Primary school teachers’ experiences: implementing teaching practices focused on social-emotional development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54104/papeles.v18n36.2505Keywords:
Teaching practice, social emotional learning, elementary education, professional continuing educatioinAbstract
Introduction: the development of social-emotional skills helps ensure students' well-being and holistic development. Methodology: the objective of this study is to analyze teachers’ experiences regarding the implementation of teaching practices aimed at developing social-emotional skills in elementary school students. This is a qualitative study with a descriptive design. A total of 184 teachers participated; of these, 142 (77 %) were women and 42 (23 %) were men, all assigned to 10 public elementary schools in the State of Mexico. Data were collected through individual interviews with the teachers. The analysis was conducted using Atlas.ti software (version 26) through content analysis and a deductive coding process based on theoretical categories: teaching practice, social-emotional skills, and continuing professional development. Results and discussion: the results show that teachers develop lesson plans and teaching strategies, organize the classroom, and create supportive learning environments to promote social-emotional skills. Furthermore, professional development strengthens teaching practice and broadens the possibilities for fostering students’ social-emotional development. Conclusions: the study concludes that teaching practice is fundamental for the cross-curricular integration of social-emotional competencies into teaching processes during the school day, without resorting to programs outside the curriculum.
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