Effect of Mindfulness Activities on the occupational stress and psychological wellbeing of Private and Government Teachers of Namsai district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Abstract

Under the increasingly changing education system in the present era, teachers undergo a variety of pressures in terms of enhanced workload, administrative tasks, pressures of standardized testing, limited material resources, and the demands of diverse student populations. These sources of stress can detrimentally affect the psychological state of teachers, resulting in burnout, emotional exhaustion, job dissatisfaction, and even mental illness. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of mindfulness exercises on occupational stress and psychological well-being of government and private school teachers in Arunachal Pradesh, Namsai district, India. It utilized a quasi-experimental approach with non equivalent control pretest-post-test design. A total of 200 teachers (100 government school teachers and 100 private school teachers) were included in the study. Half of both groups (50 private and 50 government teachers) received a 6-week mindfulness intervention program consisting of breathing exercises, pranayama, meditation, and yoga asanas. The findings indicated a statistically significant reduction in occupational stress and enhancement of psychological well-being among private and government teachers who received the mindfulness intervention. The research also discovered a huge difference in government and private teachers on both occupational stress and psychological well-being, where the private teachers exhibited marginally more improvement on both the variables. The key insight in this research is that even though government teachers have greater job security, they too suffer from occupational stress due to bureaucratic work load and implementation problems of policies. Conversely, private tutors experience job insecurity and financial-related stress. Nonetheless, the study illustrates that mindfulness interventions, if practiced regularly, can effectively enable both groups to cope with stress and improve their mental health. The study further highlights the need for institutional support in ensuring a healthy work environment and individual commitment to mindfulness practice for sustainable outcomes.