The Development of Teachers' and Their Students' Social and Emotional Learning During the “Learning to Be Project”-Training Course in Five European Countries

Abstract

In recent years, the school curricula in many European countries have introduced social and emotional learning (SEL). This calls for the teachers to have SEL competencies. The present study evaluates teachers' and their students' readiness for SEL during an intervention in five European countries. The participants were teachers (n = 402) in five European countries; Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain. The pre- and post-measuring points for both the intervention and the comparison group were at approximately the same time before and after the intervention. Comparison data consisted of 159 teachers in the same countries. The training for the intervention group lasted 16 h for the teachers and a maximum of 16 h for the principles and headmasters. An additional 9 h of further monitoring took place. There were two student groups participating in the study: the age group of 8–11 years (pre puberty) and the age group of 12–15-years (adolescents). Students, whose teachers had participated in the intervention, formed the intervention group (n = 2,552). Those students, whose teachers did not participate in the intervention, formed the comparison group (n = 1,730). The questionnaire data were collected at the beginning and at the end of the school year for both age groups. The results indicated that there was a favorable development in the intervention group in some of the measured skills among students, but the effects were different for the two age groups. This study adds to both theoretical and practical development of continuing teacher training about SEL and its possible role in reducing problem behavior among the students.

Benefits Of A Social And Emotional Learning Program For Norwegian Teachers

“…It is also possible that students' SEL develops only partially. In our previous study, even 8-11 old students developed only in their intrapersonal competence, namely, self-awareness and self-management (Berg et al, 2021). Interestingly, both above-mentioned results (Corcocan et al, 2018;Larsen et al, 2021) were collected among teenagers.…”

“…Regarding SEL skills, Corcoran, Cheung et al (2018) stated that even the most popular SEL approaches used at school do not always present strong evidence of effectiveness in learning SEL. For example, our own international study in five EU countries showed that after the SEL intervention the favourable outcomes took place only among 8-11 years old students but nor among teenagers (Berg et al, 2021). It is also possible that students' SEL develops only partially.…”

Validation of Italian students’ self-ratings on the SSIS SEL brief scales

“…Although comprehensive SEL programs have recently been developed to promote SEL in schools across Europe also (see, for instance, Agliati et al, 2020 ; Berg et al, 2021 ; Cefai et al, 2022 ), there is currently a lack of validated measures for evaluating SEL in European countries ( Anthony et al, 2022a ). A recent review ( Cavioni and Grazzani, 2023 ) identified one exception to this pattern: the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) battery, which was first standardized in the United States ( LeBuffe et al, 2014 ) and then adapted for use in Italy.…”

Promoting teachers' wellbeing through a serious game intervention: a qualitative exploration of teachers' experiences

“…Research has found that supporting the development of teachers' social and emotional skills - such as the ability to recognize and regulate their own emotions (particularly anxiety and stress), collaboration, empathy, self-efficacy, and the ability to seek and maintain social support - increase their wellbeing (Pulido-Martos et al, 2016 ; Collie et al, 2020 ; Mariani et al, 2020 ; Ornaghi et al, 2022 , 2023 ). In turn, positive effects may be visible also on students' achievements, motivation, school belonging, and mental health (Harding et al, 2019 ; Berg et al, 2021 ; Cefai et al, 2022 ). While previous research has recognized the importance of focusing on teachers' wellbeing (Cavioni et al, 2020 ; Lester et al, 2020 ; Hascher et al, 2021 ), still limited attention has been given to the development and implementation of targeted interventions that directly address the unique challenges faced by educators (Cavioni et al, 2023b ).…”