Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy最新文献

Impact statement

Universal school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs have been shown to have a range of benefits for students. However, these programs tend to focus on students, not involving parents, which may limit their impact outside the school context. We conducted focus groups and interviews with 118 parents, 58 teachers, and 6 school administrators at six public elementary schools across the United States implementing the Second Step SEL program to determine (a) what parents want to know about SEL in their children’s schools and why, (b) what parents actually know about SEL in their children’s schools, and (c) educators’ perspectives on SEL communication with parents. The findings suggest that school staff underestimate parents’ interest in knowing what their children are learning in SEL at school and perceive logistical barriers to SEL communication with parents. Accordingly, many parents report lacking knowledge about SEL despite valuing that knowledge and wishing to support their children’s SEL development. These findings point to ways SEL programs can be designed to better communicate with parents, and importantly, to facilitate parental engagement in the development of their children’s SEL skills.

A rapidly growing body of research is examining the social and emotional competencies (SEC) educators need to effectively fulfill their professional roles (see Lozano-Peña et al., 2021 for a recent review). The prosocial classroom model highlights the importance of educators' SECs as they relate to their capacity to maintain well-being by successfully coping with the challenges of emotion-laden social interactions in the classroom, building positive relationships with students, managing classrooms effectively, and providing proficient social-emotional learning (SEL) instruction (see Figure 1; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). These elements foster a classroom environment that supports social-emotional growth and optimal student learning outcomes. Since the publication of the Jennings and Greenberg (2009) article, research has been expanding to identify specific SECs and how they relate to educators' well-being and job performance. In this paper, we situate the construct of emotional schemas as one construct related to educators’ SEC and relevant to understanding classrooms as developmental contexts for educators and students.

The benefits of social and emotional learning (SEL) are well-documented in the literature, leading to increased advocacy in school settings. In fact, it has been suggested that SEL should be integrated into all aspects of the students’ life–in every classroom, after-school activity, summer program, and beyond. Therefore, contemporary SEL programming must be flexible to meet the specific needs of the school community and be accomplished with diverse resources without imposing additional burdens on educators or schools. Furthermore, a global perspective is essential, with joint ventures among international educational communities to share teaching approaches, cultural values, and resources. We argue for the necessity of a global community-based approach to create a flexible SEL delivery model. We present two distinct SEL programs, bringing multiple international institutions together to provide enriching learning experiences for all. Through continuous communication and feedback gathered from community members, each SEL program focuses directly on what matters and what is needed for each school community at the time of the collaboration. Actively involving all relevant groups (e.g., students, educators, parents, school districts, university faculty, undergraduates, and pre-service teachers), we demonstrate how a global community-based approach can be applied to bring SEL into mainstream educational practice across the world.