Examining the Effects of School Connectedness on Social Emotional Learning Technique Use in Middle Childhood
Open Access
Author:
Chahl, Avery
Graduate Program:
Human Development and Family Studies
Degree:
Master of Science
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
February 22, 2022
Committee Members:
Sunny Bai, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor Kelly Rulison, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor Charles Geier, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Keywords:
peer relationships social emotional learning SEL social network analysis network analysis
Abstract:
Social emotional learning (SEL) interventions are effective in supporting academic and interpersonal outcomes for children in elementary school by teaching children skills to promote self-regulation and attention (Durlak et al., 2011; Elias et al., 1997). Such interventions are being increasingly implemented in schools due to their potential benefits. However, less is known about the student factors that contribute to children’s daily application of SEL techniques in situ. Such factors may include students’ school connectedness and engagement in the peer network. The current study aimed to investigate whether feelings of connectedness, popularity (indegree) or network social engagement (outdegree), are related to individual’s engagement in an SEL intervention in second through fifth graders at a rural elementary school. We found that worse school connectedness was related to greater mean technique usage for second graders, but not third, fourth, and fifth graders. In contrast to connectedness, youth with higher indegree (i.e., more popular) reported using SEL strategies on a greater proportion of school days. This has potential implications for future intervention implementation and engagement strategies.
