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This study was funded by a project Learning to Be: Development of Practices and Methodologies for Assessing Social, Emotional and Health Skills within Education Systems (#4120034) in the framework of Erasmus+ KA3 program (582955-EPP-1-2016-2-LT-EPPKA3-PI-POLICY). We are also grateful for funding by the Academy of Finland (#308352) and Finnish Strategic Research Council (#327242)., In recent years, the school curricula in many European countries have introduced social and emotional learning (SEL). This calls for the teachers to have SEL competencies. The present study evaluates teachers’ and their students’ readiness for SEL during an intervention in five European countries. The participants were teachers (n = 402) in five European countries; Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Spain. The pre- and post-measuring points for both the intervention and the comparison group were at approximately the same time before and after the intervention. Comparison data consisted of 159 teachers in the same countries. The training for the intervention group lasted 16 h for the teachers and a maximum of 16 h for the principles and headmasters. An additional 9 h of further monitoring took place. There were two student groups participating in the study: the age group of 8–11 years (pre puberty) and the age group of 12–15-years (adolescents). Students, whose teachers had participated in the intervention, formed the intervention group (n = 2,552). Those students, whose teachers did not participate in the intervention, formed the comparison group (n = 1,730). The questionnaire data were collected at the beginning and at the end of the school year for both age groups. The results indicated that there was a favorable development in the intervention group in some of the measured skills among students, but the effects were different for the two age groups. This study adds to both theoretical and practical development of continuing teacher training about SEL and its possible role in reducing problem behavior among the students., Development of Practices and Methodologies for Assessing Social, Emotional and Health Skills within Education Systems 4120034, Erasmus+ KA3 program 582955-EPP-1-2016-2-LT-EPPKA3-PI-POLICY, Academy of Finland European Commission 308352, Finnish Strategic Research Council 327242

The Engaging Learning Environment (ELE) model was introduced into a company’s work-place to support the learning and well-being of the employees. The participants were 107 middle managers: E-learning group (n = 42) and a comparison group (n = 42) as well as a blended ELE intervention group (n = 23) assigned by the company that combined e-learning and face-to-face sessions. All groups participated in pre- and post-tests. The participants’ knowledge was assessed by 16 MCQs and their application skills by the Dealing with Challenging Interaction (DCI) method which consisted of case studies. The descriptions of how to act in case situations were content analysed. A repeated measures GLM was used to determine whether knowledge and skills changed during the leadership training, and whether their belonging to one of the groups had any bearing on this. The analysis showed that the e-learning group improved their performance more than the comparison group and the results of the ELE intervention group improved even more. Therefore, it is possible to learn communication skills online.

Töökohal õppimise soodustamiseks ja töötajate heaolu suurendamiseks katsetati ühes ettevõttes kaasava õpikeskkonna (ELE) mudelit. Uuringus osales 107 keskastmejuhti, kes jagati kolme rühma: e-õppe rühma (n = 42), võrdlusrühma (n = 42) ja ettevõtte moodustatud kaasava õpikeskkonna põimõppe rühma (n = 23), milles kasutati nii e-õpet kui ka kontaktõpet. Kõik rühmad osalesid eel- ja järeltestimises. Osalejate teadmisi hinnati 16 valikvastustega küsimuse põhjal ja teadmiste rakenda mise oskusi juhtumitel põhineva keeruliste suhtlusolukordadega toimetuleku meetodi abil. Kirjeldusi selle kohta, kuidas käituda juhtumina esitatud olukordades, analüüsiti sisuanalüüsi põhimõtetest lähtudes. Seda, kas osavõtjate teadmised ja oskused koolituse tulemusena muutusid ja kas kuulumine ühte või teise rühma avaldas muutustele mõju, hinnati kordusmõõtmiste üldistatud lineaarsete mudelitega. A nalüüsist ilmnes, et e-õppe rühma tulemused paranesid enam kui võrdlusrühma omad ning kaasava õpikeskkonna põimõppe rühma tulemused paranesid kõige rohkem. Seega on võimalik suhtlusoskusi veebi kaudu õppida. Full text

