Professional Learning Communities for Social-Emotional Learning Implementation and Teacher Well-Being

• In Event: International Perspectives on Cultivating Justice and Hope Through Well-Being Promotion in Educational Settings

Abstract

The benefits of social and emotional learning (SEL) for students are widely documented in the literature (e.g., Corcoran et al., 2018; Durlak et al., 2011; Mahoney et al., 2018), but teachers themselves receive limited training in SEL implementation (e.g., Shonert-Reichl et al., 2017). Similarly, Teachers’ own SEL is often overlooked even though it is an important element for both student and teacher holistic well-being (e.g., Author 1, 2022, 2023; Collie & Perry, 2019; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009), and even though teacher job satisfaction in the US has reached an all-time low (EdWeek Resesarch Center, 2022; Will, 2022). Our research aims to explore the extent to which professional learning communities (PLCs) influence teachers’ ability to implement SEL in their own classrooms while also supporting teachers’ own well-being.

This research is grounded in the literature on social and emotional learning (which is widely considered to be comprised of five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making (CASEL, 2022) and professional learning communities (which can be defined as a group of people sharing and examining elements of their professional practice in an iterative, collaborative, and goal-oriented way (e.g., Dobbs et al., 2017; Van Meeuwen, 2020). PLCs have not been widely leveraged for teacher preparation for SEL, but the literature on PLCs suggests that this approach could indeed be effective in nurturing social-emotional practices in schools and in supporting teachers holistically as well (e.g., Dobbs et al., 2017; Wanless & Winters, 2018).

This two-year research project tracks five semester-long SEL-focused PLCs led by the PI and comprised of three teachers each to allow for collaboration and small group problem-solving. Participants included teachers in grades K-12, and years of experience ranged from 1 to 18 years, with an average of about 5 years. Importantly, our approach was influenced by Patel’s (2016) work on decolonizing research methodologies in that we aimed to work with teachers (rather than researching on them) in regularly adapting the PLCs to meet the on-the-ground needs of the teachers and students themselves. Cumulatively, data consisted of transcripts from 25 90-minute PLCs, 58 written reflections from teachers, and 15 30-minute teacher interviews. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2013; Maxwell, 2013) included verbatim transcriptions, code book creation, several rounds of iterative double-coding, and coded case summaries for relational analysis (Bazely, 2013).

Data analysis revealed the ways in which the structure and processes of the PLCs supported the development of two primary areas connected to holistic teacher well-being: (1) teachers’ efficacy related to SEL implementation, (2) (re)connection to teachers’ central goals as educators.

PLCs have the potential to not only support teachers in implementing SEL in their classrooms, but also to develop their own self-efficacy in doing so. These kinds of PLCs allow teachers to direct their own goals, to build on their knowledge base, and to support their own sense of purpose and well-being (e.g., Santoro, 2018).

Author

• Madora Soutter, Villanova University