Leadership Studies Ed.D. Dissertations

C3 inquiry based instruction to promote social and emotional learning

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Christy Galletta Horner (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Irina Stakhanova (Other)

Third Advisor

Paul Johnson (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

John Lee (Committee Member)

Fifth Advisor

Chris Willis (Committee Member)

Abstract

The past 30 years have witnessed unprecedented social and political polarization alongside a mental health crisis, disproportionately affecting youth and further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Largely because of these pressures on teachers and students, and despite recent political backlash, social and emotional learning (SEL), has become ever more prominent in K-12 education. Teachers have generally supported the need for SEL, and SEL standards have been adopted into curriculum for pre-K education in all fifty states, and K-12 in more than twenty (CASEL, n.d.). Therefore, educational leaders must find avenues to support schools and teachers in upholding these new state mandates. However, there are no state mandated accountability measures for SEL, little ownership for who is responsible, and many educators do not have clear operational definitions for SEL, let alone, a consistent framework for how it can be infused into their classrooms (McCoy, 2018a). Since John Dewey, researchers have posited that inquiry-based instruction builds civic and social efficacy, outcomes paralleling social and emotional competencies, but there is a dearth of research to empirically link specific frameworks of IBI and SEL. This single group, pretest -posttest design study assessed the empirical relationships between IDM Institute participants’ training and competency in C3 IBI, and their self-reported social and emotional competencies and teaching practices. Findings from paired sample t-test and correlational analyses generally supported the hypothesis that professional development and competency in C3 IBI promotes social and emotional learning. Study participants had significantly higher IBI competency, social and emotional competency (SEC) and social and emotional teaching practices after completion of the IDM Institute. Further, participants’ IBI competency was positively associated with aggregated SEC scores, social and emotional teaching practices, self-awareness, and social awareness. All correlational relationships yielded medium to large effect sizes. Lastly, participants noted to a high degree that SECs are either utilized in or promoted by each of the four dimensions of the C3 Inquiry Arc. These findings have highlighted new avenues for future research in measuring educators’ competencies in IBI in tandem with social and emotional competencies and teaching practices, as well as further assessment of instrumentation validity and generalizability of conclusions.

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