Science for public understanding: Developing a new course for 16–18 year old students

Social emotional learning (SEL) is common in preschools and schools both in Europe and North America today. Programmes for socio-emotional training and the rise of what is labelled therapeutic education have dramatically increased during the first decade of the millennium. In this article, a manual-based programme used for SEL in a Swedish school context is analysed from perspectives rooted in childhood sociology and post-structural studies. The aim of this study is to analyse the discursive constructions of a context of risk and the instilment of specific corporeal regimes. The main issue concerns the meaning and use of the body in the discursive construction of the social competent child within this context of risk. The analysis shows that the socially competent child is shaped and cultivated through self-regulating techniques aiming at creating a docile body, a body that will be a good citizen, a pliant member of the social order.

Social emotional learning (SEL) is common in preschools and schools both in Europe and North America today. Programmes for socio-emotional learning and what is labelled therapeutic education (Ecclestone &; Hayes, 2007; Furedi, 2009) have dramatically increased during the first decade of the millennium. In Sweden, schools often justify their use of these programmes as a way of organizing their value-based education (von Brömssen, 2011), that is, as a way of realizing the democratic ambitions expressed in educational policy documents, such as the national curriculum.     

Understanding how schools fail children

From time immemorial the efforts of educators to produce effective solutions to the problems plaguing instruction have been frustrated. This frustration emanates from the erroneous assumptions supporting their beliefs about schooling, learning and the essence of the questions seeking solutions. Early research efforts only compounded the problem by providing practitioners with the right answers to the wrong questions about effective schooling and learning. Gradually, the past errors of pedagogic empiricism are being corrected. We now realize that most learners, not merely the intellectual elite, can learn when instruction is properly sequenced and paced; that it is more important to examine what teachers do than to look at what they are; that schools have covert as well as overt curricula; and that many institutions besides schools teach important learnings. When scholastic and extra-scholastic instructional goals ar synchronous and harmonious, learning is optimal. When they are not, the resulting dissonance is destructive to the best efforts of schools to teach. The gap between what is known about effective instruction and current educational practices is cavernous. Proposed procedures for transforming theory into practice have largely been ignored. The transformation begins by enticing bright students into teacher preparation programmes which have been revitalized to make emerging knowledge about schooling and learning the focal point of instruction. To complete the instructional improvement cycle, schools must interface learners with carefully monitored delivery systems guaranteed to produce the desired learnings.     

Special Education Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Implementing Social–Emotional Learning to Support Students with Learning Disabilities

This study was designed to determine how special education teachers (SETs) in Saudi Arabia perceive their self-efficacy in implementing social–emotional learning (SEL) practices to support students with learning disabilities (LD). The data were collected by surveying 109 SETs of students with LD who teach at elementary and middle schools in Riyadh. The findings demonstrate that SETs had low to moderate self-efficacy in putting SEL into practice, and the participants highlighted the importance of receiving support that can enhance their self-efficacy in SEL. Moreover, the study's findings show some statistically significant variations in the responses of the teachers, as those who attended more professional development programs reported higher levels of self-efficacy. Additionally, middle school teachers and teachers with fewer years of experience showed a higher need for receiving support to enhance their implementation of SEL. Recommendations for future studies and practices are provided.     

Taming the Pendulum: Striking a Balance

A major challenge facing today's educators is to dispel the notion that education is like a pendulum that swings to and fro, from one popular practice to another popular but different and sometimes opposite practice and then back to an earlier popular practice. We have the debates between phonics and whole language, between cooperative learning and direct instruction, between back to the basics and accelerated curriculum, and so on, as if what is going on in education is an either-or proposition. No wonder the public is confused and concerned. We have amassed a wealth of knowledge and understanding about best practices and what works in teaching and learning. However, as educators, we must become increasingly sophisticated in accessing and applying this knowledge in our schools and communities to help children learn to become "well-rounded individuals" and better their life chances, while assuring that these applications are age appropriate to the children with whom we work.     

