Exploratory Study of Ecuadorian Teachers’ Understanding of Social Emotional Learning: An Examination of Primary School Teachers

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.964

Keywords:

Social Emotional Learning, SEL workshop, emotional development, professional development (DP), teachers' SEL perspectives

Abstract

Direct instruction of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been suggested for improving academic performance and reducing behavioral issues in classrooms (CASEL, 2020). This exploratory study provides insight into how a group of Ecuadorian elementary school teachers define and understand SEL. It examined changes in teachers’ perspectives and beliefs about their role in SEL integration in elementary school classrooms, after a full-day workshop focused on SEL integration. Quantitative and qualitative data collected before, during and after the SEL workshop indicated a positive change in the teachers’ foundational knowledge of SEL after participation in the workshop; however, there was no observed change in the teachers’ perceptions of their role in the actual implementation of SEL. Challenges and future implications for an effective integration of SEL are discussed in this research article.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Ximena Burgin, Northen Illinois University, USA

is an Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University. Her research interests relate to culturally responsive classroom by implementing research-based methodologies to improve students’ academic outcomes. She has developed and evaluated a variety of state and federal programs in K-12 education and adult education, leading her to understand the impact of diverse interventions on academic achievement through the employment of different methodological techniques. She has also taught graduate research classes and she has mentored doctoral students throughout the dissertation process to completion

Sheila Coli, Northern Illinois University, USA

is an experienced English as a Foreign language (EFL) secondary school teacher from Uruguay and a current EdD candidate in the Curriculum and Instruction program at Northern Illinois University. Her research focuses on social emotional learning and teacher development related to teacher’s knowledge to implement SEL in the classroom.

Mayra C Daniel, Northern Illinois University, USA

is a Professor at Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, IL, USA. A native of Cuba who emigrated to the United States at age 10, she personally experienced the merit of teachers who support the academic and SEL development of linguistically diverse students. Her work and research are based on the belief that social justice is alive and well in the hearts of all caring

References

Banks, J. A. (1981). Education in the 80's: Multiethnic Education. Washington, DC: National Education Press.

Banks, J. A. (2014). Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum, and Teaching. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Bassi, M., Busso, M., Urzúa, S., & Vargas, J. (2012). Disconnected: Skills, Education, and Employment in Latin America. Inter-American Development Bank.

Berniell, L., Mata, D., Bernal, R., Camacho, A., Barrera-Osorio, F., Álvarez, F., Brassiolo, P., & Vargas, J. (2017). RED 2016. More skills for work and life: The contributions of families, schools, jobs, and the social environment. Caracas: CAF. http://scioteca.caf.com/handle/123456789/1060

Bisquerra, R. (2003). Educación emocional y competencias básicas para la vida. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 21(1): 7-43.

Bisquerra, R. (2011). Educación emocional. propuestas para educadores y familias. Bilbao: Desclée de Brower.

Bridgeland, J., Bruce, M., & Hariharan, A. (2013). The missing piece: A national teacher survey on how social and emotional learning can empower children and transform schools. A Report for CASEL. Civic Enterprises.

Buckelew, M., & Fishman, A. (2011). Reaching and teaching diverse populations: Strategies for moving beyond stereotypes. Los Angeles, CA: Sage

Busso, M., Cristia, J., Hincapié, D., Messina, J., & Ripani, L. (eds). (2017). Learning better: Public policy for skills development. Inter-American Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.18235/0000799

Castillo, R., Fernández-Berrocal, P., & Brackett, M. A. (2013). Enhancing teacher effectiveness in Spain: A pilot study of the RULER approach to social and emotional learning. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 1(2): 263-272. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v1i2.203

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). 2020. http://www.casel.org/

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): Resource District Center. 2020. https://drc.casel.org/strengthen-adult-sel-competencies-and-capacity/professional-learning/

Constitución Política del Ecuador. (1998). Constitución política de la República del Ecuador. Titulo I - De los principios fundamentales (Title I - Fundamental principles). https://www.oas.org/juridico/spanish/mesicic2_ecu_anexo15.pdf

Cunningham, W., Acosta, P., & Muller, N. (2016). Minds and behaviors at work: Boosting socioemotional skills for Latin America's workforce. The World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0884-5

Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta‐analysis of school‐based universal interventions. Child development, 82(1): 405-432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x

Elias, M. J., Zins, J.E., Weissberg, R.P, Frey, K.S., Greenberg, M.T., Haynes, N.M., Kessler, R. Schwab-Stone, M.E., & Shriver, T.P. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators. Alexandria, VA: Association for Curriculum and Supervision Development.

Ethnologue. (2020). Languages of the world. https://www.ethnologue.com/country/EC/languages

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-196807000-00014

Goodman, A., Joshi, H., Nasim, B., & Tyler, C. (2015). Social and emotional skills in childhood and their long-term effects on adult life. London: Institute of Education.

