Abstract
Social emotional learning (SEL) promotes self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, positive relationships, responsible decision-making, and improved attitudes about self, others, and school. It is a critical component of education because social emotional competencies are a strong predictor of academic achievement and success beyond school. The purpose of this project is to create a professional development training that will aid teachers at a local elementary school implement the SEL program Second Step to support their students’ social emotional development. Data was collected a survey on teachers’ knowledge of SEL and the Second Step program. Participation was voluntary and twenty-three of the thirty classroom teachers at H. Allen Hight Elementary School responded. Results of this survey were analyzed and used to design a professional development (PD) training for those teachers to support their knowledge of SEL, and specifically, their implementation of the Second Step program. Seven of the thirty teachers attended the PD and provided verbal feedback at the end of the training. There was consensus amongst the participants that behavior was a serious issue at the school and that many students needed social and emotional support, however they had differing opinions for why behavior was a serious issue. Some participants expressed frustration, first that the type of support and training they received at the PD was not provided by the administration, and second, that more of their colleagues had not attended the PD since most of the staff had stated repeatedly that behavior was a school-wide problem. Several participants requested additional resources such as supplemental materials found on the Second Step website and the literature used to provide an overview of SEL during the PD, and stated that additional training on the subject, or collaborative planning time with colleagues, would be beneficial.