Social and emotional learning enhancing teacher well-being and professional development in Taiwan: A preliminary study of the BEST ME program

Teacher well-being is integral to effective education, yet many teachers face persistent stress and burnout. This paper presents a preliminary evaluation of the BEST ME professional development program, a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) initiative aimed at improving teacher well-being and professional competencies in Taiwan. The study comprises two phases, engaging a total of 130 teachers. In Study 1, a quasi-experimental design investigates the program’s impact on general well-being, including both positive (subjective well-being: psychological, social, and emotional well-being) and negative (depression, anxiety, and stress) emotional states; emotional labor strategies (surface acting, genuine expression, and deep acting); and personal resources such as self-compassion and teaching self-efficacy. Delivered through a hybrid model combining in-person sessions with simultaneous online live streaming, the program demonstrates significant improvements in psychological, social, and emotional well-being, reductions in stress and anxiety, and increases in self-compassion and genuine emotional expression. In-person participants report stronger social connections and decreased depression compared to online participants. Study 2 examines the program's scalability through a train-the-trainer model involving 22 participants. The model successfully enhances SEL buy-in, deepens understanding of the program, and equips teachers with facilitation skills for sustainable implementation, enabling wider adoption of the program across diverse educational settings. This preliminary study highlights the potential of the BEST ME program to address critical aspects of teacher well-being and its promise for systemic professional development initiatives.