Promoting Social and Emotional Competency through Teacher/counselor Collaboration

Abstract

Introduction There is continuing need to improve the collaborative efforts of teachers and counselors in elementary and middle school classrooms. This need is manifested in shortage of qualified teachers and counselors who have training or experience in Social and Emotional Competency (SEC) education, model that encourages collaborative planning, teaching, and counseling between teachers and counselors. Several national organizations have expressed their support for SEC education and the integration of social and emotional competencies into school curricula (ASCA, NAESP, 1991). NAEYC (1991), the Carnegie Forum (1986), and NAESP (1990) expressed concern about school practices and the need for change. NAEYC (1993) recommended radical shift of emphasis from focus on content delivery to focus on the child as learner. In 1996 and 1997, President Clinton, in his State of the Union addresses, issued challenge to schools to include social and emotional competence education in the education of every child. For an effective SEC program to be implemented, the educational community must first obtain and assess information regarding teachers and counselors attitudes toward collaborative teaching and planning, methods of facilitation, and the roles of teachers and counselors. The purpose of this research is to describe the attitudes of random sample of teachers and counselors regarding the collaborative teaching of social and emotional competency skills in grades 1-8 and the perceived barriers and aids to such collaboration in order to define the current status of collaborative endeavors in the public schools, particularly in grades 1-8. Demographics In survey of 500 school counselors and teachers, 49% teachers and 51% counselors responded. The majority of respondents were female, 88% of the teachers and 86% of the counselors. The age range was 21 to over 51 years, with 45% of the teachers and 37% of the counselors being in the 40-49 years age range. Ethnic origin of the respondents was approximately 3/4 European-American with the other 1/4 of respondents indicating African American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American. The majority of teachers indicated that they held Bachelor's degree and the majority of counselors indicated Master's degree as the highest educational degree obtained. Years of professional experience for teachers and counselors ranged from one to over 20 with their current school levels ranging from grades 1 through 8 including Special Education and Resource classes. Social and Emotional Competency (SEC) In order to ensure that teachers and counselors were in agreement regarding content taught as part of SEC, Goleman's (1995) definition of SEC skills as a different way of being smart was used for purposes of this study. These skills, which Goleman classified as emotional skills, cognitive skills, and behavioral skills, enable person to understand, manage, and express the social and emotional aspects of one's life in ways that enable the successful management of life tasks such as learning, forming relationships, solving everyday problems, and adapting to the complex demands of growth and development (ASCD, 1997, 2). Emotional skills, which are primarily related to feelings, were categorized as identifying and labeling feelings, expressing feelings, assessing the intensity of feelings, managing feelings, delaying gratification, controlling impulses, reducing stress, and knowing the difference between feelings and actions. These skills were clearly differentiated from the cognitive skills, which are related to thoughts and understanding. Cognitive skills were stated to include self-talk (inner dialogue), reading and interpreting social cues, using steps for problem solving and decision making, understanding the perspective of others, understanding behavioral norms, positive attitude toward life, and self awareness. …