Education Revolution: Dr Ilana Nankin of Breathe For Change On Innovative Approaches That Are Transforming Education

An interview with Eden Gold

Believe that it’s possible. Never give up. Creating positive change in the world is not easy, but it’s totally worth it.

The landscape of education is undergoing a profound transformation, propelled by technological advancements, pedagogical innovations, and a deepened understanding of learning diversities. Traditional classrooms are evolving, and new modes of teaching and learning are emerging to better prepare students for the complexities of the modern world. This series will take a look at the groundbreaking work being done across the globe to redefine education. As a part of this interview series, we had the pleasure to interview Dr. Ilana Nankin, CEO and co-founder of Breathe For Change.

Dr. Ilana Nankin is the CEO and co-founder of Breathe For Change. She is an award-winning entrepreneur, teacher educator, and former public school teacher committed to using wellness as a vehicle for healing and social change. Ilana earned degrees in both psychology and education at UC Berkeley and received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin.

Additionally, her dissertation research revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student learning. Her research demonstrated the negative impact of educator stress on teaching and learning — as well as the positive impact that enhancing educator well-being can have on student social-emotional and academic outcomes.

In 2015, inspired by both her research and her teaching experiences, Ilana and her co-founder Michael Fenchel created Breathe For Change to empower educators as champions of well-being in their lives, classrooms, and school communities.

Since then, the Breathe for Change team has inspired over 10’s of thousands of educators to graduate from our programs and are now collectively enhancing the health and well-being of more than 5 million students throughout the United States.

The Breathe For Change team is now taking its movement to the next level by offering an accredited Masters of Education as well as a Post-Graduate Certificate that will help educators advance their careers and weave well-being into the fabric of the education system.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share the “backstory” behind what brought you to this particular career path?

As a Pre-K teacher, I loved my students beyond words, but remember constantly feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and overworked, with little to no tools to take care of myself… That is, until my roommate came home looking absolutely blissed out. “Why do you look so calm?” I asked, defeated. “Come try yoga with me,” she insisted. I resisted for weeks: I don’t do yoga! When I couldn’t take the stress anymore, I begrudgingly went along… and I haven’t looked back since.

Practicing yoga and meditation completely transformed my life, which inspired me to integrate some of the wellness practices into my classroom. As a result, I saw remarkable transformations in my students, both social-emotionally and academically. The powerful connection between teacher well-being and student learning that I was experiencing first-hand was too important to stay within the walls of my own classroom. So I made the leap of faith to become a teacher educator and pursue my Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin to explore the critical connection between teacher well-being and effective teaching.

My dissertation research further demonstrated the critical connection between educator well-being and student learning. My research revealed the negative impact of educator stress on teaching and learning — as well as the positive impact that enhancing educator well-being can have on student social-emotional and academic outcomes.

In 2015, inspired by both my teaching and research, I created Breathe For Change to empower educators as champions of well-being in their lives, classrooms, and school communities. Since then, my co-founder, Michael Fenchel, and I have been unstoppable in our pursuit to bring wellness, inspiration, and community to every educator and student.

More than 15,000 educators have completed Breathe For Change’s Mindfulness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training, and they are now collectively enhancing the health and well-being of millions of students throughout the United States.

Breathe For Change is now taking our movement to the next level by offering accredited degree programs, including a Master’s of Education, that will help educators advance their careers and weave well-being into the fabric of the education system.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started Breathe For Change, I was teaching preservice teachers who wanted to become educators. I introduced them to the practices of mindfulness, social-emotional learning (SEL), and yoga as they began teaching in schools. During our last class, they told me, “Ilana, let’s take this international. You have to train us. This is working. The students are thriving because of what we are doing.” At that moment, I knew I had to start a movement. This was so much bigger than me.

After my last class in University of Wisconsin-Madison’s teacher education program, my students wanted to continue the conversation. I opened my home every Sunday to all educators who wanted to discuss building a movement. The first week, five educators showed up; the next, 10; then 20. Eventually, my home could no longer accommodate the growing number of educators eager to participate in this work. They were crying out for support, happy to be together, and recognizing the critical importance of caring for educators’ and students’ well-being. For our students to be successful, this had to come first.

The movement kept growing. Thirty-four educators attended our first Mindfulness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training in Madison, Wis. The next year, we had 185 participants across three cities, then 600 across six cities, and 1,100 across 11 cities. Our 15,000 educators who’ve graduated are making incredible impacts in their schools and communities.

This process only reinforced how important educators are to the health and success of our future generations. They deserve to be seen, heard, appreciated, and valued. They need a space where they feel connected, cared for, and honored for the amazing work they’re doing to transform our children’s lives.

Can you briefly share with our readers why you are an authority in the education field?

