Creating conditions for social-emotional learning: An ecological framework

Adventure-based Learning (ABL) is a sequence of highly structured physical activities and periods of reflection (i.e., debriefs) with the aim to promote personal and social development (Cosgriff, 2000). ABL has been used as a synonym in describing Adventure Education or adventure programming conducted within physical education (PE) programmes (Dyson & Sutherland, 2014). ABL has been shown to have a positive effect on intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship skills (IIRS) amongst students, such as enhanced leadership skills, patience, and working with others (Passarelli, Hall, & Anderson, 2010; Quezada & Christopherson, 2005). Adventure youth camps have also shown positive results in regard to promoting IIRS (e.g., improving self-esteem and friendship) among adolescent populations (Thurber, Scanlin, Scheuler, & Henderson, 2007). Within PE settings ABL has the potential to help students develop IIRS (Cosgriff, 2000; Dyson, 1995; Sutherland & Stuhr, 2014), yet our knowledge regarding student outcomes from ABL within structured PE is limited, reflecting a paucity of research in this area. This qualitative case study aimed to narrow this research gap through an investigation of middle school students' perceptions of their IIRS while involved in a 15-lesson ABL unit of instruction during PE. Conceptual framework The social emotional learning (SEL) literature was used to help frame this study and as a means to connect the importance of using ABL to promote IIRS. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), SEL is the ability to problem solve, make responsible decisions, manage one's emotions, and build positive relationships with others (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2013). The study of SEL has risen since the 1990s and as such, many researchers believe SEL should be an integral part of the educational experience provided to our youth (Hoffman, 2009). The primary reason to teach and promote inclusion of SEL experiences within school is to help students acquire social skills (Cohen, 2006). SEL also plays a role in student academic success (Elias, Zins, Graczyk, & Weissberg, 2003). Specifically, CASEL has successfully examined and found advantages of using evidence-based SEL programmes to promote academic success within schools (CASEL, 2013). SEL instruction has also had positive effects on health, citizenship, IIRS, and improved happiness (Zins & Elias, 2006). Why use SEL to frame a study in ABL? There are similarities between the use of an ABL curriculum and SEL instruction that provide sound rationale for using the latter to frame this study. Studying ABL outcomes through the lens of SEL is supported by commonalities between these two types of programming. For example, the philosophical foundation of ABL is predicated on students learning how to develop community, cooperation, trust, and problem solving abilities (Frank, 2013), a commonality shared, and proven to be enhanced through SEL instruction (Zins & Elias, 2006). ABL and SEL specifically focus attention on the affective domain of learning and student learning outcomes associated with IIRS. Theoretically, both types of programming are designed to create community within the classroom and provide students with opportunities to work through issues of conflict (Cohen, 2006; Frank, 2013). ABL and SEL place high importance on providing students with the opportunity to talk and reflect on social-emotional experiences (Cohen, 2006; Stuhr & Sutherland, 2013; Zins & Elias, 2006). Other characteristics seen in ABL and SEL include the focus on creating emotionally safe, caring, and inclusive classroom environments in order to create ideal learning conditions for students (Cohen, 2006; Stuhr, Sutherland, Ressler, & Ortiz-Stuhr, in press). Thus, ABL can be seen as a type of SEL programme that focuses on promoting social and emotional competencies. …

This qualitative study used responses to a large-scale survey on school experiences to identify schools where the students themselves reported above average scores on constructs of social emotional learning. The study looked at schools where the students reported above average results for several years in an attempt to answer the following questions: 1.What are the policies and practices of these schools specifically related to providing social emotional supports to students? 2.How do leaders in these schools describe their approach to providing social emotional support for their students? How do leaders assess their own perspectives, attitudes, decision-making and actions toward diverse student populations? To what do they attribute their schools' higher than average SEL scores? 3.What does an analysis of student responses in these schools show in terms of social emotional support provided by their schools? What do students report of their experience? The study looked at schools where students reported above average positive responses to survey questions on four social emotional learning (SEL) constructs for 4 years. Of the 10 schools that qualified, four agreed to participate. In order to examine the policies and practices of these schools, the researcher analyzed public documents from each school and conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with teachers and school leaders. The findings show that the administrators and teachers at the schools supported students' social emotional development by leveraging resources and acknowledging the need to promote equity. They incorporated SEL into the school culture through ongoing professional development, school wide practices, and intentional instruction in the competencies.