Advancements in the Landscape of Social and Emotional Learning and Emerging Topics on the Horizon

Around the globe, dialogs about educational reform and the integration of social and emotional learning (SEL) into policy and curriculum are proliferating. SEL is now a worldwide phenomenon and not just a passing fad, with SEL approaches and programs being implemented in countries throughout the world. Articles included in this special issue are authored by several of the SEL pioneers whose papers represent the current and emerging innovations in the field central to advancing SEL research. I offer 3 observations raised collectively in these articles: (a) social and emotional competencies predict children’s success in school and in life, (b) social and emotional competencies are malleable—they can be taught and assessed, and (c) explicit attention to context is foundational to the promotion of SEL. I also provide some additional suggestions for advancing SEL work, including (a) understanding and promoting teacher well-being, and (b) integrating SEL into teacher preparation.     

Establishing systemic social and emotional learning approaches in schools: a framework for schoolwide implementation

Abstract

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a fundamental part of education. Incorporating high-quality SEL programming into day-to-day classroom and school practices has emerged as a main goal for many practitioners over the past decade. The present article overviews the current state of SEL research and practice, with a particular focus on the United States. The need for a model of SEL that goes beyond the classroom is illustrated, and a systemic approach to implementing SEL school-wide is introduced. It is argued that school-wide SEL maximises the benefits of SEL programming by becoming the organising framework for fostering students’ potential as scholars, community members, and citizens. Further, a Theory of Action (ToA) developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is presented that serves as a blueprint for implementing systemic SEL in schools. Potential challenges and barriers involved in moving toward school-wide SEL implementation are considered and discussed.     

RULER: A Theory-Driven,Systemic Approach to Social,Emotional, and Academic Learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process of integrating cognition, emotion, and behavior in our lives. In school settings, it involves systemic practices to incorporate SEL into leading, teaching, learning such that adults and children build self- and social awareness, learn to manage their own and other’s emotions and behavior, make responsible decisions, and build positive relationships. Here, we describe RULER, a systemic evidence-based approach to SEL, including its Theory of Change, and key theories that are foundational to the approach. RULER’s implementation model also is described, which involves training for school leaders, educators, and staff; integrating SEL into the curriculum across grade levels; infusing SEL into schoolwide practices and policies; and engaging families and the broader community. RULER’s current and expected outcomes for children and adults are reviewed, including both proximal (e.g., more developed emotion skills and enhanced classroom climate) and distal (e.g., reduced teacher stress and burnout and greater academic performance) outcomes. RULER’s future directions also are discussed.     

COLLABORATION FOR A CURRICULUM OF CARING: THE ZEITGEIST IS RIGHT

Recent catastrophic school shootings have drawn worldwide attention to issues of gun control and mental health. In the wake of these tragedies, more and more schools have begun to adopt school‐wide social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. However, we have few examples of what it looks like to integrate SEL skills into content curricula. What's more, teachers and support professionals are ill‐equipped to engage in the collaborative work necessary to effectively integrate the teaching of SEL into academic content. The collaboration described herein highlights an interdisciplinary collaboration among university faculty and graduate students from school psychology and English education to collaboratively design and evaluate standards‐based secondary English curricula that foreground SEL and themes of care.     

SATurated models of pupildom: Assessment and inclusion/exclusion

Adopting a sociocultural theoretical framework and based on ethnographic data from two primary schools, this article seeks to answer the question: what meanings about inclusion and exclusion are encoded in school and classroom practices? It documents the (inclusionary and) exclusionary pedagogic processes that influence learning and children's participation in the learning opportunities on offer to them. From their analysis of observational, interview and documentary data, externally‐imposed and monitored regimes of assessment are what really matters in the school lives of the year six children in the authors' fieldwork schools. Assessment, narrowed to testing, defines the school day, the curriculum, the teacher's responsibilities, the pupil's worth, the ideal parent, and what counts as ability; it pushes towards a particular type of learning at the expense of other types. The article begins with a brief theoretical and methodological account of the study and a note on each participating school. It then suggests and discusses models of ‘SATurated pupildom' that are supported by the data. Versions of learning and ability as well as teacher subject positions that variously fit with the demands of summative assessments for accountability purposes, but that do not square with valuing diversity, are also discussed. The conclusion briefly considers the findings in the context of a macro‐culture that circumscribes what schools and teachers must value most and in relation to tensions within New Labour's push for standardisation on the one hand and inclusion and social justice on the other.     