Breathe For Change is a reflection of my deepest passion and purpose in life. As a teacher, I was stressed and overwhelmed until I discovered mindful practices, which completely transformed my life and well-being. I started using these practices in my classrooms and witnessed incredible transformations in my students, socially, emotionally, and academically. This inspired me to pursue a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, focusing on teacher education. This passion and fire have always been my driving force and remain so even after 10 years.

I teach from my heart and experience, striving to be authentic. I don’t see myself as an authority but as someone sharing a gift. My work is a space for me to share what has changed my life and to give others the tools to do the same for themselves and their communities.

Can you identify some areas of the US education system that are going really great?

I feel privileged to be deeply connected to the educators who have graduated from Breathe For Change’s Mindfulness, SEL, and Yoga Teacher Training program over the past decade. The work they are doing in their classrooms, schools, districts, and organizations is remarkable and game-changing in education.

Some of our graduates are leading professional development for their staff, creating mindfulness programs in their districts, and integrating SEL strategies into all aspects of their instruction. Many have been promoted to leadership roles in education, creating significant ripple effects and impacting millions of students’ lives. They are starting yoga clubs in schools to help with students’ self-regulation and teaching in a trauma-informed way, which is leading to positive educational outcomes. They are becoming wellness champions in their communities, positively affecting students, educators, and families everywhere.

I feel fortunate to have a window into what is possible in education. My dream is for every human being to witness and be a part of the type of education that our graduates are providing their students.

Can you identify the key areas of the US education system that should be prioritized for improvement? Can you explain why those are so critical?

Stress, burnout, and trauma are significant challenges impacting both educators and students across the U.S. The statistics highlight the severity of the issue:

• 55% of teachers plan to leave the profession sooner than expected due to stress and burnout.
• Up to 87% of teachers describe their stress levels as moderate or significant.
• More than two-thirds of youth have experienced a traumatic event by the age of 16.
• 44% of teens report experiencing persistent sadness or hopelessness (CDC, 2022).
• 21% of children have exhibited increased behavioral problems in school since 2019.

These statistics speak for themselves. The demands educators face daily are overwhelming without proper support and tools. We must care for our educators the same way we care for our students. If educators are not cared for, we will continue to see them chronically stressed and leaving the profession in large numbers. This is why at Breathe For Change, we tag on the “F” to SEL: SELF. We believe it’s critically important to prioritize educators’ mental, physical, and social-emotional well-being. Our students’ ability to thrive starts with our educators’ ability to thrive. As one educator in my dissertation stated, “If I am stressed, my students are stressed.” And as another educator said, “When I am calm and collected, my students are calm and collected.”

Please tell us all about the innovative educational approaches that you are using. What is the specific problem that you aim to solve, and how have you addressed it?

Breathe For Change’s research-based wellness curriculum follows a transformational progression that aims to empower educators as champions of well-being in their lives, relationships, and communities. The progression includes:

• Transformation of Self: We begin our training with a focus on Transformation of Self, where educators gain the tools to prioritize and enhance their physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being.
• Transformation of Relationships: From that foundation of their personal well-being, we move into Transformation of Relationships, where educators explore how to enhance well-being and show up fully in all of their relationships.
• Transformation of Community: From there, we move into Transformation of Community, where educators discover how to use mindfulness, SEL, and yoga as vehicles for healing and social change across all of our communities.
• Integration and Renewal: We complete our training with Integration and Renewal, where educators integrate the transformative experience they’ve shared and prepare themselves for the next chapter of their journey as teachers and leaders.

SEL*F: Social-Emotional Learning & Facilitation

At Breathe For Change, we tag on the “F” to SEL because we believe it’s critically important for us as educators and leaders to live, breathe, and embody the social-emotional learning competencies and practices we teach.

The Breathe For Change SEL*F curriculum is categorized into eight components, each of which includes a wide range of inclusive and trauma-informed social-emotional learning and mind-body wellness practices that educators can integrate into their instruction. The eight components are:

1. Settle In
2. Breath Awareness
3. Mindful Movement
4. Community Connection
5. Focus
6. Creative Expression
7. Relaxation
8. Closing

These eight components weave together to form a SEL*F Wellness Workshop Arc, which educators learn to draw on as a framework to design and teach wellness workshops for our students and communities.

TEACH Method

We created the Breathe For Change TEACH Method to equip educators with specific tools, strategies, and supports to enhance their pedagogy. This framework is based on everything I have learned about enacting high-quality instruction over 15 years as a teacher, teacher educator, and Ph.D., and was co-created in collaboration with experts in the fields of education and wellness. Each letter of TEACH represents one aspect of what we believe is critical for high-quality teaching. These components of teaching are integrated into all aspects of our curriculum.

• Trauma-Informed TEACHing: Educators learn to teach using a trauma-informed lens, and integrate trauma-sensitive mind-body wellness practices into their instruction.
• Equitable TEACHing: Educators embody equity-centered social-emotional learning competencies in their teaching, and equip their students to strengthen these skills.
• Accessible TEACHing: Educators gain skills to support and teach students of diverse identities, backgrounds, and abilities, and ensure all members of their community thrive.
• Community-Based TEACHing: Educators learn to build a deep sense of community through fostering vulnerability, co-creating learning, and catalyzing human connection.
• Healing-Centered TEACHing: Educators can facilitate experiences that rejuvenate, heal, and restore themselves and their communities, and foster collective well-being.

These components underpin all aspects of instruction and facilitation at Breathe For Change, and are central to creating a learning environment where all community members feel a sense of inclusion, belonging, and connection. This framework serves as a foundation upon which educators can all individually and collectively work together to enhance our teaching.

In what ways do you think your approach might shape the future of education? What evidence supports this?

I believe that if the education system integrates our approach, we will see radical shifts in teacher retention. More teachers will remain in the classroom, satisfied with their work and healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally. They will have the resources and support they need to do the critically important work of educating our children.

My dissertation revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student learning. When educators receive the tools they need to care for themselves and address the social-emotional needs of their students, we see significant increases in academic performance.

How do you measure the impact of your innovative educational practices on students’ learning and well-being?

We care deeply about research. We partner with third-party researchers and districts to collect comparative data on educator and student outcomes between graduates of our training programs and those without training. We’ve seen that graduates show improvements both socially-emotionally and academically across various measures. Several studies demonstrate the effectiveness of our programs to:

• Protect mental health: A study conducted by Harvard found our programs can play a protective role in maintaining mental health.
• Improve educator well-being and student behaviors: A study conducted by Learn Platform found that our programs reduced educator-reported stress and burnout while improving global health, SEL, self-efficacy, and challenging student behaviors.
• Support student SEL and academic outcomes: My dissertation revealed the critical connection between educator well-being and student social-emotional and academic outcomes.
• Improve focus and attention: A study conducted by California State University, Fullerton, found our programs can improve focus and attention.
• Reduce stress and burnout: A study conducted by a Ph.D. candidate at the Stanford Mind-Body Lab found that our programs reduced teacher stress and burnout, enhancing efficacy.
• Improve symptoms of anxiety: A randomized controlled study conducted by Tulane University found that our programs may improve symptoms of anxiety among students.

Additionally, we have collected thousands of pre- and post-training surveys, including a wide range of qualitative and quantitative self-reported educator data. The results of our own research surveys only further reveal the significant positive effects of our programs on educator and student well-being and educational outcomes.

What challenges have you faced in implementing your educational innovations, and how have you overcome them?

Implementing the educational practices we teach is not the problem. Educators graduate equipped and ready to integrate a wide range of mind-body wellness and social-emotional learning practices into their classrooms and school communities.

Our greatest challenge is funding. Educators are drastically underpaid and undervalued for the incredible work they do, and they often lack the resources to pay for professional development out of their own pockets. Many passionate educators and graduates want to do this work but don’t have the financial support from educational systems.

Thousands of educators want to take our training but lack the financial resources. The Teacher Education Fund has contributed over $15 million in tuition assistance to thousands of educators. We also partner with schools, districts, and organizations to secure additional funding so that our transformative trainings and degree programs can be accessible to anyone who is interested in the tools, support, and community we have to offer.

Keeping in mind the “Law of Unintended Consequences,” can you see any potential drawbacks of this innovation that people should think more deeply about?

If we don’t acknowledge the systemic injustices that deeply impact our educators and students, and instead view mind-body wellness and social-emotional learning practices as the sole solution to address our students’ mental health and learning loss, we won’t be addressing the underlying inequities.

Research shows that the work Breathe For Change does has transformative effects on student and educator well-being and performance. However, our efforts are just one critical piece of the larger puzzle needed to transform education for the better.

What are your “5 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started”?

1. Trust yourself. I used to always doubt myself, and it only held me back.

2. Do what you love, and find other people to do the things you don’t love. I learned that there is someone out there that loves to do the things I don’t.

3. Lean on your connections. People who love you want to help, so ask for it.

4. Get advisors you trust. You cannot manifest your vision into reality alone. Ask people who have built something you believe in to offer guidance.

5. Believe that it’s possible. Never give up. Creating positive change in the world is not easy, but it’s totally worth it.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi

This quote is a great reminder to take actions in alignment with my vision each and every day.

We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

Taylor Swift (@TaylorSwift13). I deeply admire the relationship Taylor Swift has cultivated with her Swifties and her ability to connect with her fans on such a personal level is inspiring. I’d love to understand how she has overcome numerous obstacles as a female entrepreneur in a challenging industry and how she has harnessed her talents and gifts to create a global platform that transforms lives through music and art.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

breatheforchange.com

X (formerly known as Twitter): Breathe4Change_
Facebook: http://facebook.com/Breathe4Change/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breathe4change/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDPs7I28QOD5rzmFIQzmtQg/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@breatheforchange
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/breathe-for-change

Thank you so much for these insights! This was so inspiring!

About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.

Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold