Date of Award
5-2025
Degree Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Education
Committee Chair
Kathleen K. Wallace, Ed. D
2nd Reader
Victoria A. Osborne, Ph.D., LMSW
3rd Reader
Maureen Ruby, DMD, Ph.D.
Abstract
Researchers posit that the adverse effects of COVID-19 on student well-being will extend far past its onset (Lane et al., 2024). Therefore, researchers and education policymakers have prioritized enhancing students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) due to its significant benefits for academic achievement and overall well-being (Greenberg & Abenavoli, 2017; Greenberg et al., 2017; Jones et al., 2019). However, an essential component of the equation - teachers’ social-emotional competencies (SECs) - continually fail to be considered (Donahue-Keegan et al., 2019; Herman et al., 2020; Odak et al., 2023). While educational leaders recognize effective SEL programs’ benefits for students, many seek guidance on strengthening educators’ SEL knowledge and behavioral skills (Gimbert et al., 2021). Educational neuroscience provides a promising new solution to supporting teachers and students (Chang et al., 2021; Immordino-Yang et al., 2018, 2019; Loa et al., 2023; Sousa, 2019). This Improvement Science convergent mixed methods study investigated the impact of an eight-week educational neuroscience-based SEL intervention on developing teachers’ SECs. Participants were six suburban elementary teachers (second, third, fifth, and K–5) who received professional development (PD) through a series of 12 video sessions aligned to CASEL’s five competencies. Results indicated that while teachers valued learning about neuroscience, easily applied its practices to regulate their own emotions, and positively shifted their perceptions of students, current occupational demands impeded teacher efforts. A major implication of this study is the lack of a psychometric scale. Further research needs to be conducted to develop ways of measuring teachers’ SECs to mitigate this limitation.
Recommended Citation
Sievel, K. (2025). Leveraging elementary teachers' social-emotional competencies through educational neuroscience [Doctoral dissertation, Sacred Heart University]. https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/edd/55
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Comments
A dissertation in the Isabelle Farrington College of Education and Human Development presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education