This study aims to explore the pattern of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in a mathematics lesson at an alternative elementary school in Indonesia. This qualitative case study involved school principal, teachers, and students, recruited using purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using observation, interviews, and document analysis. The latter was done following a model proposed by Creswell, consisting of raw data, organize and prepare the data for analysis, reading through all the data, coding all data, interrelating themes/description, and interpreting the meaning of themes/description. This study concludes that the SEL implementation pattern at the alternative elementary school consisted of a supportive classroom climate, integration of SEL into academic instruction, and explicit SEL instruction. A supportive classroom climate includes a physically healthy environment, cooperative and responsive interactions, a comfortable learning atmosphere, and respect for cultural diversity. Integration of SEL into academic instruction involves activities such as games, case studies, projects, self-reflection, group discussions, individual mentoring, structured assignments, and peer tutoring. Explicit SEL instruction refers to dedicated programs that must be implemented in a routine, active, focused, and explicit manner. Therefore, it is important to implement SEL in mathematics lessons systematically and responsively to support students’ social-emotional development and holistically improve their achievement.

The focus of this special issue is on identifying factors that predict a school’s likelihood of high implementation of social– emotional learning (SEL) interventions. In this case, these factors are interpreted as readiness to implement. Implementation readiness is defined by the editors as the capacity to implement an evidence-based intervention (EBI) effectively. Though not stated explicitly, readiness in this definition seems to be a characteristic of the implementers (i.e., teachers or school). The model proposed by the editors and reflected to varying degrees by each of the seven studies involves documenting variables of teachers, classrooms, and schools that are predictive of high-quality implementation and using those variables to create readiness profiles and tailor implementation supports. SEL programs have demonstrated convincing efficacy for improving the social and academic development of children (Durlak et al. 2011). As practitioners and policy makers become more convinced of the fundamental importance of SEL as a foundation for quality education and child development, the challenge of effectively scaling SEL programs and practices is becoming more critical and timely. This special issue addresses an important empirical question: Can we identify factors that represent Breadiness^ of a school (and its teachers and classrooms) to adopt an SEL program and deliver it with sufficient quality and fidelity to reproduce the improvements in social and academic outcomes demonstrated in controlled trials? The seven SEL implementation studies presented in this special issue depict a complex picture of delivering SEL programs in schools and assessing both implementation and impact. As a result, across these seven studies, and other similar studies, we arrive at a long laundry list of variables that may influence implementation quality, fidelity, and reach (which may in turn potentially impact program effects and sustainment). So what can be made of the complex readiness model characterized across these seven studies? The collective body of SEL implementation research, exemplified in the articles of this special issue and more broadly, addresses both academic (i.e., for the sake of increasing our generalizable knowledge) and utilitarian (i.e., for the practical advancement of the scaling of SEL practice in schools) ends. Though these are sometimes overlapping goals simultaneously advanced, for the sake of clarity and space, this commentary will primarily address the practical and pragmatic value and lessons of this special issue, with admittedly less attention paid to issues of methodology, analytic techniques, or study designs. Considering the lessons we can draw across these seven SEL implementation studies, we might start with the end in mind: what could we do if we arrived at a clear list of the most important predictors of high(or low-)quality implementation? It is a herculean task to elucidate the characteristics of social–emotional development and subsequently use that knowledge to craft an intervention intended to promote such development. To further demonstrate, in the context of a rigorous experimental trial, that such an intervention can produce (both statistically and practically) significant improvements relative to a control condition is equally challenging, and not accomplished without a commitment to sound theory and a solid understanding of the school and classroom context (Flay et al. 2005). So the achievement of each of these programs in demonstrating efficacy must be recognized. Taking such * Brian K. Bumbarger bkb10@psu.edu

