Date of Award
2024
Degree Name
Leadership Studies
College
College of Education and Professional Development
Type of Degree
Ed.D.
Document Type
Dissertation
First Advisor
Dr. Feon Smith, Committee Chairperson
Second Advisor
Dr. Eugenia Lambert
Third Advisor
Dr. Glenna Howell
Abstract
This dissertation was inspired by the researcher’s own experiences as a K-8 teacher. Reflecting on her struggles with classroom management and meeting the social and emotional needs of students who had experienced trauma, the researcher chose to take a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to studying Illinois elementary school teachers’ self-efficacy and motivation with regard to social and emotional learning (SEL) as influenced by community, district, and school level factors as well as the teachers’ own beliefs and practices. Five teachers in four different Illinois school districts were interviewed for this paper; the researcher also includes data from a pilot study with another Illinois teacher as these data inform the current study.
The dissertation begins by providing definitions of SEL and an overview of Illinois policies and practices. Definitions are provided for key terminology, and a description of the hermeneutic process to be followed is also included.
The second chapter includes a review of relevant literature. This literature includes descriptions of SEL and its importance, specific aspects of SEL, the importance of teacher voice when studying SEL, and teachers’ experiences with SEL. The literature review also includes reviews of meta-analyses and literature reviews, the results of the researcher’s own database searches, and phenomenological and qualitative studies closely related to this paper.
The third chapter outlines the researcher’s methodology. This includes an overview of the hermeneutic phenomenological process, followed by the protocols followed for recruiting and interviewing participants, and the researcher’s process of transcribing, coding, and analyzing interview data. Subsequently the chapter describes processes for obtaining additional data on participants and their schools and districts, including neighborhood visits, review of teacher contracts, and Illinois State Board of Education school report cards.
The fourth chapter details the results of this research. Commonalities found among participants include the importance of training, teachers’ frustrations with time constraints, and the conflicting demands of meeting students’ social and emotional needs while preparing them for high stakes testing. Differences in participants’ lived experiences were influenced by factors including the socioeconomic makeup of the student population and the priorities teachers perceived administrators to express. Teachers described implementing multiple strategies for teaching SEL skills as well as maintaining a positive climate and culture in their classrooms.
The final chapter of the paper draws conclusions regarding the limitations, delimitations, indications for future study, and potential implications of the research. The researcher intentionally limited the study to public schools in Illinois that served at least ten percent each Black and Latinx students; the participants who responded served at least 70% Black and Latinx students. All six of the teachers who participated were female; four were white and two were Black. Future research could make a conscious effort to reach a larger pool of participants, especially males, Latinx, and Middle Eastern/ North African teachers to include their perspectives. Despite these limitations and delimitations, the research seems to indicate that administrators’ messaging and priorities have a significant influence over the consistency with which SEL is practiced in a school, and that training is also a key component of successful implementation, especially when that training is relevant to the age and needs of the students with whom teachers work.
Subject(s)
Cultural pluralism.
Hermeneutics.
Phenomenology.
Emotions and social behavior -- Knowledge and learning.
Recommended Citation
Dalrymple, Siobhan, "The kids are not alright: teachers’ perspectives on social and emotional learning in diverse populations" (2024). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 1899.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1899
Included in
Educational Leadership Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons
