Building Compassionate Schools: Pilot Study of a Compassionate Mind Training Intervention to Promote Teachers Wellbeing

The CMT-T was feasible in all six domains (acceptability, implementation, practicality, adaptation, integration, and preliminary effectiveness). Participants revealed significant decreases in depression, stress, and fears of compassion to others, as well as significant increases in compassion to others, self-compassion, and compassion to others’ motivations and actions after the CMT-T intervention. When self-criticism was controlled, decreases in burnout and increases in satisfaction with professional life, and self-compassion, were also found. Fears of compassion for others mediated the impact of CMT-T on teachers’ burnout, and self-compassion mediated the intervention effect on psychological well-being.

This pilot study provides evidence that CMT-T is feasible and may be effective in promoting teachers’ compassionate motivations, attributes, and actions towards others and themselves and improving their mental health and well-being. These promising findings warrant further investigation within a randomized controlled trial.