Teachers’ Perspectives and Experiences of Social Emotional Learning in a Secondary School in Qatar

doi:10.7176/jep/12-36-01

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ knowledge and perspectives of social emotional learning (SEL) interventions in a Qatari school’s settings by conducing 10 semi-structured interviews. Social emotional programs are still limited in Qatar and this study is one of the first studies that explored how teachers perceive SEL programs and what impact that they noticed on their students after SEL intervention. The results of the conventional content analysis yielded three main themes; SEL definition as perceived by teachers, SEL importance for students and SEL impact on social relations, academic performance and social behaviours. The study’s findings offer a broader view of the primary teachers' views of social-emotional learning in the Qatari context. learning and effective practices that lead to the achievement of better outcomes within the Arabic and Qatari context. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the social context and the importance of teachers’ perceptions as facilitators of SEL interventions in schools’ settings. Keywords: Social emotional learning (SEL), Teachers’ perspectives, positive school environment DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-36-01 Publication date: December 31 st 2021

Highlights

In the recent years, the interest in social emotional learning (SEL) started to increase and to continuously expand
Teachers represented limited knowledge of SEL interventions, mentioned that SEL programs are new to their school, and they did not experience the implementation of such interventions before
Other previous research showed that teachers did not have enough knowledge about socicial emotional learning, and their experiences were inadequate about SEL interventions (Buchanan et al.,2009; Zakrzewski, 2013) in this study, all teachers mentioned the need for implementing SEL programs in schools, especially to serve students’ needs at this age

Summary

Introduction

The interest in social emotional learning (SEL) started to increase and to continuously expand. Teachers’ perspectives and knowledge about SEL programs influence their role in the program’s implementation process and may impede the success of its infusion (Dyson, Howley & Shen, 2019). In relation, Humphrey, Barlow and Lendrum (2018) argue that teachers’ perspectives about SEL intervention can influence the program implementation, efficacy and longevity. Evaluating teachers and school staff’s perceptions of social emotional intervention is one of the main predictors of the program’s outcomes (Wigelsworth, Humphrey & Lendrum, 2012; McKown et al, 2013). A number of studies have called for more defined and sustained measurements of the effectiveness of SEL outcomes that include greater focus on measuring teachers’ own perspectives of the SEL program as an important predictor of successful results (Humphrey, Barlow & Lendrum, 2018; McKown et al, 2013; Pereira & Marques-Pinto, 2018)

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