Congratulations to Keith Sullivan who on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, successfully defended his dissertation proposal. The title of Keith’s dissertation is: "SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL)."
Research has shown, when students have supportive relationships and opportunities to develop and practice social, emotional, and cognitive skills across many different contexts, academic learning accelerates, (Durlak, et. al, 2011, p. 412; Cristovao, A. M., et., al., 2017). Conversely, when students do not have supportive relationships, it could lead to disruptive or challenging behaviors, developmental disorders, learning difficulties, bullying and school violence, (Cristovao, A. M., et., al., 2017; Durlak et., al, 2011; Kourkoutas and Giovazolias, 2015). As a result of these problematic behaviors, teachers can begin to feel burnt out in the profession and/or have negative feelings towards these students (Kourkoutas and Giovazolias, 2015). Additionally, students who struggle to regulate their social and emotional skills are more likely to struggle academically and tend to have an increased number of absences. The purpose of this study is to investigate teacher’s perception of social emotional learning and their willingness to implement these learning practices into their classroom.
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE CHAIR:
Dr. Nora Broege
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Dr. Martin Fitzgerald
Dr. Ellen Connors
