Abstract
Scholars have called for the field of SEL to become more explicitly equity-oriented and culturally relevant, and for equity-oriented SEL to be integrated into academics. Teachers’ favorable mindsets are foundational to these goals. However, it is not enough for teachers to simply believe in culturally relevant approaches to SEL; they must also possess skills to integrate culturally relevant SEL into instruction. Currently, the types of skills needed remain unclear in the literature. Among a sample of California teachers (N=366), we used parallel mediation modeling to understand general SEL skills and culturally relevant skills as mediators in the relationship between culturally relevant mindsets and the integration of equity-oriented SEL into academics. Exploratory analyses indicated that teachers’ culturally relevant skills and general SEL skills fully mediated the relationship. Furthermore, culturally relevant skills had a stronger mediating effect than general SEL skills in linking teachers’ culturally relevant mindsets to SEL academic integration. These findings highlight the need for specific training on culturally relevant skills to bolster teachers’ mindsets and deliver inclusive, equitable SEL across academic subjects.