Teachers' perspectives and understanding of social emotional learning in an early elementary suburban public school

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the experiences of early elementary public-school teachers in regard to social emotional learning within their classrooms, which is important because teacher perspectives are rarely accounted for when districts discuss and use social and emotional learning practices. Research is largely focused on student outcomes, but literature shows that teacher outcomes impacts student outcomes and teacher perceptions of social emotional learning can impact their abilities to effectively implement such practices. Social Emotional Learning is used as a framework to guide this interpretative phenomenological analysis of teacher perceptions and understanding of social emotional learning. Two research questions guided the study: (1) What are teacher perceptions and understanding of social emotional learning? (2) Given their perceptions and understandings, how do teachers incorporate social emotional learning into their everyday teaching practices? Participants included early elementary classroom teachers that were interviewed. Research findings revealed individual participants' perceptions and understandings of social emotional learning within their teaching practices.

Turkish EFL Teachers’ Knowledge, Perceptions and Practices Regarding Social and Emotional Learning

“…First, almost half of our teachers (45.4%) stated that including SEL education in language classrooms helps students achieve their academic goals. Numerous previous studies can also be found in the literature, highlighting the tremendous significance of SEL implementation on academic outcomes (Youngblood, 2015;Calkins, 2019;Forrester, 2020).…”

“…The participants in prior studies, on the other hand, mentioned several significant obstacles that prevented the incorporation of SEL programs, including minimum length of time, large class size, intense curriculum, insufficient professional SEL training, a lack of self-efficacy, inadequate administrative support, lack of conducive school environment, unavailability of appropriate resources and instructional materials, extensive workload, lack of parental support and an intense focus on cognitive and academic outcomes, all of which served as significant barriers to their attempts to make adjustments in their current teaching methods to conform to the requirements of SEL standards and programs (Aygün & Taşkın, 2017;Rakap et al, 2018;Forrester, 2020).…”

“…When we aim to specialize on how much Turkish EFL teachers have acquired awareness of SEL in their own context, the literature does not provide enough research papers. (Buchanan et al, 2009;Madueke, 2014;Forrester, 2020;WenLing & Sidhu, 2020).…”

Why are there higher rates of children looked after in Wales?

“…more than 1 in 50) with looked-after status. Carmarthenshire, in contrast, has 40 and its rates are consistently low, despite a rising trend at a national level (Forrester et al , 2020). Whilst the variation in rates within Wales does correlate with deprivation to an extent, the considerable variation between areas suggests variation in practice.…”

The Evolving Learner: Educational Psychology's Perspectives on Growth and Development

“…Forrester (2023) examines teachers' perspectives and understanding of social-emotional learning in an early elementary suburban public school, shedding light on the impact of fidelity in implementation and proper training on the long-term benefits of social-emotional learning programs (Forrester, 2023). This study underscores the importance of fidelity in implementing social-emotional learning programs to maximize their impact on students' well-being.…”