| The purpose of this inquiry was threefold: first, to conceptualize the construct of mindfulness in public schools; second, to operationalize school mindfulness; and third, to develop and test a path model relating mindfulness to faculty trust, enabling school structure, principal disposition toward mindfulness, and collective efficacy.;After successfully accomplishing the first two objectives, a path model was advanced to explain the relationships among variables under study. The model proposed direct relations between school mindfulness and collective efficacy, enabling school structure, and principal's disposition towards mindfulness. Furthermore, it anticipated three positive indirect relations: school mindfulness and faculty trust in the principal, through enabling structure; faculty trust in clients, through collective efficacy; and faculty trust in colleagues, through enabling structure with school mindfulness.;The path model was tested with a diverse sample of 75 middle schools in Ohio. The results provided partial support for the model. Significant relationships were found between school mindfulness and both faculty trust in clients and collective efficacy. Further, as anticipated, faculty trust in the principal, enabling school structure and school mindfulness also yielded significant results; however, the paths between the principal's disposition toward mindfulness and school mindfulness and faculty trust in colleagues and enabling structure were not significant.;Finally, the practical, research, and theoretical implications of the findings were discussed. The results of the study were encouraging and are seen as a beginning not an end. A more refined and elaborated model of mindfulness that includes student achievement is the next step in the research agenda. Ultimately, the challenge of designing schools to improve student learning is a paramount objective and school mindfulness seems an important piece of that puzzle. |
