Remote Training of Social Skills for Middle School Teachers

ABSTRACT

Considering the high number of conflicts in the classroom between students and teachers, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of a remote Social Skills Training program on Middle School Teachers. The study included 19 teachers aged between 29 and 63 (M = 43.95;SD = 10.57) years, who taught in public and private schools. The enrolled participants were divided between the experimental Social Skills Training group and a control group identified as Cycle of Lectures for Middle School Teachers. Two instruments were used the Social Skills Inventory - 2 and the Educational Social Skills Inventory - teacher version. The project was submitted to the University’s Ethics Committee and data collection took place in an online format due to the new coronavirus pandemic. Ten virtual meetings were held with days and times scheduled in advance, with the provision of a link to access the virtual room. In these meetings, participants were trained to acquire social skills and educational social skills for better management of situations considered difficult. The difficult situations encompassed four specific themes Indiscipline, Psychosocial Difficulties, Violence and Discrimination. For data analysis, the JT Method was used using the reliable change indices as the standard to consider individual improvements of the subjects. Regarding Social Skills, the participants in the experimental group presented gains, reliable changes, in all five dimensions of the social skills inventory. Concerning educational social skills, 27.3% of the participants in the experimental group showed significant improvements in all dimensions. The intervention led to the acquisition of a more elaborate repertoire of social skills and educational social skills in the teachers, which could help them to establish more favorable learning environments. © 2021 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.