Inclusive classrooms provide new opportunities for group membership and creation of effective learning environments. In order to facilitate the success of inclusion as an approach and philosophy, it is important that all class members as well as their teachers develop the skills to understand one another, and to communicate and work together effectively. Social emotional learning (SEL) is aimed at developing these skills and is generally defined to involve processes by which individuals learn to understand and moderate their own feelings, understand the feelings of others, communicate, resolve conflicts effectively, respect others, and develop healthy relationships. These skills are important to both children with disabilities and to those without, in terms of overall social development, perceptions of belonging, and promotion of overall mental wellness, as well as mitigation of the development of mental illness. Research suggests that SEL programming has the potential to effectively enhance children’s academic, social, and relational outcomes. Moreover, teachers who teach SEL in their classrooms have also demonstrated positive outcomes. Despite these encouraging findings, implementation of SEL has been hampered by some limitations, including the lack of a consistent definition—a limitation that in turn affects research findings; lack of teacher education in SEL, which erodes confidence in the fidelity of implementation; and concerns that current SEL programs are not sensitive to cultural differences in communities. Together, the strengths and limitations of SEL illuminate several policy implications regarding the most advantageous ways for SEL to contribute to the success of inclusion in classrooms and schools.

An integrative literature review was conducted according to Coopers’ guidelines in order to critique and integrate issues over the convergence among imaginative/Waldorf pedagogy, social-emotional learning and media literacy mindfulness in Primary and Secondary education. A comprehensive analysis of theoretical and empirical articles between 2005 and 2019 was provided. Three research questions were set, discussed and analysed highlighting the followinggaps in the literature: (i) the combination of imagination pedagogies with digital media and social-emotional development is neglected, (ii) there is a lack of longitudinal studies to analyse how social-emotional skills contribute to forming critical media literacy according to student’s developmental stage, (iii) there is urgent need for reconceptualizing media literacy by encompassing and analysing its effects on cognitive, social-emotional and motivational skills development. We provide a framework presenting four perspectives, theoretical, developmental, pedagogical and social, supporting the relationship among imaginative pedagogy, media literacyand social-emotional skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected education on all fronts. Most troubling was the effect on students' social emotional learning (SEL) across all education sectors. The implications are yet to be fully understood; however, ongoing research points to further exploration. This chapter supports the redesigning of educator preparation programs (EPPs) to include courses dedicated to exploring SEL. In a post-COVID-19 era, it will be essential to integrate SEL in the EPP curriculum to build awareness of these needed skills in future educators, to build capacity to support students during challenging times. This chapter also encourages universities to consider the addition of SEL development for their EPPs. The authors developed specific action steps for EPPs to use in incorporating SEL within their curriculum. These steps include integrating SEL across coursework, recognizing challenges and stressors, practicing collaboration, encouraging independent practice and critical thinking, using pre and post-assessments to measure SEL improvement, and incorporating mindfulness and emotional regulation.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has gained attention in education. Awareness of student social-emotional health concerns increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and with this increased awareness, stressors for educators have also increased. However, educators have noted that, despite the significance of social-emotional needs and SEL program implementation in schools, there is a lack of effective educator preparation, knowledge, and support. Despite the growing attention on student social-emotional health, there is - to this researcher's knowledge - little research focused on educator needs when attempting to address student social-emotional health. The question for this research was: In what ways does collaboration and "build time" help to develop capacity for educators to design better social-emotional supports for students? The purpose of this action research study was to explore how collaboration and build time following training help to develop capacity for educators to design better social-emotional supports for students. Participants included seven educators who had taken part in the organization's training and who were separated into two levels. Using their organizational training and experiences, participants collaborated to co-construct materials. Participants completed individual and collaborative feedback forms, constructed materials for an organizational repository and their school sites, and took part in semi-structured interviews, which were member-checked. The researcher recorded notes and analytic memos throughout the study as well. The data collected was coded using in-vivo, process, and descriptive coding procedures and then analyzed. Findings from this study suggest that (1) supporting educators' learning through additional learning opportunities is necessary to help to address student needs, (2) collaboration is critical in education, and (3) supporting educators' well-being is critical. Study implications include (1) supporting and training educators to address student social-emotional health and development, (2) developing systems and establishing environments that ensure student and staff needs are met, which may build capacity for social-emotional learning, and (3) addressing professional and personal needs through collaborative opportunities beyond professional development and training opportunities. To fully address student social-emotional health and development, the lens cannot be solely on students, but, instead, the educational, social-emotional, and mental needs of educators must also be addressed.--Author's abstract

