Leaves on the Jocko River: Engaging Teacher Social and Emotional Learning in Indigenous Communities

• In Event: Building Inclusive Futures: Teachers Advancing Equity through Social and Emotional Learning in Diverse Learning Contexts

Abstract

Educator stress has been shown to impact student classroom behaviors and relationships (Glimbert et al., 2021; Oberle et al., 2020). Interventions to support educators’ SEL may have positive impacts on students while also preventing and reducing educators’ burnout and its symptoms (Oliveira et al., 2021). However, few educator SEL interventions have been place-based and centered around Indigenous values. Given that contemporary public education systems are not designed to support Indigenous students’ identities or values, we argue that professional development that is co-designed with Indigenous communities to honor Tribal sovereignty while supporting educators’ agency is much needed for educators in schools that serve predominantly Indigenous students. Thus, the intersection of TribalCrit (Brayboy, 2005) and transformative SEL (Jagers et al., 2019) provides a guiding theoretical foundation for our current study.

In this presentation, we share findings from Pathways to Partnership (P2P), an innovative professional development (PD) and coaching program as a component of a multi-year research-practice partnership between the [name of Tribal Nation], the [name of public school district], and the [name of university]. The aim of P2P was to complement a child SEL program (see Author, 2022), whereby teachers learned how to support the SEL of their students as well as enhance their own SEL skills (Authors, in press). P2P was place-based to help educators connect with the land and practice their social-emotional skills in places important to their community, such as through a mindfulness practice involving the Jocko River that runs through the town.

This study focuses on the second implementation of P2P. While the first program used individual school-based coaching (Authors, in press), this second implementation provided group support, focused on coping skills and addressing occupational stress (von der Embse, 2019). Both mindfulness-based stress reduction (de Carvalho et al., 2021) and cognitive-behavioral approaches (Beck & Beck, 2011) are integrated in the P2P program, covering topics of understanding SEL, building relationship with students, modeling self-awareness through cognitive restructuring and emotional self-labeling, and planning activity and reflection (e.g., What are my hopes for myself as a teacher?). P2P helped educators manage their own occupational stress, improve their well-being, and understand how to support their students SEL.

In implementing P2P, all K-6 teachers (N=15) participated in a half-day professional development at the beginning of AY 24-25. Subsequently, five teachers signed up for seven monthly 90-minute coaching sessions facilitated by a university faculty member and a graduate student in School Psychology. During the final session, educators also provided feedback on the sessions’ content and structure.

Preliminary qualitative analysis (Clarke & Braun, 2018) of the coaching session transcripts revealed themes on social-emotional challenges that teachers encountered in their daily work, and a deeper sense of connection that teachers had felt through P2P. The comparison between pre- and post-coaching surveys also showed stronger professional well-being, professional strengths, and areas for growth related to social-emotional learning. The study shows teacher SEL needs to focus not only on educators’ own well-being, but also their understanding of cultural and contextual factors that contribute to challenges in their classrooms.

Authors

• Jingjing Sun, University of Montana

• Anisa Goforth, University of Montana

• Deborah Ith, University of Montana - Missoula