What We Have Learned
CalHOPE
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CalHOPE 〰️
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How educators’ capacities to implement SEL improved during CalHOPE
SEL Foundations: A graduate-level course at UC Berkeley offered at no cost to California classroom teachers, early and expanded learning professionals, and pupil services personnel that explores:
What systemic social and emotional learning (SEL) is.
Practical strategies to promote adult well-being and equitable, evidence-based SEL for youth.
Asset-based, accessible approaches to fostering positive relationships with students.
How these strategies can improve learning conditions across schools.
What We Have Learned
What happens when educators give themselves permission to intentionally invest in their own social and emotional well-being?
In this study, 212 teachers participating in the SEL Foundations implemented an Adult SEL practice of their own choosing for three weeks. Then, they reflected on what worked, what didn't, and what they learned along the way.
By analyzing their reflections, researchers identified five themes that capture how educators put Adult SEL into practice.
This paper also explores the successes, challenges, and adaptations teachers described as they navigated this work in real-world settings.
Topics:
adult SEL, systemic SEL,
teacher well-being
How can educators strengthen their own social and emotional well-being?
Research Paper: “It All Starts with Us”: Exploring teachers’ efforts to increase Adult SEL in practice
Educators play a crucial role in students’ SEL, but few enter the teaching profession with opportunities to develop their own SEL knowledge and skills. The paper’s authors argue that continuing education and utilizing university partnerships may provide an important pathway for building educators’ SEL capacity as teacher preparation programs often provide limited focus on adult SEL.
In this paper, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley followed PK - 12th grade educators enrolled in SEL Foundations, a graduate-level continuing education course that focuses on adult SEL, in Fall 2023. By comparing participants’ survey responses before and after the course, researchers found statistically significant improvements in educators’ favorable attitudes, knowledge, skills, and the confidence needed to implement SEL effectively in their classrooms.
Surprisingly, researchers also found a statistically significant improvement in well-being from August to November among this sample of teachers earning graduate credits.
Do in-service educators build their capacities for SEL implementation while taking a graduate-level SEL course?
Research Paper: Securing the foundation: Providing supports and building teacher capacity for SEL implementation through a university-based continuing education course
Topics:
adult SEL, systemic SEL,
social and emotional learning,
equity, continuing education
In practice:
"We must not forget how important it is to equip teachers with the requisite
capacities for their own well-being, engagement, and performance...
Practitioners, particularly those who are responsible for setting their region's continuing education plans, should ensure that there are opportunities to expand Adult SEL...
Current educators who are looking for support to expand their capacity to
implement SEL, support students, and be well may consider participating in
an in-depth learning experience with a focus on Adult SEL."
In practice:
Educators reflected that time was a barrier to adult SEL practices,
and that they were often too ambitious with their initial goals.
They also noted overwhelm as a barrier to self-care.
Educators recommend small goals, patience, and grace while developing
adult SEL practices, as well as structural solutions to carve out time for
reflection and improvement of adult SEL and to make adult SEL a priority
and a normative part of teaching.
SEL Foundations is enrolling!
SEL Foundations is a 3-credit, online, graduate-level course designed for classroom teachers and expanded learning staff who work directly with a stable group of pre-K through 12th-grade students.
There are a limited number of subsidies to support enrollment for qualified educators at no cost to them! If you would like to review course details, including dates and times for live sessions, visit the SEL Foundations course site!
To express interest in the course, complete our Enrollment Interest Form!
Advancing systemic SEL statewide in California and supporting pre-K-12th grade educators through CalHOPE
The Berkeley Assessment of Social and Emotional Learning (BASEL)
A practical, brief set of surveys to help SEL education leaders in counties, districts, and schools strengthen social and emotional learning (SEL) implementation. Designed for students, educators, and system leaders, the BASEL (pronounced “basil”) provides actionable insights that can be used to improve well-being, create more equitable learning environments, and guide SEL implementation over time.
The BASEL helps schools and researchers better understand:
Emotional well-being of leaders, students, and educators
Access to resources that support coping and resilience
Whether people feel safe, connected, and supported in their working and learning environments
Current and future opportunities for student voice, leadership, and meaningful participation in SEL implementation
How well schools create culturally and linguistically responsive learning environments
The implementation practices that support successful SEL school integration
What We Have Learned
Coming soon!
The systemic outcomes of SEL implementation during CalHOPE
Research shows that SEL has the greatest impact when it moves beyond individual classrooms and becomes a part of how schools and systems operate every day.
In California, County Offices of Education (COEs) play a critical role in making that kind of system-wide change possible. As regional partners supporting more than 1,000 K-12 school districts serving nearly six million students, COEs help connect schools with resources, guidance, and implementation support.