience in school, total years of experience in teaching, number of days attended professional development activities) and school level factors (school size, mode of schooling, class size, organizational trust, collective teacher efficacy, academic press) on the school mindfulness variation within and between schools was explored by HLM. Results revealed that 12,7% of the total variance in school mindfulness originates from between school variations, length of time with principal is a significant yet negative predictor at teacher level, and teacher trust in principal, teacher trust in colleagues and collective efficacy in student discipline are significant predictors at school level. All significant teacher and school level predictors explain 96.9% of the between school variation in school mindfulness. In the second phase, an embedded single case design was adopted, and 12 semi-structured interviews were made with school principals, who scored the highest and the lowest in principal mindfulness subscale of the M-Scale, based on teachers' responses within the former phase. Qualitative data was analyzed by theoretical thematic analysis method. For triangulation, unstructured observations and school websites were also analyzed. This study concludes that trust, dynamic collaboration and mutual communication in schools enhance mindfulness by increasing the capacity for problem-solving, sharing decision-making and learning together.