In this presentation I propose children’s literature as an effective tool to teach social emotional learning in the classroom. Social emotional learning has increasingly become a focus in many Canadian schools. Social emotional learning has been defined in many ways but is usually accepted to be a combination of developing children’s abilities to self-regulate their feelings, understand and display empathy and make responsible choices. These are skills that can benefit children in a variety of ways that includes increasing self-esteem, reducing conflicts with peers or family members and developing resiliency. Although social emotional skills like empathy are essential for the adequate moral development of children, there is little communication as to the ways qualities like empathy can become teachable skills. This poses a challenge to classroom teachers who are not receiving training or professional development from Social Emotional Learning organizations or research bodies but wish to incorporate elements of the theory into their existing practice and routines. Although some organizations offer scripted lessons and programming to be used in the classroom, programs alone may not be enough. Locally developed resources created for peer-to-peer sharing amongst teachers allow for greater integration and have the added benefit of being customized for each teacher’s unique learning community. This presentation will focus on the integration of social emotional learning at the classroom level using a children’s literature approach. I share some of the resources I have created for this purpose.

Implementing a curriculum that supports students' social-emotional development alongside academics is essential. Social-emotional learning (SEL) promotes positive outcomes across social and emotional skills, attitudes towards self and others, positive social behavior, conduct problems, emotional distress, and academic performance. In spite of what research tells us and what we as educators know intuitively through our practice, social and emotional development has long been known to many as a missing link in U.S. public schools. Teachers' concerns include whether they have the time, resources, and access to professional learning necessary to implement high quality SEL instruction, particularly in light of academic content instruction pressures. This chapter discusses the application of mixed reality simulations as a next generation digital tool that offers active learning opportunities in social-emotional learning in conjunction with dialogic reading sessions to foster social-emotional competencies and literacy.

ObjectivesPreschool competency in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making has been shown to affect short- and long-term social, emotional, and academic development. Known collectively as social emotional learning (SEL), these skills have begun to be paired with mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) in school settings. OpenMind (OM) is a newly developed mindfulness-based SEL program for preschool children. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the OM program translated, culturally contextualized, and implemented as the OpenMind-Korea (OM-K) program in Korean preschools.MethodEleven teachers in three preschools in Korea were taught the basic philosophy, principles, and nine activities in the OM-K program. The teachers implemented the OM-K program, together with the Nuri Curriculum that is mandated in all Korean preschools, with 170 3- to 5-year-old children. Following implementation for a school year, 10 of the 11 teachers completed 34-item feasibility and 8-item acceptability questionnaires. In addition, they were individually interviewed on their views regarding the OM-K program.ResultsBy the end of the year, each teacher was able to implement three or four activities of the OM-K program on a daily basis and the remaining activities as much as possible. The teachers were able to modify the activities to suit the children’s needs and as afforded by the space available in each classroom. Overall the teachers reported that it was feasible to implement the OM-K program and that the program was acceptable to them. In addition, all teachers reported that they would recommend the program to other teachers.ConclusionsThe OM-K program teachers in three Korean preschools rated the program as feasible and acceptable. However, there was some variation in the degree of feasibility and acceptability ratings across teachers within and between the three preschools. All teachers uniformly reported that they would recommend the program to other teachers because of its positive effects on both the teacher and their children. Program strengths and limitations are discussed and directions for future research are offered.

