Promoting social and emotional learning for students through sports-based youth development programs using models-based practice
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Yanhua Shen (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Ben Dyson
Abstract: Decades of research and practices on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) have formed a foundational body of knowledge that the development of SEL skills is positively associated with students’ academic achievement and later life success (Durlak et al., 2011; Elias et al., 1997; Weissberg et al., 2015). This proposed research argues that learning is a social and emotional enterprise. Therefore, educational efforts should ensure an emphasis on developing students’ SEL skills (Elias, 2019). SEL programs and practices were initially developed in schools (Elias et al., 1997). However, the lack of clear leadership and support for teachers in schools around the social and emotional aspects of learning (Elias, 2019), school closures, and the stringent management practices during the COVID-19 pandemic have made schools a challenging place for studying and developing students’ SEL competencies (Viner et al., 2020). The situation is highly likely worse for underserved students, including low-income, underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities, and first-generation students. Underserved students are more vulnerable to the lack of environmental education opportunities to develop SEL skills due to the issues of poverty, racism, oppression, and segregation (Holt et al., 2011; Martinek & Hellison, 1997, Coll et al., 1996), which may lead to a series of social issues and juvenile crimes (Jewett & Kuhn, 2016). One alternative way to provide educational opportunities on SEL for underserved students is participating in Sport-based Youth Development (SBYD) programs (Holt, 2016; Hemphill et al., 2019). This is especially true when some SBYD programs are still operating and available during the COVID-19 pandemic. In SBYD programs, students can be taught to “think through core program values beyond sport” and learn “how to navigate through potential environmental barriers” in their lives (Jacobs & Wright, 2019, p. 13). SBYD programs have been proposed as potential contexts for promoting certain competencies that align well with the SEL framework for underserved students (Gould & Carson, 2008; Papacharisis et al., 2005). In comparison to other organized activities, students in SBYD programs reported significantly more positive experiences related to the initiative, emotional regulation, and teamwork (Larson et al., 2006). For decades, researchers have been studying pedagogical practices that promote SEL skills in school physical education and sports settings. Most popular pedagogical practices focusing on students’ development of SEL skills include Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (Hellison, 2011), Cooperative Learning (Dyson et al., 2020), Sports Education (Siedentop et al., 2004), and Adventure-based Learning (Sutherland & Stuhr, 2014). Those pedagogical practices are called models-based practices (MBP). While the benefits of SBYD in promoting SEL are evident, there is a limited empirical examination on how MBP could be utilized to promote students’ SEL skills in SBYD programs (Talebzadeh & Jarfari, 2012). The purpose of this dissertation study is to promote students’ SEL skills in SBYD programs using MBP. The dissertation study was guided by three research questions: (a) How do students experience SEL in an SBYD program grounded in TPSR? (b) What are the SEL skills students develop in an SBYD program grounded in a hybrid pedagogy of TPSR and CL? and (c) What is the impact of the SBYD program grounded in the hybridization of TPSR and CL on students’ physical, social, and emotional development? The dissertation study was conducted in two soccer-based SBYD programs. Guided by a participatory action research approach (Chatterton et al., 2007), the researcher investigated the Saturday Soccer program grounded in TPSR. Another SBYD program, Beyond Soccer Field, was initiated and led by the researcher using a hybrid pedagogy grounded in TPSR and CL. A total of 40 underserved students aged 8 to 14 years old participated in those two programs. This dissertation study adopted a case study design (Stake, 2006). Drawing on the qualitative and quantitative research traditions, the researcher collected data using semi-structured interviews, field notes, self-reflective journals, ACTi Graph GT9X 3-axis accelerometers (ActiGraph, LLC, Pensacola, FL), the Loughborough soccer passing test (Ali, et al., 2007), and the Personal and Social Responsibility Questionnaire (Waston, et al., 2003). Deductive and inductive analysis, constant comparison (Miles et al., 2014), repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (Johnson & Wichern, 2007), and paired t-test were utilized for data analysis. Findings in Chapter Four (research question one) confirmed that TPSR could be an effective pedagogical practice that promotes students’ development of SEL skills in SBYD programs. Findings in Chapter Five (research question two) provided qualitative evidence, indicating the hybridization of CL and TPSR could better facilitate the program practices and promote students’ development of SEL skills, including respect, effort, teamwork, and leadership. Findings in Chapter Six (research question three) provided quantitative and qualitative evidence, showing that the SBYD program grounded in the hybridization of TPSR and CL could significantly promote students’ physical, social, and emotional development. Collectively, those findings suggest TPSR and CL can be hybridized as an effective pedagogical practice that promotes students’ physical, social, and emotional development in SBYD programs.
Promoting social and emotional learning for students through sports-based youth development programs using models-based practice
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Created on 5/1/2022
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2022
- Keywords
- Cooperative Learning, Models-based Practice, Social and Emotional Learning, Sports-based Youth Development, Student's Voice, Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility
- Subjects
- Soccer for children $x Social aspects
- Responsibility $x Study and teaching
- Affective education
- Youth development