Developing Pre-Service ESOL Teachers’ Awareness of and Appreciation for Social-Emotional Learning

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is essential in educational realms for a variety of reasons, particularly considering the fact that students need to be equipped with the skills and strategies necessary to function successfully not only as learners but also as human beings. Although SEL has been increasingly explored in the last several decades at the primary and secondary levels, less attention has been paid to its importance at the tertiary level, specifically regarding pre-service teachers. This article consequently explores the advancement of pre-service ESOL teachers’ familiarity with and understanding of social-emotional learning (SEL) and its particular importance for multilingual learners. During the course of the investigation, a multimodule course unit on social-emotional learning was incorporated into a TESOL methodology course for undergraduate teacher candidates. Data for this research were collected via pre-unit and post-unit questionnaires consisting of statements taken from the Self-Rated Emotional Intelligence Scale (SREIS) (Brackett et al., 2006). Findings of this investigation revealed that participants believed that the unit made more effective contributions to their emotional and social competencies in certain areas but was less successful in doing so with respect to others.