Date of Award
Spring 5-26-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Educational Foundations and Counseling
First Advisor
Sarah Bonner
Second Advisor
Peggy Chen
Abstract
Children and youth develop within an ecological context that includes family, peers, and broader social environments including school. Children’s understanding of their ethnic or racial group and the meaning they attribute to belonging in that group is also shaped by interactions in their school environment. Most research on school-based social-emotional learning (SEL) programs has focused on student behavioral and academic outcomes. However, as SEL spreads across U.S. K-12 schools, questions have emerged surrounding how children from diverse racial and cultural groups and unequal opportunity can benefit from universal SEL programs. Using a mixed-methods design, this study explores teachers’ understanding and perceptions of SEL as a tool to foster healthy Racial-Ethnic Identity (REI) development, outlines strategies that teachers use to respond to students’ cultural and racial identities as a way to support healthy social and emotional development, and assesses how teacher beliefs vary based on differences in schools’ SEL program characteristics and efforts to bridge SEL and equity school wide. Correlational analyses showed that teachers with higher comfort and commitment with SEL are most likely to work in schools that have adopted equity related practices associated with high quality implementation of SEL programs. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that teachers require more clarity around the place of SEL generally and as a lever for equity in their school, as well as more support for their own reflection and learning of social, emotional, and cultural competencies. Results have relevant implications for the adoption and implementation of quality SEL in schools serving minoritized students.
Recommended Citation
Gutierrez, Juliana, "Teacher Beliefs and Experiences Addressing Healthy Racial and Ethnic Identity Instructionally Through Social Emotional Learning" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1249
Included in
Accessibility Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Child Psychology Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Comparative Psychology Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Holistic Education Commons, Indigenous Education Commons, International and Comparative Education Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Other Education Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons, School Psychology Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons, Social Justice Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons
