Relationship between pre-service teachers’ mindfulness and their democratic and autocratic attitudes towards students

Abstract

Mindfulness and democratic attitudes in teachers seem to overlap in promoting teacher-student relationships and student learning in classrooms. To examine if there are positive associations between teachers' mindfulness and democratic attitudes, the current study examined relationships between dispositional mindfulness and teacher attitudes (democratic and autocratic) among 50 pre-service teachers in Singapore. Correlation analyses revealed a positive relationship between teachers ' democratic attitudes and their dispositional mindfulness and significant associations between specific components of mindfulness (Observing, Describing and Non-reactivity) and teachers' democratic and autocratic attitudes. A marginally significant difference was shown in democratic attitudes according to the experience of International Practicum (IP), where teachers with IP experience have lower democratic attitudes. This is contrary to what existing literature predicts. Overall , this study's findings can potentially provide directions for future programmes in Singapore to promote mindfulness and democratic attitudes in prospective teachers .