Schools are closed in much of the United States, leaving students to hunker down at home for months without their usual outlets for learning and socializing. Educators say trying to meet their social-emotional needs will be more important than ever. Even when schools reopen, students might still be grappling with fears, anxieties, or lingering trauma.
But too often, experts say, teachers are tasked with implementing new social-emotional learning practices in their classrooms without adequate, ongoing support, which can tank the effectiveness of the initiative.
鈥淓verybody wants to do things quickly and efficiently, so there鈥檚 been a move toward online training as a way for teachers to do this,鈥� said Mark Greenberg, a professor of human development and psychology at Pennsylvania State University and a founder of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, known as CASEL. 鈥淭here鈥檚 little or no evidence that online training is sufficient to have teachers implement these programs with quality.鈥�
He continued: 鈥淚 think there are districts that feel they have to check SEL off as one thing they鈥檝e done. They purchase curricula and they buy online training, and in most cases, if you go back two years later, you won鈥檛 find anything [different in schools].鈥�
Sustained implementation and change in classrooms, Greenberg said, 鈥渞eally requires leadership and ongoing support.鈥�
After all, actively supporting the social and emotional development of students is not an innate skill. Veteran teachers are not used to some of these practices, and many new teachers didn鈥檛 learn these skills in their teacher-preparation programs.
But only 29 percent of teachers said they have received ongoing training in social-emotional learning that has continued throughout the school year, a new EdWeek Research Center survey found. A fifth of teachers say they never receive opportunities in their job to reflect upon and improve their own social-emotional skills.
To help, a growing number of districts have begun to hire SEL coaches to work with teachers. Others are training their principals alongside their teachers in order to boost the entire school鈥檚 commitment to that work.
At first, many teachers 鈥渢hink of SEL as just gushy, feeling stuff, and it鈥檚 not just that鈥攚e鈥檙e really looking at embedding it into our practices and our academic content areas as well,鈥� said Julie Carter, a SEL behavior coach in the North East Independent school district in San Antonio.
The Texas district has eight SEL coaches who lead professional-development sessions and work directly with teachers who need support. The coaches conduct observations, model instructional strategies, and help the teachers collect and analyze student data.
Carter said the coaching model has made teachers more comfortable with implementing new practices than a one-off training would.
鈥淲hen you do it just that one time, it鈥檚 hard to get it to stick,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is the way we鈥檙e getting it from the bottom up鈥攊t鈥檚 going to take more time for it to get to everyone, but it鈥檚 going to be so deeply embedded. It鈥檚 going to stay around longer because it will be part of the process, it鈥檚 not just one more [initiative].鈥�
Districtwide Changes
In the Andover public schools, a nearly 6,000-student district a half hour outside Boston, Superintendent Shelley Berman has made fostering 鈥渟afe, caring, and culturally responsive鈥� classrooms a priority.
Four years ago, the district created a sprint team鈥攁 group tasked with making significant changes quickly, freed from bureaucratic red tape鈥攖o incorporate social-emotional learning and culturally proficient practices into the district鈥檚 10 schools. The focus has been on: direct instruction in social skills; community service and service learning; creating a classroom climate that gives students a sense of community and mutual responsibility; and making sure all students feel welcome in school through culturally responsive curriculum and practices.
That starts with professional development, Berman said. Many teachers have gone through 10 days of training with Responsive Classroom, a SEL program that centers on generating a safe and engaging climate, in addition to in-house training. The district is now in the process of certifying some of its teachers to become Responsive Classroom trainers, too.
Also, Andover has sent teams of educators and administrators from four schools to participate in a yearlong certification program in social-emotional learning at William James College in Newton, Mass.
鈥淲e鈥檝e tried to go very deep in this work with training leaders and providing teachers with leadership opportunity as well,鈥� Berman said.
The district doesn鈥檛 have SEL coaches yet, he said, but that鈥檚 something it鈥檚 working toward.
