Elementary educators' experiences implementing social and emotional learning standards during the COVID-19 health pandemic: A phenomenological study

ABSTRACT

Social and emotional learning has been recognized for positively impacting students' social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes (Durlak et al., 2011;Dusenbury & Weissberg, 2017;Taylor et al., 2017). State departments of education have taken this research and implemented statewide social and emotional learning standards for educators to incorporate into their curriculum (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2019;Ecklund et al., 2018;Yoder et al., 2020). However, there is a dearth of research on the experiences of educators who plan, prepare, deliver, and evaluate the SEL standards. Additionally, the 2020-2021 school year was profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 health pandemic that created additional challenges for educators trying to meet academic and SEL standards (Darling-Hammond & Hyler, 2020). The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of elementary educators who were implementing the state SEL standards during the COVID-19 health pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 elementary educators licensed as either general education classroom teachers, principals, or school counselors and worked for at least two years. Participants were from a midwestern state that had kindergarten through twelfth grade SEL state standards. Moustakas' (1994) phenomenological reduction process was utilized to describe the essence of the participants' experience that included a need to prioritize SEL, a focus on relationship building while navigating barriers to connection, awareness of adult SEL needs, and educational inequities highlighted by COVID-19. Implications for elementary educators, educational training programs, and educational policy makers are discussed in addition to recommendations for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)