‘I'm more than a PE teacher’: teachers’ perspectives of social and emotional learning in PE and classroom at a rural elementary school

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite a growing attention on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in Physical Education (PE), there has been limited literature on how PE can provide SEL experiences in continuity with other subjects within a specific school context. This study aimed to investigate perspectives and experiences of teachers in PE and classroom for a school-wide SEL implementation at a rural elementary school. Adopting a qualitative case study design, four types of data were collected with 13 teachers. Inductive qualitative data analysis was implemented with constant comparison. Four themes were generated in this study: Learning how to support personal and cultural differences; Promoting an inclusive learning environment; Building a whole school community with care; Shared understandings with school-wide interactions. This study provided in-depth qualitative evidence that PE can be positioned as an effective and collaborative setting for a school-wide SEL implementation.