Understanding Family and Caregiver Concerns About Social and Emotional Learning

• In Event: Focus on Families: Understanding Roles, Obstacles, Perspectives, and Best Practices for Caregiver Engagement in Social and Emotional Learning

Abstract

Caregivers and families play an integral role in the development of students’ social and emotional (SE) skills, and research shows the vast majority of caregivers express favorable views toward social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention programming (e.g., Committee for Children, 2022). However, opposition toward SEL still exists, particularly when it is conflated with Critical Race Theory (CRT) and political associations (e.g., Anderson, 2022). Furthermore, research also shows potential concern with
the term “social and emotional learning”, and that this concern is more prevalent among Republican parents. The goal of this mixed-methods study was to explore and better understand caregiver concerns surrounding SEL.
To gain a better understanding of any negative sentiments toward SEL, we invited caregivers who previously expressed some extent of opposition toward SEL in past surveys on SEL. In total, 529 caregivers were invited to participate in the current study. A total of 51 respondents completed the survey (73% female, 67% White, 8% Hispanic/Latinx, 4% American Indian/Alaska Native, 2% Black). Respondents rated their level of agreement with a series of statements that could represent potential concerns of caregivers.
Results indicated that parents primarily wanted to be more involved with the teaching of SEL at home. The statement “Teaching social and emotional skills is the role of parents and families” was highly endorsed (89% agreement), while parents felt less favorably about schools having control over SEL content being taught (32% agreement) and teaching social and emotional skills being the role of the school (32% agreement). Additionally, we asked respondents to answer an open-ended question expanding on any concerns that resonated with them most. The most common themes shared for the concern item were “SEL should be the role of both parents and teachers” and “SEL is primarily the role of families.”
Participants also answered items about potential strategies that could make them more supportive of SEL. Caregivers felt that schools assuming families and schools are equally responsible for teaching SEL (56% agreement), reading about research supporting the efficacy of SEL programs (59% agreement), and learning more about activities used to teach SEL (65% agreement) could all make them more supportive of SEL. In an open-ended question, increased parental involvement was cited most frequently as a means to make respondents more supportive of SEL.
While this research highlights valid concerns from parents/caregivers, understanding their concerns is valuable because they are actionable. We will discuss potential strategies to mitigate each of the concerns expressed by respondents and ways to include parents in SEL. By engaging in these actions, SEL providers and those tasked with its implementation in schools can potentially help SEL become more appealing, even to parents who have expressed concerns about it.

Authors

• Dana Murano, ACT, Inc.

• Nola Daley, ACT, Inc.

• Jeremy Burrus, ACT, Inc.

• Kate Walton, ACT, Inc.