Across North America concerns have been raised about the social, emotional, and mental health of our youth. Many primary prevention programs have been proposed to address these issues, however, few have met the criteria for effective interventions, including being longitudinal, cross-curricular, emphasizing specific concepts and skills, and being within the skills and understandings of teachers and the school system at large (McCombs, 2004). The Respecting Diversity (RD) program is a social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention designed by teachers that uses a Multiple Intelligences (MI) framework to develop self-awareness, self-respect and respect for diverse others. It teaches skills such as goal setting, meta-cognition, and perspective taking that underlie SEL. The program is designed to develop, a safe, positive classroom climate to begin the school year, and facilitate social and academic learning. The study herein was intended to explore emotional and behavioral outcomes of the RD program. The study involved 218 intermediate (grades 4-7) students and their teachers, divided into intervention and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of self-awareness, self-respect, awareness of others, and respect for others. Measures of classroom climate were also included. Students completed several measures of SEL, and a selected sample were interviewed to obtain detailed information about their experiences in inclusive diverse classrooms, and with the RD program itself. Data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including thematic content analysis procedures and repeated measures MANCOVA’s. Both students and teachers indicated that the RD program significantly increased students’ self-respect, awareness of others, and respect for others, while students in control classrooms decreased in these factors. Classroom climate also significantly improved for treatment classrooms, and, similarly, decreased in control classrooms. Results are discussed in terms of their educational implications, limitations, and suggestions for further research.

xiii, 126 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Given the staggering prevalence of 12-22% of school children with mental health problems and the paucity of effective mental health services available, it is essential that professionals examine alternative methods for providing social and emotional support to children (Greenberg, Bumbarger, & Domitrovich, 2001). Rather than continuing with a service delivery approach that is reactive, fragmented, and inefficient, professionals are called to consider a more preventive approach that ensures the health of all children. A public health model of intervention can provide a conceptual framework for mental health service delivery in its aim to serve an entire population and to provide multi-tiered support (universal, targeted, indicated) that increases in intensity based on the needs of individual persons (Coie et al, 2000). Members of the Oregon Resiliency Project, a research effort at the University of Oregon, have spent the last several years developing one such set of SEL curricula, appropriate for children in grades pre-k-12, the Strong Kids programs, Strong Start: K-2 , (Merrell, Parisi, & Whitcomb, 2007), is a component of Strong Kids , developmentally applicable to kindergarten through second grade students. The purpose of this study was to implement a pilot or feasibility study that examined the impact of Strong Start on first grade students' social-emotional knowledge skills, with a particular emphasis on emotion knowledge, social behavior and affect. Pretest data collection of Strong Start began in Fall 2007 in 4 classrooms in a suburban, northwestern school district. Implementation of the intervention occurred in Winter 2008 and posttest data were gathered in Spring 2008. Results indicated that Strong Start was implemented with integrity, and that significant increases in students' knowledge about emotion situations and significant decreases in students' internalizing behaviors were associated with exposure to the program. Limitations of this study as well as directions for future research are discussed. / Committee in charge: Kenneth Merrell, Chairperson, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Cynthia Anderson, Member, Special Education and Clinical Sciences; Elizabeth Stormshak, Member, Counseling Psychology and Human Services; John Seeley, Member, not from U of 0; Sara Hodges, Outside Member, Psychology

