Classroom Settings as Targets of Intervention and Research

Abstract

Abstract This chapter focuses on the classroom context as a primary setting for positive youth development. It highlights the theory and evaluations of two programs that aim to promote caring classroom communities and positive youth development through a focus on teachers' professional development and the implementation of a social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum. It begins with a discussion of the programs' theory of change, which emphasizes the role of teachers' own SEL skills and everyday interactions with colleagues and students in promoting a positive and effective classroom climate and, ultimately, positive youth development. This discussion is followed by a description of a theory of the classroom setting as a dynamic system of four interconnected elements related to positive youth development. Each of these domains is reviewed including its research base, examples of intervention activities, and assessment tools used in the research.