Centering Equity and Caring in Leadership for Social-Emotional Learning: Toward a Conceptual Framework for Diverse Learners

Abstract

School leaders must navigate nonacademic barriers to learning. One type of affective, nonacademic reform is social-emotional learning (SEL), a quickly growing K–12 school initiative. Yet scant empirical literature exists on the actions, interactions, and beliefs of school principals charged with leading SEL reforms. The needs of diverse learners in SEL reforms—and how school leaders might create culturally relevant, gender-aware, queer-friendly SEL programming—are ignored by empirical research. This article seeks to contribute conceptually by exploring two questions: To what extent does current research inform school leadership of SEL implementation for diverse learners? How might school leaders conceptualize the implementation of SEL reforms from a caring, equity-oriented lens? A leadership framework for SEL reforms, rooted in caring and equity, is proposed.

Muddy sensemaking: Making sense of socio-emotional skills amidst a vague policy context

“…In this study, the CASEL framework was a useful conceptual organizing scheme aiding practitioners in making sense of the concept of SEL skills, though a few exceptions were present. This finding implies that in the midst of ambiguity and change in education policy embracing SEL skills (Kennedy, 2019;Osher et al, 2016), having clearer conceptual clarity prior to interacting with students may help practitioners make sense of the SEL skills they must promote. It is true that in this case study, the practitioners promoted SEL skills even though they had a partial and vague understanding of the concept at the start of the program.…”

“…Deficit-based narratives of students and lack of understanding regarding structural inequities can frustrate the implementation of SEL practices. (Kennedy, 2019;Trach et al, 2018). An asset-based framework that accounts for structural inequities hindering students' abilities to develop their SEL skills can help leaders frame SEL development as asset-based and contextualize structural inequities for practitioners as they work with students (Kennedy, 2019).…”

“…The CASEL framework had two main limitations in the study. First, a few participants identified issues not explicitly acknowledged or described in the CASEL framework: the importance of morality in decision-making; embracement and development of African American and Latinx students' cultural capital; and the role of trauma in relation to the five skills (Kennedy, 2019;Osher, Pamela, Berg, Steyer & Rose, 2017;Pawlo, Lorenzo, Eichert & Elias, 2019. Second, while the framework described five skills and provided the practitioners greater conceptual clarity, it did not provide much guidance about how to promote the five skills, especially when issues such as ethnoracial tension or trauma arose (Baker & Clark, 2017;Manning-Oulette & Beatty, 2019).…”

“…Additionally, CASEL has not yet fully included trauma-informed ideas into the framework (CASEL, n.d.a). A growing body of literature discusses the importance of making all SEL frameworks trauma-informed because these frameworks are adopted across all contexts and students with trauma are learning across all different contexts (Kennedy, 2019;Osher et al, 2017;Pawlo et al, 2019).…”

Introduction to the Journal of School Leadership Special Issue: Educational Leadership Serving Diverse Learners

“…The second article in this special issue, by Kennedy (2019), examines the role of school leaders in social-emotional learning (SEL) and probes two distinct questions: (1) To what extent does current research inform school leadership of SEL implementation for diverse learners? and (2) How might school leaders conceptualize the implementation of SEL reforms from a caring, equity-oriented lens?…”