Supporting teachers to foster social emotional learning in learners using a play-based approach

• In Event: Contextualizing Social and Emotional Learning: How Do We Support Teachers to Implement Quality SEL Programs?

Proposal

Right To Play’s in-service teacher training program, the Continuum of Teacher Training (CoTT), is a 30-day program delivered over 3 years that supports teachers to integrate play-based learning methods into their teaching practice. Through the CoTT, teachers learn to integrate play that targets curriculum outcomes into their lessons, infusing academic content with social emotional skills development. The CoTT design is grounded in theory and research on what fosters SEL development in formal school environments: scholarship on how the most effective SEL programs are integrated and infused in daily teaching and learning (Elias & Zins 2007, Retamal & Low 2010, Bridgeland 2012, Weare & Nind 2011, Greenberg et al. 2017), and how relationships drive learning and development (Shonkoff & Phillips 2000, Eisenberg, Valiente & Eggum 2010, Sameroff 2010, Jones & Bouffard 2012). Participants are trained on a wide range of topics including: play and active learning methodologies, holistic child development, social emotional learning in children, curriculum foundations, lesson planning, and more.

Follow-up coaching and mentoring complement the trainings along with teacher Communities of Practice. The continuous nature of the training design supports teachers in building a community of support with their peers for sharing classroom challenges and lessons learned. In addition, trained teachers are provided with on-going follow-up in their classrooms by Right To Play staff, local partners and government officials. This coaching and mentoring support assists teachers to achieve the professional results they aim for, while building their commitment and engagement. Right To Play builds the capacity of district education officials and local teacher training colleges to train, coach and mentor teachers through the CoTT program. Results from the first three-year cycle of the CoTT across 8 countries will be shared.

Over 2017, Right To Play also undertook work to formalize its approach to using play for SEL development in crisis-affected contexts. Resilience research has identified specific skills that support individual resilience processes in children exposed to adversity (see for example, Betancourt & Khan 2008, Masten & Narayan 2012, Reyes 2013). Some examples include cognitive skills and self-regulation skills, agency and self-efficacy, empathy, communication, cooperation, hope, self-awareness, self-esteem, accountability, and sense of belonging. Emerging research linking play in crisis contexts to social emotional skill building finds that play supports critical reflection skills, communication skills, self-efficacy, an internal locus of control, and feelings of joy and hope for the future (Cook 2017). Drawing from a review of this research, results from external research its own programming for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and field experience across the Middle East, Right To Play defined a social emotional learning framework denoting the competencies in children that are critical to support their psychosocial well-being. Based on this framework, Right To Play developed a training package and games manual for teachers and coaches that aligns with these skills.

The psychosocial support training package complements the CoTT or can be used in combination with other training. The training method itself is play-based, and focuses on training teachers to understand their role in providing psychosocial support to students experiencing distress and/or trauma, including how to communicate with children, using play to build key social emotional skills (for resilience), creating safe and supportive learning environments, understanding support and referral systems, and self-care. The package also includes a resource book for teachers with games and activities designed to develop social emotional skills critical for psychosocial well-being. With the completion of the training package and games manual, Right To Play partners can train teachers in play-based learning with a focus on SEL skills development for psychosocial well-being, and to use play to facilitate healing, foster resilience, and support healthy child development. The design, structure and content from this training package will be shared.

References
Betancourt T., and K. Khan. 2008. “The mental health of children affected by armed conflict: protective processes and pathways to resilience.” International Review of Psychiatry 20(3):317–28.
Bridgeland, J., M. Bruce, & A. Hariharan. 2012. The Missing Piece: A National Teacher Survey on how Social and Emotional Learning Can Empower Children and Transform Schools. A Report for CASEL. Civil Enterprises and Peter D. Hart Research Associates.
Cook, P. 2017. “The Virtuous Circle of Play and Psychosocial Well-being: A review of Right To Play Education in Emergencies Programming with Syrian Refugees.” International Institute for Children’s Rights and Development.
Eisenberg, N., Valiente, C., & Eggum, N. D. 2010. “Self-regulation and school readiness.” Early Education and Development, 21(5), 681-698.
Elias, J.E. and M.J. Zins. 2007. “Social and emotional learning: Promoting the development of all students.” Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation 17(2-3).
Greenberg, M. T., Domitrovich, C. E., Weissberg, R. P., & Durlak, J. A. 2017. “Social and emotional learning as a public health approach to education.” The Future of Children, 27(1), 13-32
Jones, S. and S. Bouffard. 2012. “Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: From Programs to Strategies.” Social Policy Report, Society for Research in Child Development, 26(4).
Masten A. and Narayan. 2012. “Child Development in the Context of Disaster, War, and Terrorism: Pathways of Risk and Resilience.” Annual Review of Psychology, 63:227-57. Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Reyes, J. 2013. What Matters Most for Education Resilience: A Framework Paper. World Bank
Sameroff, A. 2010. “A unifed theory of development: A dialectic integration of nature and nurture.” Child Development, 81(1), 6-22.
Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. 2000. From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Weare, K. and M. Nind. 2011. “Mental health promotion and problem prevention in schools: What does the evidence say?” Health Promotion International 26: 129-169.

Author

• Andrea Diaz-Varela, Right To Play