The Roles of Teachers' Social-Emotional Competence in Integrated and Equity-Enhancing Social-Emotional Learning: Evidence from Preschool to High School Teachers in California

Background and Purpose: With widespread adoption of school-based social-emotional learning (SEL), teachers are more than ever expected to play an active role in promoting student social-emotional competence (SEC) and cultivating SEL-conducive school environments. The delivery of manualized, evidence-based SEL curricula has been advanced as a best practice for school-based SEL. However, there have been notable shifts in the field, particularly in the U.S. context, “from programs to strategies” (Jones & Bouffard, 2012) and toward “transformative SEL” (Jagers et al., 2019). The former emphasizes implementing SEL through daily interactions and routines for increased integration, while the latter prioritizes constructing anti-racist and inclusive learning conditions for equity enhancement. Yet, many teachers have received little pre-service or in-service training/support for such practices. In this context, individual teachers’ own SEC may play a crucial role in practicing integrated and equity-oriented SEL. In addition, integrating SEL into everyday practice may be more difficult in secondary school contexts (e.g., due to rotating classes, increased focus on academic subjects), while addressing racism and biases may be more challenging with younger children. Given the lack of empirical research on these questions, this study examined how teacher SEC related to integrated and equity-oriented SEL practices across school levels within the U.S. context. As a prerequisite to this investigation, we first tested the applicability of a new T-SEC scale that has been validated with East Asian teacher samples.

Methods: This study analyzed teacher survey data collected from in-service preK-12 educators from across 606 zip codes within the state of California, before they participated in SEL training. The analysis sample included teachers whose main role was to provide instruction/learning support (n=516, 91% woman, 55% White, 62% preK-5). Integrated SEL practices were measured using three items asking the extent of practicing role-modeling, reinforcement, and integration of SEL in daily interactions and routines. Equity-oriented practices were measured using two items asking the extent of considering the influence of bias and racism on their own educational practice. Teacher SEC was measured using a 23-item scale of teacher SEC (T-SEC).

Results: The identified factor structure of the T-SEC measure was largely similar to previous findings with East Asian teacher samples, with evidence of high internal consistency. T-SEC was positively related to both integrated SEL (p<.001) and equity-oriented practices (p<.001), controlling for teacher gender, race/ethnicity, and school levels. Overall, preK-5 teachers practiced more integrated SEL (p<.001) but were less equity-oriented (p<.01) than middle/high school teachers. Interaction analysis suggested that T-SEC was more strongly related to equity-oriented practices among preK-5 teachers (p<.05).

Conclusions and Implications: This study provides valuable evidence supporting the importance of teacher SEC in SEL practices focused on daily integration and equity enhancement. The findings comparing primary and secondary school levels also offer insights into strategies to enable integrated and equity-oriented SEL within different schooling contexts. Particularly, promoting SEC in preschool and elementary school teachers may be a promising approach to building their capacity for equity-oriented practices. Also, within secondary school contexts, more systemic approaches may be needed to facilitate integrated SEL practices.