The Promise of Organizational Conditions: Building Blocks of Renewed Educator Buy-In and Agency

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Action Research Methods: Video-Based Case Study, Qualitative, Quantitative, Mixed Methods, and Meta-Analysis/PRISMA (Table 1)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges in education, highlighting the complex social problems American society imposes on schools. Schools face unprecedented challenges post-pandemic, with heightened expectations impacting teachers' mental health, job satisfaction, and overall effectiveness. This study investigates how school organizational conditions influence educators to shift mindsets. It also explores the relationship between educators' perceptions of these conditions and their social-emotional learning (SEL) beliefs and agency to practice transformative SEL (tSEL). Using a quasi-experimental, longitudinal approach, a high school in an urban Midwestern city participated in a professional development series. Findings highlight significant increases in staff perceptions of trust, learning culture, inclusive empowerment, and transformative equity, emphasizing the critical role of supportive organizational conditions in fostering educator growth and wellbeing.

Authors

• Brittney Williams, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning

• Alexandra Skoog-Hoffman, NewSchools Venture Fund