Promoting an equity-based approach for social and emotional learning in physical education teacher education: international teacher educators’ perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite growing attention on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in education settings (Jones, S. M., McGarrah, M. W., & Kahn, J. (2019). Social and emotional learning: A principled science of human development in context. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 129–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1625776), there also has been an increasing concern that the existing understanding of SEL is not based on diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural perspectives (Hurd, E., Brinegar, K., & Harrison, L. (2021). Equity-based social emotional learning (SEL): A critical lens for moving forward. Middle School Journal, 52(3), 2–3. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2021.1893994). The purpose of this research was to explore teacher educators’ perspectives on promoting an equity-based approach for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in physical education teacher education (PETE) from an international perspective. Using an international comparative case study design (Penn, R. (2019). International comparative case studies: Multiple methods in action. Sage.), 18 teacher educators were recruited from 10 different countries (Australia; Brazil; Cyprus; China; Finland; Germany; Ireland; New Zealand; South Korea; The United States). Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted using a video-conferencing system to collect data on the participants’ perspectives on promoting equity-based SEL in PETE. Using a systematic process of inductive data analysis by Miles et al. (Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Sage.), four findings were generated: (a) Respecting differences with culturally responsive pedagogy, (b) Embedding diversity across different phases, (c) Critical introspection on self and others, and (d) Having intentional and difficult conversations. Based on the findings, more research needs to be conducted in the future to investigate how PE teachers incorporate equity elements into their SEL practices in real-time school settings.