So far, the efforts seem to be working: The district has administered a student-climate survey for the past three years, and Berman said there鈥檚 been 鈥渞eal growth鈥� in students鈥� sense of connection to their school community. (There hasn鈥檛 been improvement in every area, however: Berman said that students鈥� sense of safety has decreased since the district started doing active-shooter drills.)
At High Plain Elementary, the first year鈥檚 survey results revealed that not all students felt welcome. The school has a diverse population鈥攖he first language of about 30 percent of students is not English, with the most common languages being Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish鈥攁nd the results showed that educators were 鈥渕aybe not putting the time into saying children鈥檚 names correctly,鈥� said Principal Pamela Lathrop.
鈥淲hat we found was that sometimes kids didn鈥檛 think it was OK to correct a grown-up,鈥� said Lathrop, who is also the co-chair of the Andover district鈥檚 SEL sprint team. 鈥淲e have made an effort to spend time in letting children help us learn how to say their name correctly [and discussing] the importance of names.鈥�
To get to that point, she said, school leaders had to 鈥済uide the teachers through the work first.鈥� The school hosted a professional learning book club for which teachers read Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension, which examines identity.
Then, teachers shared the stories of how they got their own names and, in a group discussion, made the connection to their students.
School Leaders鈥� Role
After all, Lathrop said, 鈥渁nytime you want teachers to have a change or have an effect on kids, you have to also recognize teachers need to have that experience within themselves.鈥�
Click here for more exclusive SEL survey results.
That means if school leaders want teachers to greet students in the morning and make personal connections to them outside of academics, administrators have to walk the walk with their staff, she said.
鈥淵ou have to recognize that a teacher鈥檚 day is a long day, and you have to recognize that the demands on the teacher are high, and that sometimes you have to take a break and take care of a teacher鈥檚 social-emotional growth,鈥� she said.
For example, she has offered mindfulness activities for teachers and found nontraditional ways to celebrate teachers鈥� work. This year, the school鈥檚 faculty went together to see the movie 鈥淎 Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,鈥� which tells the story of Fred Rogers of TV鈥檚 鈥淢ister Rogers鈥� fame.
For Jill McCarthy, a 2nd grade teacher at High Plain, the movie outing was a 鈥渂reath of fresh air.鈥�
Activities like that, she said, show that school leaders 鈥渉ave faith in us ... [and] offer up so many opportunities to come together and celebrate our work.鈥� That positive environment is reflected in 鈥渙ur results and even the kids, the demeanor amongst each other, and the adults [with] the respect we carry within the building.鈥�
That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important for principals to be considered social-emotional leaders, as well as instructional ones, Penn State鈥檚 Greenberg said. Too often, he said, 鈥減rincipals get almost no training in SEL or in how to lead a school in a way that is caring, healthy, and respectful.鈥�
鈥淲hen principals are involved in a sustained way in the intervention, the teachers teach more effectively,鈥� Greenberg said.
In 澳门跑狗论坛鈥檚 survey, 87 percent of respondents said administrators had gotten training in SEL. But when school leaders were asked about the type of professional development they received, just 42 percent said they received ongoing training throughout the year.
It Takes Time
Even with a supportive school culture, it takes time for teachers to learn how to implement social-emotional learning in their classrooms, educators say.
Berman, the superintendent in Andover, said that鈥檚 especially true for high school teachers, who already have a lot of standards and content to cover. And older students tend to have more significant issues and conflicts than their younger classmates, Berman said, leaving some high school teachers to feel like they鈥檙e 鈥渘ot trained as a guidance counselor.鈥�
Click here for more exclusive SEL survey results.
The district is planning to do more professional development around classroom culture at the high school level, he said.
Teachers don鈥檛 know what they don鈥檛 know, which makes ongoing support so important, said Lindsey Frank, a climate and social-emotional learning coach for Community Consolidated School District 59 in Elk Grove Village, Ill. The coaching is optional, but Frank, who is the sole SEL coach in the district, said more and more teachers have begun reaching out for support.
鈥淣ow that it鈥檚 a part of our culture as a district, we鈥檝e seen that shift where a lot of people do find a lot more confidence in being able to support students,鈥� she said.
