2024 Update: Dr. Baelen has taken on the role of Executive Director at the Center for Reaching & Teaching the Whole Child (CRTWC). She is also an adjunct faculty member at Teachers College, Columbia University.
After graduating from Teacher Prep, Dr. Baelen earned her Master’s in the Science of Education from the University of Pennsylvania while serving as a teaching fellow for two years at the Lawrenceville School—a fellowship offered through the Independent School Teaching Residency program in the Graduate School of Education. As a fellow, she taught 10th Grade World History and World Religions, as well as a 12th Grade elective on Women and Islam and an Environmental Film-making elective. In addition to teaching, she served as the Assistant Coach of the Girls' Varsity Water Polo team and the Head Coach of the Girls' Varsity Swim Team. Throughout the two years, she worked as a Duty Master in a 12th Grade Girls' dormitory and an Adviser to 12th Graders. In the summer between her first and second year at Lawrenceville, she taught at the Island School in the Bahamas. An experience that sparked her interest in historical perspective-taking and cultivating empathy in students, the subsequent topic for her Master's Thesis.
Following her time as a teaching fellow, Dr. Baelen worked as a Research Coordinator for Angela Duckworth at the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. At the center, she oversaw several research studies: 1) a longitudinal study examining the impact of grit, self-control, curiosity, pro-social purpose, and gratitude on student achievement and well-being, 2) a field study of a brief mindfulness-based intervention for Baltimore middle school students; 3) a field study of a character development curriculum and initiative in a Philadelphia middle school, 4) a randomized controlled field experiment of a brief action-planning intervention to boost out-of-class meditation practice for students enrolled in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course, and 5) a randomized controlled trial experiment of a mindfulness-based intervention for college students designed to reduce desire and addiction for social media.
After working as a Research Coordinator for two years, Dr. Baelen went on to earn her Ph.D. in Education Policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Education. Her dissertation study involved a longitudinal field experiment of a brief self-compassion intervention designed to bolster adaptive beliefs and mindsets in beginning teachers. Additionally, she ran several randomized controlled trial and mixed-methods studies of the Year Up program—a program designed to provide educational and work experience to opportunity youth.
Currently, Dr. Baelen is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois Chicago, studying the effects and implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) and mindfulness-based programs for teachers and students. Her research interests focus on the development, implementation, and testing of approaches designed to instill in teachers and students the social and emotional competencies and mindsets necessary for thriving in the profession, in school, and in life. She recently conducted a review of school-based mindfulness programs (SBMPs) and, based on findings from that work, has published a set of implementation reporting recommendations for SBMPs. She is also gearing up to lead a study at the University of Virginia to examine the experience of early career teachers in their transition to the profession and to design light-touch approaches to foster adaptive mindsets, social-emotional learning, and well-being early on in teaching.
Dr. Baelen has taught yoga and led mindfulness-based practices with youth and teachers in several educational settings, namely with youth in the Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP), students at Princeton University (an offering through Teacher Prep), women on Princeton University’s Varsity Swimming and Volleyball Teams, high school students at the Lawrenceville School, and middle school students in Philadelphia. She has also led workshops on mindfulness and well-being for local area teachers through Teacher Prep’s Teachers as Scholars program. Additionally, during her two years at Lawrenceville, Dr. Baelen promoted Teacher Prep and spoke with prospective students at several Princeton Career Fair and Open-House events. She also served as a mentor to many Teacher Prep students and alumni, providing advice and support, especially throughout the job search. She has offered a series of lectures to students in the TPP 401 course focused on supporting well-being, social-emotional learning, and mindfulness in the transition to teaching. Finally, she recently served as a mentor to a student-teacher teaching high school social-studies during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020.