Teacher-Driven Professional Learning Communities for Transformative Social and Emotional Learning

• In Event: Teachers Collaborating for Social-Emotional Learning Toward Equity: The Possibilities of Professional Learning Communities

Abstract

Purpose: Social and emotional learning (SEL) is associated with a host of short- and long-term benefits (e.g., Corcoran et al., 2018; Durlak et al., 2011; Mahoney et al., 2018), but teachers receive minimal and inconsistent training in this area (e.g., Shonert-Reichl et al., 2017). Scholars are calling for more research into best practices for teacher preparation for SEL (e.g., Sanger & Osguthorpe, 2013; Schonert-Reichl et al., 2017) and for a stronger emphasis on SEL grounded in social justice goals (e.g., Jagers et al., 2018; Seider & Graves, 2020; Simmons, 2019). The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which teacher-driven professional learning communities (PLCs) can be leveraged to effectively influence teachers’ implementation of equity-focused social and emotional learning in their classrooms.

Theoretical Framework: The present study draws on the literature on SEL (which is widely understood as being comprised of five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making; CASEL, 2022a) and transformative SEL (a visions of SEL that challenges White, Eurocentric conceptualizations of behaviors and norms and that prioritize collective and liberatory goals; Jagers et al., 2019).

We also situate our research in the scholarship on PLCs driven by teachers’ own goals (e.g., Dobbs et al., 2017; Van Meeuwen, 2020). There is limited literature linking SEL and these kinds of PLCs, and our work aims to contribute to the research connecting the two.

Methods & Data Sources: This two-year study tracked five semester-long SEL-focused PLCs comprised of three teachers each. Each group met five times, approximately one month apart for 90-minute sessions via Zoom. Cumulatively, data consisted of transcripts from 25 90-minute PLCs, 58 written reflections from teachers, and 15 30-minute teacher interviews.

Findings: Data analysis revealed four overarching ways that teacher-driven PLCs supported SEL implementation with a social justice focus: (1) PLCs created a space for teachers to approach SEL work with a strengths-based mindset, (2) PLCs helped connect teachers to their own sense of purpose, (3) PLCs provided opportunities for teachers to focus on individualized SEL goals specific to their classrooms and to immediately try and reflect upon their practices, and (4) PLCs can be leveraged to research with (versus on) teachers.

Significance: Patel’s (2016) approach to decolonizing educational research challenges traditional structures and advocates for a more egalitarian focus. Aligned with this approach, the present study allowed us to conduct our research in partnership with participating teachers, incorporating feedback and making adaptations to the structures and content of the PLCs to meet their needs. This approach is one important way of challenging entrenched systems in schools and working collaboratively and respectfully with teachers while also supporting them in targeted ways aligned with the literature on SEL implementation (e.g., CASEL, 2022b; Durlak, 2015). Importantly, nurturing teachers’ individualized goals, their strengths-based mindset, and their guiding sense of purpose is crucial not only for students but also for teachers’ own critical and holistic well-being (e.g., Collie & Perry, 2019; Santoro, 2018).

Authors

• Madora Soutter, Villanova University

• Gracie Petrelli, Villanova University

• Samantha Simon, Villanova University

• Oladimeji Samuel Fatoki, Baylor University

• Madelyn Dyer, Villanova University