Time for Change: Understanding Teacher Social-Emotional Learning Supports for Anti-Racism and Student Well-Being During COVID-19, and Beyond

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the approximately 3.2 million teachers serving 50.8 million students in U.S. schools were positioned, along with school counselors, as de facto first responders for student well-being. Teachers across the country, already struggling to transition their teaching to online platforms, had to simultaneously implement recently adopted Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Standards. While prioritizing the social and emotional needs of children is of course a necessity, we wondered about the support needed for teachers who shouldered this work? Of particular interest were the supports for teachers operating in urban schools and with communities of color disproportionately impacted. And within this timeframe, global uprisings protesting police murders of Black bodies revealed the crucial importance of anti-racist educational practices. While we contend that teacher well-being is a key determinate of student well-being, we also explored the ways teachers innovated and created online communities (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) to support one another’s SEL and anti-racist pedagogy. The connection between these practices to research-supported online teacher support structures that influence teacher emotions (e.g., efficacy) was further explored. We conclude with implications from learnings from this crisis for practitioners, educator preparation programs, policy, and future research while adding to the limited literature concerning teacher SEL, anti-racism, and teacher-created communities.

Cyberbullying Among Asian American Youth Before and During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

“…With an enhanced focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion across schools and school districts in recent years, 36 the time is now to augment existing implementations and pedagogy with more population‐specific approaches that are culturally relevant, culturally sustaining, and that reflect the unique lived experiences of Asian American youth 37,38 . The responsibility must be championed by administrators and supported by teachers, school librarians, youth mentors, and others who have a platform and a relatability to connect with the student body 39 .…”

“…37,38 The responsibility must be championed by administrators and supported by teachers, school librarians, youth mentors, and others who have a platform and a relatability to connect with the student body. 39 Teens themselves can be positive, purposeful agents of change in combatting stereotyping, countering false narratives, promoting science-based education, and even using social media platforms and book clubs to engage in healthy dialogues and reflections about the individual and systemic impact of COVID-19, 36,40 and arguably should lead the way.…”

Teacher mental health and workplace well-being in a global crisis: Learning from the challenges and supports identified by teachers one year into the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Canada

“…For example, Herman and colleagues [2021] surveyed over 600 US teachers before and during the pandemic and found teachers’ perceived efficacy to be a strong predictor of well-being outcomes during the pandemic [ 45 ]. Further, Beard and colleagues [2021] noted a relation between teachers’ sense of efficacy and their ability to support students’ social and emotional needs during the pandemic [ 46 ]. Describing teachers as “first responders for students’ well-being” [p. 3], the researchers sought to understand if and how teachers’ responses to students’ social and emotional needs during the pandemic also supported their own social and emotional needs, including the feeling of efficacy.…”

“…This pandemic example of how bolstering supports for teachers can simultaneously help meet students’ needs and support teachers’ well-being is instructive for current and future policy-decisions around systemic supports for teachers. Identifying support factors that buffer teacher mental health and well-being during the pandemic (e.g., social and emotional learning (SEL) training for educators and for students [ 46 , 47 ]) can help inform systemic changes that build on these supports to promote teachers’ well-being now and in the future.…”

Building capacity in urban schools: emphasizing partnerships between counselor education and elementary schools

“…Accordingly, researchers that attempt to respond to needs in the urban school settings should do so in such a way that honors strengths, centers equity and builds relationships (Ceballos et al, 2023). Similarly, researchers also describe the environment of urban schools post-COVID-19 as one ripe for creative and re-imagined change (Beard et al, 2021;Many et al, 2022). Beard et al (2021) summarized the challenges of COVID-19 and encouraged educators, researchers and policymakers to re-invest in resources to support student well-being.…”