CULTIVATING MINDFULNESS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING: INSIGHTS AND STRATEGIES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION
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Abstract
Mindfulness, as a way to enhance well-being, has been practiced in different fields and now in education. However, empirical studies in educational contexts are rather few. Thus, the present study aims to determine the impact of mindfulness practices embedded in course design on prospective English Language Teaching (ELT) teachers’ mindfulness levels and their reasons and willingness to use them in young learner classrooms. The research uses a convergent parallel mixed-methods approach with a pre-experimental design. The data were collected from 90 prospective teachers over 18 months. The results showed that the participants’ mindfulness levels increased after the intervention, and they displayed positive tendencies to integrate these techniques in their future classes for different reasons and in different ways. The participants reported that the mindfulness practices cultivated their personal and academic lives. This study contributes to teacher education research by demonstrating how mindfulness-integrated course design can systematically cultivate prospective teachers’ well-being and pedagogical intentions. Positioned within positive psychology and language teacher cognition research, this study offers empirical evidence on how mindfulness practices shape prospective teachers’ awareness, professional decision-making, and perceptions of TEYL pedagogy.
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