Date of Award
2025
Degree Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Education
Committee Chair
Dr. Ashley Carey
2nd Reader
Dr. Sally V. Drew
3rd Reader
Dr. Maureen F. Ruby
Abstract
This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) explored the barriers and supports for teacher emotion regulation at a small, suburban K-8 school district in the Northeast United States. The author utilized a mixed-methods convergent research design to evaluate the impact of an 8-week mindful awareness and educational neuroscience-based PD intervention on teachers’ emotion regulation abilities (ERAs). Teacher participants from grades K-5 attended five PD sessions utilizing curricular content from the MindUP “The Science and Practice of Well-being and Mindful Teaching” online program (The Hawn Foundation, 2025). The researcher merged qualitative data from participant interviews and narrative writing samples with quantitative data from survey items measuring teachers’ ERAs and records of emotional experiences to evaluate the intervention's impact and examine persisting barriers and supports to ER in the research setting. Quantitative results did not show an increase in teacher-reported ERAs, but survey item responses indicated greater awareness of negative emotional experiences and attempts to suppress or hide them.
In contrast to the quantitative findings, participants reported that using mindful awareness strategies aided their ER during teaching, and they shared positive effects on their classroom environment. Barriers to ER included job demands, academic acceleration, time pressure, and teacher work intensification. Findings suggest that protective factors for teacher ERAs include supports for teachers’ social-emotional health (SEH), strengthened collegial relationships, and scheduling considerations that reduce time pressure within the teacher workday. The study's findings are summarized in a framework that conceptualizes the stressors and protective factors for teacher ERAs, and future recommendations to support the emotional work of teaching are included in the discussion.
Recommended Citation
Atwood Heyboer, K. (2025). Teaching on the edge of the snap: Exploring the constraints and capacities of emotion regulation [Doctoral dissertation, Sacred Heart University]. https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/edd/72/
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Comments
Presented to the Faculty of Sacred Heart University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education