Poster #81 - Preparing for SEL: Pre-service School Professionals Applying Social-Emotional Competencies and Considering the Role of Race

• In Event: 2-055 - Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

The impacts of race and ethnicity on individuals’ experiences are increasingly discussed in school-based professions including multicultural counseling (Carter, 1995; Sue, 2005), culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2000), and culturally responsive social work (Bender, Negi & Fowler, 2010). Despite this, there remains much to be understood about how race and ethnicity impact social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. The current study examines: 1) how pre-service educators and school social work interns used the context of an SEL training to reflect on SEL strategies and the role of race in SEL implementation during their student-teaching placements and social work internships; and 2) how and why paricipants plan to incorporate SEL in their professional roles post-graduation. Not much is known about what pre-service school professionals think about SEL before entering the profession, as training and implementation support are not yet a requirement of most preparation programs (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Waajid, Garner & Owen, 2013).
Participants were pre-service elementary school teachers (n=5) and pre-service school social workers (n=4) in a multidisciplinary training that focused on supporting students’ social and emotional competencies while attending to issues of race and professional collaboration. The training took place over six two-hour sessions, followed by a two-hour focus group conducted three months after the training. The follow-up focus group was used to evaluate the training, including participants’ perceptions of it. Transcripts of each training session and the focus group were examined using qualitative content analysis. Following an initial phase of inductive coding, the transcripts were coded for data related to the research questions—considering how participants address race in the context of SEL, and how they talk about SEL in their future roles. Codes were then categorized and their patterns, connections, and latent meanings are currently being interpreted.
Preliminary analyses reveal two themes: 1) the use of experience to interpret social and emotional competencies; and 2) processes for SEL implementation that consider potential obstacles. Participants expressed understanding of social and emotional competencies using examples from their lives—interpreting situations they experienced, or observed in their school-based placements. Race and ethnicity were identified as factors that impact SEL in the classroom, and participants reflected on the extent to which their programs prepared them to work within contexts affected by and with young people experiencing discrimination. Barriers to SEL implementation were a common concern, and participants discussed strategies to address anticipated challenges including collaboration.
The results of this study will hopefully provide insight into what shapes school-based professionals ideas about SEL, and their preparation to provide effective social and emotional learning opportunities that are supportive of and informed by their students’ racial-ethnic identities. Continued analysis will include consideration of the implications for training and professional development for school-based professionals.
WORD COUNT: 451

Authors

• Katlin Brown, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Marisha Humphries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cassandra McKay-Jackson, Erikson Institute
  Non-Presenting Author