INVESTIGATING EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF MINDFULNESS IN TEACHING: A MIXED-METHODS STUDY

Abstract

This mixed study investigated EFL teachers’ mindfulness perceptions considering Intrapersonal and Interpersonal dimensions in teaching. In this direction, the study includes 150 EFL teachers with a distribution of % 60 females and %40 males. The Mindfulness in Teaching Scale (MTS) developed by Frank et al. (2015) was utilized to collect quantitative data from the participants. Additionally, qualitative data was obtained with the help of individual semi-structured interviews about the experiences of EFL teachers related to their mindfulness in teaching. Correlational design was used to determine the relationship between MTS and its dimensions. In this context, results indicated that EFL teachers have strong perceptions of mindfulness in teaching. In addition, it was determined that EFL teachers’ perceptions of mindfulness in teaching showed significant differences according to their ages and educational backgrounds. Correlational analysis findings revealed a significant, strong positive relationship between MTS and Intrapersonal mindfulness. On the other hand, a negative relationship between the Intrapersonal and Interpersonal dimensions was found. With the scope of qualitative results, it was concluded that EFL teachers’ improvement of perceptions of mindfulness is connected with self-monitoring and problem-solving skills based on the Intrapersonal mindfulness dimension, and it is associated with receiving feedback from students and creating a friendly and conversational environment based on the Interpersonal mindfulness dimension.