Social emotional well-being has a direct effect on school performance. Students who engage in prosocial peer interactions and feel a connectedness to school are more likely to experience growth in their social emotional competence and academic performance. Often, students who live in high stress environments come to school with inadequate skills in this area, affecting their ability to self-regulate, attend, and interact with others. However, these skills can be directly taught to students and improved through regular instruction and practice. Mindfulness practices serve as a gateway skill for developing social emotional well-being and are becoming more commonly used in the school setting. Using the perspectives of elementary teachers in Pennsylvania who have attended professional development and thus implemented mindfulness practices into their classrooms, an instrumental case study was conducted. The study explored how teachers describe the effects of mindfulness practices on their students' social emotional well-being, classroom climate, and overall academic performance. Nine elementary teachers in public schools in Pennsylvania participated in the study, which included a semi-structured interview and completion of a participant journal. All teachers had participated in at least eight hours of district-provided professional development series and had implemented mindfulness practices into their classrooms at least three times per week. The interviews were analyzed to gain insight into the participants' perspectives of their professional development, their personal and professional experiences with mindfulness practices, and the perceived effects of mindfulness practices on the students in their classrooms. Four thematic findings emerged: (a) opportunities for professional development, (b) personal mindfulness practices of teachers, (c) social emotional learning and mindfulness practices in the classroom, and (d) the effects of mindfulness practices on students in the classroom setting. From the findings, four results were drawn regarding the implications of implementing mindfulness in school settings. First, teachers expressed the need and desire for ongoing, supported professional development. Secondly, the teacher serves as a model in the classroom, establishing an environment in which desired, prosocial behaviors and social emotional competence are modeled for students. Thirdly, the data analysis showed that the implementation of mindfulness practices can serve as a means to develop social emotional competence in students. Finally, the analysis of participant responses indicated that mindfulness practices had a positive effect on student learning and classroom interactions. The study concluded and recommended implementing mindfulness practices into school settings with potential benefits for administrators and teachers as well as students. This recommendation begins with recognizing the importance of social emotional learning for students and supporting both pre-service and practicing teachers in the development of their own social emotional well-being. Given the impact of social emotional learning on all facets of education, administrators and educational leaders should advocate for support and funding for programs that would support social emotional development in school settings. Recommendations for future research include expanding the study to additional sites or extended years of implementation, an in-depth examination of professional development opportunities and structure, consideration of the educational leader's role in encouraging social emotional learning and self-care for educators, analysis of mindfulness programs implemented with fidelity, and the addition of student and family perceptions of mindfulness practices into the current research base. Keywords: social emotional learning, mindfulness practices, prosocial classroom, emotional intelligence, professional development

Background: The maturational period from age 10 to 14—often referred to as very young adolescents (VYAs)—represents a dynamic period of learning and neurobehavioral development as individuals transition from childhood to adolescence. This developmental period presents a window of opportunity for strategic investment to improve trajectories of health, education and well-being among young people. More specifically, neurodevelopmental changes during pubertal maturation influence neural circuitry involved in processing emotions, risks, rewards and social relationships. Technology can be leveraged to create social emotional learning experiences for VYAs and provide opportunities for flexible, distance learning in low-income countries. The aim of this study protocol is to detail how insights from developmental science can be used to inform the intervention design, implementation and evaluation of a distance learning, social emotional learning intervention for VYAs.Methods: This study will be delivered to 500 VYAs in Temeke District, Dar es salaam. Study participants will watch culturally-relevant, animated videos on social emotional mindsets and skills and content will be paired with experiential learning activities over a period of 10 weeks. A nested smart-phone based study will practice learning social emotional skills and mindsets through engagement with multi-media material via the WhatsApp messenger application. Surveys and in-depth interviews will be administered to adolescents, their parents/caregivers and teachers before and after the intervention to evaluate the effect of the intervention on study outcomes.Discussion: This study is among the first to provide results on how to effectively design a distance-learning intervention to promote social emotional learning and identity development within a low-resource context. The findings will provide substantial evidence to inform new intervention approaches that are effective in low-resource contexts and strategies to reach scale among similar programs invested in leveraging technology to support adolescent health and development.Clinical Trial registration: Study registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier number NCT0445807.

This study investigates the ways literature, namely A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, can be used to promote social-emotional learning (SEL) in classrooms. The incorporation of SEL through classic literature has not been well investigated, despite its rising profile for its impact on students' overall development. Based on the five main SEL competencies listed by the CASEL framework (self-awareness, social-awareness, relationship-skills, responsible decision-making, and self-management), this study uses qualitative content analysis to explore how Sara Crewe grows as a character and how her feelings and actions reflect these competencies. In particular, a character-based thematic analysis is used to show how Sara's empathy, resilience, and moral integrity demonstrate emotional intelligence and social competence. The findings show that classic children's novels, such as A Little Princess, can significantly improve social and emotional learning (SEL) classes by providing pupils with stories that are real, complex, and reflective of their own experiences. Additionally, literary character analysis is a great tool for social and emotional learning (SEL) instructors to help their students become more self-aware, reflective, and critical thinkers.

The Impact of Prematurity on Social and Emotional Development