This thesis reports on a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the SEL policy makers’ conversations taking place in England and Wales during the New Labour period. The research sets out to offer a critical explanation of Welsh and English SEL policy thinking and doing and how the SEL policy discourse worked to privilege certain ideas and topics and speakers and exclude others. Thinking with theory and building on the work of Apple (2007) and Ball (2012) I draw on the contemporary tenets of critical theory to examine the (dominant) English and (often subjugated) Welsh discourse(s) to historically locate and contextualise the mainstream SEL literature within the ideological discourse of neoliberalism (Harvey, 2005). This neoliberalism is one which unequivocally drives policy in the direction of markets and propounds a thorough marketization of educational provisions and practices (Lynch, 2006).Drawing on data from a series of eight semi structured interviews with key national level policymakers, alongside documentary analysis, I argue that New Labour in England, particularly in its second term, through a particular policy network and the SEAL programme, adopted SEL as a tool of managerialism designed to shape and govern a self-managing, entrepreneurial, placid subject in the service of the neoliberal economic model. Alternatively I contend that the Welsh assembly adopted SEL as a practical and progressive tool for developing a more equal society and a more egalitarian and democratic modus operandi of social justice (rooted in normative precepts of the collective and of community cohesion). This “Welsh” approach was powerfully intertwined with the devolution programme and notions of the child as a democratic citizen with agency and rights. In both England and Wales this understanding and application of SEL was intimately connected with national identity and notions of nationhood. This work was undertaken using a CDA approach. It employed Fairclough’s Three Dimensional Model (1992) of Critical Discourse Analysis and engaged with the subject and data through the three lenses of text (the written and spoken word), discursive practice (the production, distribution and consumption of the text) and social practice (the wider social, political and economic forces shaping the discourse). By illuminating through CDA the ideologically infused discursive claims to truth and value, which underpinned the rhetoric and substance of the UK (Anglo-centric) Government’s version of SEL in schools and that of the devolved Welsh Government, my findings reveal the broader scale ideas and political-ontological truth claims which drove the development of SEL across England and Wales during the New Labour period; the research therein unveils the implicit but reified notions of childhood and children’s wellbeing which were central to SEL development at both the national and devolved levels; it identifies the unspoken and latent ideological projects which were core to the production of divergent SEL discourses in each of the countries; and finally, it reveals the influence which national tradition, domestic power structures, cross-societal inequities and the subjugation of certain identities have had on the conceptualisation and practical delivery of SEL in England and Wales. The study concludes that the relationship between language and political ideology in England and Wales during the New Labour years powerfully shaped the SEL policy discourse. In England the result of this was a thin version of SEL co-opted into the service of the neoliberal marketplace. In Wales a similar outcome occurred but only after a very different contextualised and transformative version of SEL was relinquished due to the invasive neoliberal forces attacking Welsh education.

Across North America concerns have been raised about the social, emotional, and mental health of our youth. Many primary prevention programs have been proposed to address these issues, however, few have met the criteria for effective interventions, including being longitudinal, cross-curricular, emphasizing specific concepts and skills, and being within the skills and understandings of teachers and the school system at large (McCombs, 2004). The Respecting Diversity (RD) program is a social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention designed by teachers that uses a Multiple Intelligences (MI) framework to develop self-awareness, self-respect and respect for diverse others. It teaches skills such as goal setting, meta-cognition, and perspective taking that underlie SEL. The program is designed to develop, a safe, positive classroom climate to begin the school year, and facilitate social and academic learning. The study herein was intended to explore emotional and behavioral outcomes of the RD program. The study involved 218 intermediate (grades 4-7) students and their teachers, divided into intervention and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of self-awareness, self-respect, awareness of others, and respect for others. Measures of classroom climate were also included. Students completed several measures of SEL, and a selected sample were interviewed to obtain detailed information about their experiences in inclusive diverse classrooms, and with the RD program itself. Data were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including thematic content analysis procedures and repeated measures MANCOVA’s. Both students and teachers indicated that the RD program significantly increased students’ self-respect, awareness of others, and respect for others, while students in control classrooms decreased in these factors. Classroom climate also significantly improved for treatment classrooms, and, similarly, decreased in control classrooms. Results are discussed in terms of their educational implications, limitations, and suggestions for further research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Social-emotional learning (SEL) measures assessing social-emotional learning and character development across a broad array of constructs have been developed but lack construct validity. Determining the efficacy of educational interventions requires structurally valid measures which are generalizable across settings, gender, and time. Utilizing recent factor analytic methods, the present study extends validity literature for SEL measures by investigating the structural validity and generalizability of the Social-Emotional and Character Development Scale (SECDS) with a large sample of children from schools in Belize (n = 1877, ages 8 to13). The SECDS exhibited structural and generalizability evidence of construct validity when examined under exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). While a higher order confirmatory factor structure with six secondary factors provided acceptable fit, the ESEM six-factor structure provided both substantive and methodological advantages. The ESEM structural model situates the SECDS into the larger body of SEL literature while also exhibiting generalizability evidence over both gender and time.

No description available.

<p>The purpose of this project was to cultivate a series of professional development training sessions for secondary teachers to incorporate concepts of Critical Race Theory in their classrooms, through the use of social justice education, social emotional learning, and student-centered learning. The researcher examined material in favor and in opposition to the project topic to collect information on how to best serve educators and students. The researcher engaged with academic writing as well as with high school teachers and administrators about this project topic. This manuscript and attached training material is the result of the researcher’s findings and serves to answer the question of whether aspects of Critical Race Theory should be implemented in secondary classrooms as well as if so, how should teachers do so—all in hopes of better supporting more equitable and just education for high school educators and students. </p><br>

No description available.

The aim of this study is to investigate work on social and emotional learning in the everyday practice of 221 educators working in preschools and schools. With using a mixed method both quantitative and qualitative information was gathered. In the introduction and background, the state of knowledge is problematized, SEL is defined, previous research reports and the education in SEL is described. The literature review describes SEL in relation to educators, children/pupils and children with special needs. An expansive learning approach permeates the performance analysis. The study's results are largely in line with previous research in the field of SEL and shows correlations between educators and child/pupils social and emotional skills and relational competence. The educators describe that they perceive children's behavior in a different way, had better understanding themselves, gained a common understanding and a common language, and become better at working inclusively and making adjustments based on the children’s/pupils needs. The educators felt that the children/pupils managed routine situations better based on the environment's expectations. The children/pupils were also perceived to have developed a better self-esteem and self-confidence based on the fact that they more often succeeded in interacting with others and that they were seen and confirmed based on their needs. The thesis concludes with suggestions for further research and hopes. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur pedagogerna upplever att en kompetensutveckling i socialt och emotionellt lärande - SEL påverkar deras vardagsnära praktik och barnen/eleverna. 221 pedagoger verksamma inom förskola och skola deltar i studien. Med hjälp av en mixad metod samlades kvantitativ och kvalitativ data in. I inledningen och bakgrunden problematiseras kunskapsläget och SEL definieras. Tidigare forskning redovisas grundligt utifrån socialt och emotionellt lärande i förhållande till hälsofrämjande och förebyggande arbete, pedagoger, barn/elever samt barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Engeströms teori om expansivt lärande tillsammans med tidigare forskning om SEL används i resultatanalysen. Studiens resultat visar på samband mellan pedagogers och barns/elevers sociala och emotionella kompetens och relationella kompetens. Pedagogerna beskriver att de har fått bättre förståelse för barns beteende, fått en samsyn och ett gemensamt språk, och blivit bättre på att arbeta inkluderande och göra anpassningar utifrån barnens/elevernas behov. Pedagogerna redogör för hur barnen/eleverna klarar rutinsituationer bättre utifrån omgivningens förväntningar. Barnen och eleverna upplevs också ha utvecklat en bättre självkänsla och självförtroende utifrån att de oftare lyckades i samspel med andra och att de blev sedda och bekräftade utifrån sina behov. Uppsatsen avslutas med förslag på vidare forskning och förhoppningar.

This study's aim is to shine a light on students' attitudes on board games in the leisure time centre. Do students in middle school know the social benefits of board games, and what resources do they need to experience board games? The study looks into students' attitude on the importance of an engaged teacher in leisure time centres and also an engaged adult person in other similar environments. Vygotsky's theories around mediation and proximal development are the foundation of the study and terms such as cognitive development and social development are central for the analysis. The empirics consists of pair interviews with ten (10) students in the age range 9-13 which has been analysed from a content analysis perspective. The conclusion is that the sociocultural perspectives’ different ideas are very much present while pupils play board games in the leisure time centre, and that there is a mainly positive attitude toward board games. However, the study cannot prove that students experience the same learning as studies prove exists.