Gregory, A., & Fergus, E. (2017). Social and emotional learning and equity in school discipline. The Future of Children: 117-136. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2017.0006

Groulx, J. G., & Silva, C. (2010). Evaluating the development of culturally relevant teaching. Multicultural Perspectives, 12 (1): 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210961003641120

Hawkins, M., & Norton, B. (2009). Critical language teacher education. In A. Burns & J. Richards (Eds.). Cambridge guide to second language teacher education, 30-39. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Huerta, M. (2019). Evaluación de habilidades socioemocionales y transversales: un estado del arte. http://www.adelante-i.eu/sites/default/files/nota_conceptual_taller_evaluacion_caf-final.pdf

Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa (INEED). (2020). https://www.ineed.edu.uy/nuestro-trabajo/observatorio-socioemocional.html

Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (INEC). (2015). https://bit.ly/1y5pcrD.

Jagers, R. J., Rivas-Drake, D., & Borowski, T. (2018). Equity and social and emotional learning: A cultural analysis. Chicago, IL: CASEL.

Jagers, R. J., Rivas-Drake, D., & Williams, B. (2019). Transformative social and emotional learning (SEL): Toward SEL in service of educational equity and excellence. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 162-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1623032

Kincheloe, J. L. (2008). Critical pedagogy primer. New York, NY: Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8224-5

Leech, N. L., & Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (2007). An array of qualitative data analysis tools: A call for data analysis triangulation. School Psychology Quarterly, 22(4): 557-584. https://doi.org/10.1037/1045-3830.22.4.557

McKown, C. (2017). Social-emotional assessment, performance, and standards. The Future of Children, 157-178. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2017.0008

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A.M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis. 3rd ed. London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications, Inc.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2020). Reopening K-12 schools during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prioritizing health, equity, and communities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Nieto, S.. (2018). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of schools. 7th ed. New York, NY: Longman.

Revista de Educación. (2017). Desarrollo de habilidades socioemocionales: Una tarea que involucra a los colegios.http://www.revistadeeducacion.cl/desarrollo-habilidades-socioemocionales-una-tarea-involucra-los-colegios/

Roffey, S., & McCarthy, F. (2013). Circle solutions, a philosophy and pedagogy for learning positive relationships: What promotes and inhibits sustainable outcomes? International Journal of Emotional Intelligence, 5(1): 36-55.

Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Kitil, M.F., & Hanson-Peterson, J. (2017). To reach the students, teach the teachers: A national scan of teacher preparation and social and emotional learning. A report prepared for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia.

Shulman, L. S., & Sherin, M.G. (2004). Fostering communities of teachers as learners: Disciplinary perspectives. Journal of Curriculum Studies 36 (2): 135-140. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027032000135049

SUMMA Laboratorio de Investigación e Innovación en Educación para América Latina y el Caribe. 2020. https://www.summaedu.org/

Talvio, M., Lonka, K., Komulainen, E., Kuusela, M.,& Lintunen, T. (2013). Revisiting Gordon's teacher effectiveness training: An intervention study on teachers' social and emotional learning. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 11(3): 693-716.

Taylor, H. E., & Larson, S. (1999). Social and emotional learning in middle school. The Clearing House, 72 (6): 331-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098659909599420

The Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning. (2018). https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/national-commission-on-social-emotional-and-academic-development/

Van Damme, W., Aguerrondo, I., Crespo Burgos, C., & Robalino Campos, M.. (2013). A story of change: How Ecuador seeks to sustain its development agenda through large scale educational reform. Paper presented at UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development - Education and Development post 2015: Reflecting.

Waajid, B., Garner, P.W., Owen, J.E. (2013). Infusing social emotional learning into the teacher education curriculum. International Journal of Emotional Education, 5 (2): 31-48.

Yoder, N., Posamentier, J., Godek, D., Seibel, K., & Dusenbury, L. (2020). State efforts to elevate social and emotional learning during the pandemic. https://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CASEL-CFC-final.pdf

Zins, J. E. (Ed.). (2004). Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? Teachers College Press: New York and London.

Downloads

Published

2021-06-23

How to Cite

Burgin, X., Coli, S., & Daniel, M. C. (2021). Exploratory Study of Ecuadorian Teachers’ Understanding of Social Emotional Learning: An Examination of Primary School Teachers. GIST – Education and Learning Research Journal, (22), 125–146. https://doi.org/10.26817/16925777.964

Issue

No. 22 (2021): GiST Education and Learning Research Journal

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2021 GIST – Education and Learning Research Journal

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Altmetric

Article metrics
Abstract views
Galley vies
PDF Views
HTML views
Other views
Crossref Cited-by logo
3 Cites in Crossref to date
QR Code

Some similar items: