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Impact of adding mindfulness practices to a bachelor of social work
direct practice course
Lea Tufford*, Associate Professor Department of Social Work, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road,
Sudbury, ON P3E 2C6, Canada
Suggested Citation:
Tufford, L. (2021). Impact of adding mindfulness practices to a bachelor of social work direct practice course.
Contemporary Educational Researches Journal. 11(2), 29–42. https://doi.org/10.18844/cerj.v11i2.5901
Received January 14, 2021, revised March 3, 2021, accepted May 13, 2021.
Selection and peer-review under the responsibility of Deniz Ozcan, Ondokuz Mayis University, Turkey.
©2021 Birlesik Dunya Yenilik Arastirma ve Yayincilik Merkezi. All rights reserved.
Abstract
This study sought to determine whether mindfulness increased or decreased for Year 4 Bachelor of Social Work (BSW)
students. Twenty-four participants received a brief mindfulness practice each week at the start of class and completed the
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in the first and last class. Results showed a decrease from pre-test to post-test on the
non-reactivity to inner experience facet of the scale. In addition, in a post-test, those participants who came to the BSW
programme from secondary school had an overall higher score than those participants who came to the programme from
community college. Moreover, participants who had no prior practice in mindfulness and those who did not practice
mindfulness during their practicum saw an increase in scores. These findings are discussed and recommendations for future
research are offered.
Keywords: Mindfulness, BSW students, practices, social work, course.
* ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Lea Tufford, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, ON P3E 2C6, Canada.
E-mail address: ltufford@laurentian.ca
Contemporary Educational
Researches Journal
Volume 11, Issue 2, (2021) 029-042