Nurturing Inclusivity and Enhancing Learning Environments: Examining Teachers’ Perspectives on Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning

<p>Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and curricula have emerged as a priority in schools over the past three decades, with greater urgency since the COVID-19 pandemic. While SEL programs may show promise in supporting students’ social and emotional needs generally, current SEL practices apply color-evasive approaches, leading to White-centered practices and norms that do not acknowledge the identities and needs of students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). In response, scholars have called for Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning (CRSEL) programs to support students in acknowledging their cultural strengths, recognizing their funds of knowledge, and feeling connected to their learning environment. Although there is a growing body of research on SEL that focuses on conceptualizing social justice, trauma-informed, equity-based, and anti-bias education SEL, more research is needed on teachers’ perspectives and how they implement and integrate CRSEL into their classroom settings.</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perspectives and experiences with CRSEL practices and how they describe the enactment of CRSEL for BIPOC students who attend Title I public schools in California. By centering the research study on the voices of teachers who work in Title I public schools, the study offered critical insights into the implementation of and teachers’ commitment to CRSEL.</p> <p>In this phenomenological qualitative study, I interviewed 20 teachers from California Title 1 schools who self-identified as having experience teaching SEL and CRSEL. I asked them about their perspectives and experiences with CRSEL. Across the 20 participants, teachers described their perspectives on CRSEL as a form of building meaningful connections with students and being unable to do SEL without being culturally responsive. They described their enactment of CRSEL as integrating and incorporating students’ cultures and personal experiences into the classroom and curriculum materials. Across their perspectives and enactment of CRSEL, teachers described students’ responses as a driving force to why and how they implement CRSEL.</p> <p>This dissertation offers implications for research, policy, and practice on SEL enactment in the classroom and teacher preparation. Based on the expressed needs of teacher participants, this study highlighted the importance of school districts adopting and supporting CRSEL curriculum tailored to the intersectionalities, diverse identities, and diverse backgrounds of the students they serve. Moreover, there is a need to provide teachers with resources and ongoing professional development opportunities. This investment that school districts can make will ensure that teachers have the tools and knowledge necessary to create truly inclusive learning environments for all BIPOC students.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Education, PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Educational Studies

Year dc:date.available

2024

Author dc:creator

• Perez, Andrea

Contributors dc:contributor

• Frances Marie Gipson
• Tom Luschei

• Classrooms
• Culturally Responsive Practices
• Enactment
• Social Emotional Learning
• Students
• Teachers
• Education
• Teacher Education and Professional Development

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/840

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-1860