Reciprocal Learning,Pedagogy and High-Performing Education Systems: Learnings from and for Singapore

ABSTRACT

Employing Connelly and Xu’s (this issue) conceptualisation of reciprocal learning, the article explores the potential for reciprocal learning about pedagogy provided by a body of PISA-inspired literature on high-performing education systems. I argue that the opportunities for reciprocal learning provided by that body of literature is rather limited and problematic because of its uncritical acceptance of the OECD’s basic premises about PISA and because of its employment of the ‘best practices’ approach to policy borrowing. Using Singapore as a case, I contend that reciprocal learning needs to be informed by the cultural historical narratives behind the development of an education system and a theory of pedagogy that locates the practice of teaching within a broad social, institutional, and instructional context of schooling. I discuss lessons from and for Singapore concerning the purposes of schooling, institutional norms and arrangements, and pedagogical practice.     

Early Childhood Teachers’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Their Elementary School’s Approach to Social Emotional Learning: A Mixed Methods Study

Early Childhood Education Journal - The promotion of Social emotional learning (SEL) in elementary schools has increased; however, little is known about early childhood teachers’ perceptions...     

Teachers' beliefs about social-emotional learning: Identifying teacher profiles and their relations with job stress and satisfaction

This study examines the extent to which teachers may be grouped based on their beliefs about social-emotional learning (SEL). SEL is aimed at promoting students' social and emotional competencies (e.g., responsible decision making, social awareness). Research suggests that in addition to being relevant to student outcomes, SEL is also relevant to teachers' experiences at work. We utilized latent profile analysis to identify profiles of teachers based on three different beliefs—comfort with SEL, commitment to improving SEL skills, and perceptions of principal and school-wide support for SEL. Findings revealed three different profiles—the SEL-thriver, SEL-striver, and SEL-advocate—that have differential levels of comfort and perceived support for SEL, but not commitment for SEL. Findings also demonstrated that the profiles were associated with differences in several socio-demographic characteristics and two outcomes—teacher stress and job satisfaction. Combined, the findings have implications for teachers as well as students and schools.     

Contemporary school knowledge democracy: possible meanings,promising perspectives and necessary prerequisites

ABSTRACT

The basic aim of this paper is to discuss the concept ‘Knowledge Democracy’ (KD) and what it can mean in the school context, its implications on knowledge production and dissemination and on the educational practices. We try to enrich this discussion by presenting action research projects to provide case studies of how thinking about KD can reshape educational practice. We consider that the discussion on KD has to be enriched as the concept seems very promising with good prospects towards school’s democratization. On the other hand, as it is quite new, it can encompass internal contradictions that can cause problems at the level of practice. So, we consider very important any contribution to this discussion not as another theoretical sample of the debate on the ‘politics of knowledge’, but because any improvement at the thinking of the issue can be reflected on school practices. Any challenge to traditional politics of knowledge can lead to a deeper understanding of the world of schooling and to transformations through new discourses and new approaches to teaching and learning in school.     

教育原则的澄清与重构

教育原则是教育理论中一个非常重要的问题。教育原则的确立有其标准和依据。教育不一定给予学生幸福,但必须避免学生痛苦;教育造成的学生痛苦应是学生自觉自愿的,是有助于学生身心发展的,这是两条基本的教育原则。     

What Leadership Practices Are Associated with International Baccalaureate (IB) Student Achievement? An Exploratory Study of IB Schools in Southeast Asia

This article explores what leadership practices are associated with International Baccalaureate (IB) student achievement. Using a combined data set of Diploma Program (DP) exam scores and teachers’ survey responses about school leadership from 29 schools in Southeast Asia, the article reports certain leadership practices (i.e., strategic resourcing, monitoring classroom teaching and curriculum, encouraging teacher learning and development) exercised in the sampled IB schools that are significantly associated with student academic outcomes. This article contributes to empirical literature on school leadership effects on student learning in international school settings, which is an underresearched inquiry in the field.     

Taking an inclusive turn

This special edition of the journal focuses on what is, arguably, the biggest challenge facing education systems, that of developing practices that will reach out to those learners who are failed by existing arrangements. Specifically, the papers look at ways of using the views of stakeholders in order to move schools and other centres of learning in a more inclusive direction.
My own contribution is to provide an overall context for the ideas presented by the authors. I do this by first reflecting on what inclusion in education means and then outlining my own thoughts on what research suggests about strategies for moving thinking and practice forward. This leads me to stress the importance of evidence as a 'lever for change' ( Ainscow, 2005 , p. 111).     

A national evaluation of the impact of the secondary social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) programme

In recent years, the English education system has reflected a worldwide interest in social and emotional learning (SEL), as evidenced by the national launch of the secondary social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) programme in 2007. SEAL is a whole-school approach designed to positively influence a range of pupil outcomes, including increased social and emotional skills, better behaviour and reduced mental health difficulties. The aim of the current study was to examine the impact of SEAL on such outcomes. The study utilised a quantitative, quasi-experimental design with a sample of 22 schools (approximately 2360 pupils) implementing the SEAL programme, and 19 ‘matched comparison’ schools (approximately 1991 pupils), selected on the basis of similar school-level characteristics. A cohort of pupils in these schools completed annual self-rated assessments of their social and emotional skills (using the Emotional Literacy Assessment and Intervention instrument), mental health difficulties and pro-social behaviour (using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) over a two-year period. After controlling for a range of school- and pupil-level characteristics, analysis using multi-level modelling indicated marginal, non-significant effects of the SEAL programme on pupils’ social and emotional skills and mental health difficulties, and no significant effect on their pro-social behaviour. The study findings are discussed in relation to existing evidence about the effectiveness of the SEAL programme and the broader SEL evidence base.     

Teacher professional development to support teacher professional learning: Systemic Factors from Irish case studies

Teacher professional learning is widely accepted as a mediating factor for enhancing student outcomes. While many teachers across the world engage in professional development (PD) to enhance their professional learning, what is less evident is how to support that learning to result in change following teacher PD. Acknowledging that not all teacher PD needs to result in new practices and change, this paper focuses on a transformative model of PD, focused on implementing and sustaining change. This paper offers evidence of successful implementation and sustainability of practices by drawing from in-depth semi-structured interviews with teachers and principals in five Irish case study schools. It reports on the Systemic Factors to support implementation and sustainability of change: Support, Initiative design and Impact and Teacher Agency. Implications are drawn for bridging the gap between knowledge and practice or teacher PD and change within schools.     

Influencing variables and moderators of transfer of learning to the workplace within the area of staff development in higher education: Research review

The goal of staff development in higher education is a change in teacher practices to positively influence student learning. In other words, the goal of staff development is the transfer of learning to the workplace. Research illuminates that this transfer of learning to the workplace is a complex issue. To make an accurate assessment of staff development initiatives one must consider what works for whom and under what conditions. We need to understand which influencing variables actually lead to which effects. Furthermore, we have to gain insight into moderators in the relationship between influencing variables and transfer of learning.With this interdisciplinary review we combine the findings of management, Human Resource Development (HRD), and organisational psychological research with educational research. We attempt to generate guidelines for further research to improve staff development by revealing gaps in earlier research on impact of staff development.