Patricia Jennings

Patricia A. Jennings received a BA from Antioch College in 1977, an M.Ed. from Saint Mary's College in 1980, and a Ph.D. from the University of California Davis in 2004.{{cite web|url=https://curry.virginia.edu/patricia-jennings|title=Patricia A. Jennings|date=10 August 2017|website=Curry School of Education and Human Development - University of Virginia}} Before her degrees in education and human development, Jennings also studied Buddhism at the Buddhist Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and later founded a Montessori school that taught meditation during the late 1980s.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/08/19/488866975/when-teachers-take-a-breath-students-can-bloom|title=When Teachers Take A Breath, Students Can Bloom|website=NPR.org}}

She was an associate professor at the School of Education and Human Development (formerly the Curry School of Education), University of Virginia until 2019, when she was promoted to Full Professor. She has also served as a Research Assistant Professor at Pennsylvania State University.{{cite web|url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2017/01/24/Awaken-Pittsburgh-develops-mindfulness-programs-for-youth-teachers/stories/201701170003|title=Awaken Pittsburgh develops mindfulness programs for youth, teachers|website=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}} Jennings is to co-creator of the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) program,{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4504021/the-mindful-classroom/|title=The Mindful Classroom|first=Mandy|last=Oaklander|magazine=Time}} a thirty-hour mindfulness-based professional development program. The goal of the program is to help Pre-K-12 teachers deal with in-class stress.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/can-mindfulness-help-stressed-teachers-stay-in-the-classroom|title=Can mindfulness help stressed teachers stay in the classroom?|date=28 March 2019|website=PBS NewsHour}} It was tested in a clinical trial in 2017, which involved 224 elementary school teachers, evaluating the program through teacher questionnaires and classroom observations.{{cite web|url=https://hechingerreport.org/fighting-teacher-stress/|title=Fighting Teacher Stress|date=28 March 2019|publisher=}} The results of the research showed that CARE can “increase teacher social and emotional competence and the quality of classroom interactions,” according to the New York Times.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/learning/lesson-plans/cultivating-mindfulness-for-educators-using-resources-from-the-new-york-times.html|work=New York Times |title=Cultivating Mindfulness for Educators Using Resources From The New York Times|date=7 September 2017 |last1=Cohen |first1=Alison |last2=Gonchar |first2=Michael }} It was the largest study of its kind to date at the time.{{cite web|url=https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/when_teachers_get_mindfulness_training_students_win|title=When Teachers Get Mindfulness Training, Students Win|website=Greater Good}} Following this, she worked on the Compassionate Schools Project research project, intended to teach and provide mindfulness skills to elementary students.{{cite news|url=https://www.mindful.org/10-mindfulness-researchers-know/|title=10 Mindfulness Researchers You Should Know|newspaper=Mindful |date=6 December 2017|publisher=}}

In 2018, she received the Catherine Kerr Award for Courageous and Compassionate Science.{{Cite web |title=Catherine Kerr Award for Courageous and Compassionate Scholarship |url=https://www.mindandlife.org/awards/catherine-kerr-award/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=Mind & Life Institute |language=en-US}} Jennings is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development among Children and Youth.{{cite web|url=https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/profile/patricia_jennings|title=Patricia Jennings - Profile|website=Greater Good}} In 2024 she was awarded the Joseph E. Zins Award For Outstanding Contributions to Action Research in Social and Emotional Learning by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.https://casel.org/casel-announces-2024-social-and-emotional-learning-leaders-of-the-year-selly-awards-2/

Her 2009 article “The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes” published by the Review of Educational Research has been cited 1937 according to Scopus.https://www.scopus.com/results/citedbyresults.uri?sort=plf-f&cite=2-s2.0-67849104122&src=s&imp=t&sid=d89078fa3867d24359bb1f37d6b09bb7&sot=cite&sdt=a&sl=0&origin=inward&editSaveSearch=&txGid=f999ea8da4129770d3de3758c4b7d3c8 Jennings's book Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills For Peace And Productivity In The Classroom, was published in 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/12/30/505432203/teachers-are-stressed-and-that-should-stress-us-all|title=Teachers Are Stressed, And That Should Stress Us All|website=NPR.org}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/24/nyregion/under-stress-students-in-new-york-schools-find-calm-in-meditation.html|title=Under Stress, Students in New York Schools Find Calm in Meditation|first=Elizabeth A.|last=Harris|work=The New York Times |date=23 October 2015|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}} Her book The Trauma-Sensitive Classroom was then published in 2019,{{cite web|url=https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52566/how-to-build-a-trauma-sensitive-classroom-where-all-learners-feel-safe|title=How to Build a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom Where All Learners Feel Safe|date=3 December 2018|website=KQED}} which was named one of Greater Good magazine’s top books of the year for educators that wrote that her book “urges a cognitive shift in our awareness that is refreshing, inspiring, and even collectively empowering.”https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/our_favorite_books_for_educators_in_2018

In 2020 she published her book Teacher Burnout Turnaround: Strategies for Empowered Educators with WW Norton, which was also named one of Greater Good magazine’s top books of the year for educators that wrote that her book “reminds us that the practical strategies she highlights really must be coupled with teachers’ ongoing care for their own well-being.”https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/our_favorite_books_for_educators_in_2020 That year she also published Mindfulness in the PreK-5 Classroom: Helping Students Stress Less and Learn More through the same publisher.https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393713978 In total, as of 2025, Scopus put the number of papers that cite her work at 5106, with an h-index of 25.https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=35067977100

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Category:Living people

Category:Antioch College alumni

Category:Saint Mary's College of California alumni

Category:University of California, Davis alumni

Category:Naropa University alumni

Category:University of Virginia faculty

Category:American education writers

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)