Transformative Social Emotional Learning Adult Learning Series: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Enhancing Educators' Social Emotional Competencies and Well-Being

• In Event: "In Service of Equity and Excellence": Implementing Transformative Social and Emotional Learning Across Contexts

Abstract

Educators’ well-being and social emotional competencies are crucial, especially now that burnout and demoralization are significantly higher than before COVID (Santoro et al., 2021). In response, CASEL has offered the conceptual framework of transformative SEL (tSEL), which bolsters individual and collective learning conditions to enhance well-being for educators and students alike. tSEL is a process whereby young people and adults build strong and respectful relationships that facilitate co-learning to critically examine root causes of inequity and to develop collaborative solutions that lead to personal, communal, and societal well-being (AUTHOR et al., 2018).
The Transformative SEL Adult Learning Series was developed to deepen educators’ personal and professional practice through increased awareness, real-time implementation, and strategies anchored in their understanding of tSEL. We hypothesize that engaging in this Professional Development (PD) opportunity would yield stronger feelings on the organizational conditions of a trusting community, learning culture, and feeling supported by administrative leadership. The series is rooted in the 5 focal constructs of tSEL (Identity, Agency, Belonging, Collaborative Problem-Solving, and Curiosity) and provides opportunities for educators to deepen their awareness, knowledge, and application of each in their classrooms and schools.
During the 2021-2022 school year, we partnered with a large midwestern urban high school, and piloted the tSEL series with teacher leaders and administrators (N=15) with the following questions:
1. What are the conditions needed for educators to deepen their awareness, knowledge, and application of tSEL and its five focal constructs?
2. How does the stance of an educator evolve when going through the adult learning series? Does collective agency become activated after undergoing the PD series?
3. What aspects of the adult learning series do educators bring into their classrooms and why and what are the impacts on students’ perceptions of learning conditions?
While the pilot will continue with full teaching staff through SY 2022-23, key themes have emerged in our preliminary analyses. Using a qualitative inductive approach to data analysis, our team observed and recorded each of the five professional development sessions, and conducted 45-minute interviews with each participant using a semi-structured interview protocol during the summer of 2022. This paper discusses three key organizational conditions that embody tSEL principles and are pivotal in not only the facilitation and engagement of this PD but in centering the wellbeing and SEL of educators. Supportive Leadership arose as an important condition for integrating tSEL into educators’ continued learning. When school leaders were present in sessions and demonstrated buy-in, participants felt supported. Participants found that establishing relational trust requires adhering to shared norms and honoring fellow educators’ expertise. Educators with previous experience in dialogue around identity, power and privilege reported feeling more comfortable discussing tSEL topics.
Research has shown that organizational conditions influence engagement, agency, motivation, commitment, and learning (Firestone et al., 1993). Participants are also more committed to making changes in their organization and practice (Collinson et al., 2006). Transformative SEL for adults helps create this collective community and foster these organizational conditions for educators and their school leadership teams.

Authors

• Alexandra Skoog-Hoffman, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
  Presenting Author

• Olivia A Kelly, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
  Presenting Author

• Bloodine Barthelus
  Non-Presenting Author