Assessing Teachers’ Beliefs About Social and Emotional Learning

Abstract

Teachers are the primary implementers of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. Their beliefs about SEL likely influence program delivery, evaluation, and outcomes. A simple tool for measuring these beliefs could be used by school administrators to determine school readiness for SEL programming and by researchers to better understand teacher variables that impact implementation fidelity and program outcomes. In a two-phase study, we developed and then validated a parsimonious measure of teachers' beliefs about SEL. In Phase 1, survey items were administered to 935 teachers and subjected to both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, resulting in three reliable scales pertaining to teachers' comfort with teaching SEL, commitment to learning about SEL, and perceptions about whether their school culture supports SEL. Phase 2 provided evidence for the concurrent and predictive validity of the scales with a subsample of teachers implementing an SEL program as part of a randomized controlled trial. The discussion focuses on the value of measuring teachers' beliefs about SEL from both researcher and practitioner perspectives.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Students’ Social Emotional Learning and their Infusion of SEL

“…Furthermore, a majority (78%) of teachers were relatively confident of infusing SEL. Indeed, a recent study (Brackett et al, 2012) showed that teachers who were more confident in their ability to teach the SEL programme perceived it as more effective, and enjoyed the program. Moreover, previous studies (Guskey, 1988;Rohrbach, Graham, & Hansen, 1993) substantiated that teachers' confidence was linked to their perceptions of the importance and difficulties associated with the implementation of SEL programmes.…”

“…This may in turn affect the quality of their relationship with their students. The influence of the school's culture (Hallinger & Heck, 1996;Patti & Tobin, 2006;Fullan, Miles, & Taylor, 1980) can also affect teachers' commitment to implement SEL programmes and model SEL skills (McCormick, Steckler, & McLeroy, 1995;Brackett, Reyes, Rivers, Elbertson, & Salovey, 2012). As such, teachers are powerful influences of students with their subject knowledge impacting pedagogy and delivery (Hmelo-Silver & Barrows, 2006;VanDriel, Bulte & Verloop, 2007).…”

Diversity in Unity: Perspectives from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

“…In the current study, the SEL culture factor is excluded due to its similarity to school climate. Furthermore, teachers' perceptions of SEL have been found to influence the implementation of SEL in the classroom (Brackett, et al, 2011), which correlates positively with job satisfaction and teaching efficacy, while at the same time being negatively correlated with stress among teachers (Collie, et al, 2012). In special education, for example in the teaching of mentally disabled students, SEL is already integrated as part of the curriculum that the students must be able to learn (Dewi, 2016;Mustam, 2015).…”

“…Teacher's belief of SEL influence the type of learning environments created by the teacher, as well as students' academic performance and beliefs about their own abilities that later influence their teaching efficacy (Brackett, et al, 2011). Three factors contribute to a teacher's SEL belief, namely comfort, commitment, and culture (Brackett, et al, 2011). In the current study, the SEL culture factor is excluded due to its similarity to school climate.…”

“…Teachers who perceive SEL positively were reported feeling greater sense of accomplishment in teaching, greater adaptive selfefficacy, and lower sense of stress (Brackett, et al, 2011). SEL is defined as the nurturing of the social and emotional awareness and skills of students (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2003;Weissberg, et al, 2008).…”