Introducción.. En este estudio exploramos el desarrollo de las habilidades de aprendizaje social y emocional (SEL) de los docentes, mediante el uso de MET [Maestros Eficaz y Técnicamente preparados] (Gordon Training International) como intervención con dos grupos de docentes. También quisimos abordar el modelo de Gordon desde la perspectiva de la psicología educativa moderna. Los efectos de la intervención MET sobre los docentes fueron examinados utilizando el modelo de Kirkpatrick y Kirkpatrick (2006), ya que consideramos importante observar diversos aspectos de los resultados de la intervención, incluyendo las reacciones, el conocimiento, la aplicación del conocimiento (habilidades) y el bienestar general de los participantes.Método. Los docentes participantes en el MET eran tutores (n=20) de un centro de primaria y profesores de materia (n=23) de un centro de secundaria de Finlandia. El grupo de comparación comprendió profesores de materia (n=26) de un centro de secundaria que no participaron en MET. Las diferencias estadísticas de los resultados posteriores a la prueba se examinaron con ANOVA unidireccional de muestra dependiente.Resultados. En el grupo de comparación no se encontraron diferencias entre las mediciones previas y posteriores a la prueba. Entre los participantes las reacciones hacia el MET fueron positivas. Además hubo resultados significativos en otros dos aspectos: mejoraron tanto el conocimiento como la aplicación del conocimiento. El bienestar general de los docentes medido al final de la intervención mostró cambios menores.Conclusión. MET pareció alcanzar sus objetivos, pues los docentes aprendieron a aplicar habilidades de SEL durante la intervención.

High goal coherence of a course has a positive effect on the participant's competence development. However, studies on the goal coherence of the youth development programmes are scarce. The participants were 153 teachers who attended to the LQ teachers’ workshop. They filled in the questionnaire before and after the training. In addition, 61 teachers who comprised the comparison group answered also to the questionnaire twice but they did not participate in the LQ. The LQ questionnaire consisted of two elements, namely, how participants experienced the importance of the goals and their perceived competence in promoting the LQ goals. Four pairs of variables describing the participants’ perceived importance of a course goal and the participants’ perceived competence towards implementing it were produced in exploratory factor analysis. The coherence values for variable pairs using distance values were calculated by subtracting the perceived importance from the perceived competence for each goal. The coherence increased at the second measurement point among both the intervention and comparison groups. The LQ intervention resulted in a significantly increased coherence in the ‘safe environment’ and ‘promoting SEL’ variable pairs among training participants compared with the comparison group. Participating in the LQ training did not, however, increase the coherence significantly with regards to the ‘help others’ or ‘healthy life’ variable pairs compared with the comparison group. This piece of research highlights an interesting means of investigating the effectiveness of teacher training.

Implementing 21st century skills at school, including social and emotional learning (SEL), has become increasingly important in many countries. The present study investigated in four countries the development of teachers’ SEL, through which people develop their social and emotional intelligence, by using internationally widely-used Lions Quest (LQ) teacher workshops as an intervention. Possible changes in teachers’ attitudes, values, knowledge, and skills during the LQ were explored. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using data from the pre-test responses of two countries. This analysis produced three factors. The created factor structure was further confirmed using pre-test data from another two countries. Repeated measures ANOVA (GLM), giving its ability to perform overall comparisons in one step, and the specified follow-up comparisons were used to examine the gain scores between and within groups, and to statistically control for some characteristics. The results showed that the teachers perceived the importance of the LQ goals as more important after participating in the LQ teachers’ workshop. In addition, they felt more competence in implementing the LQ content in their classrooms. Further, teachers valued the LQ higher after the workshop. In the comparison group, however, no changes were found. In conclusion, LQ appears to fulfill the expectations of supporting teachers in implementing LQ content, including 21st skills and SEL, in the classroom.

The qualitative changes in teachers’ responses in challenging situations were analysed during a four-day Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET) course, which aimed at improving teachers’ interpersonal dynamics with pupils, parents and colleagues. The participants were 21 teachers from one elementary and 23 teachers from one secondary school attending a TET course in Finland. Qualitative abductive content analysis was used to classify the data. Frequencies based on this analysis were also looked at. After TET the teachers described the behaviour of their pupils and expressed their feelings and the actual consequences of that behaviour, instead of using generalized labels and subjective interpretations of the pupils’ behaviour. They were also more likely to support pupils’ autonomy and agency by acknowledging pupils more, by increased listening or by asking pupils to participate actively in problem solving. This study deepens our understanding of the nature of the qualitative shift in teachers’ thinking durin...

The Dealing with Challenging Interaction (DCI) method was developed to measure social interaction skills of teacher study groups. The participants were 70 teachers from three schools. The inter-rater agreement, Cohen’s kappa, varied between 0.57- 1.00. The discriminant validity was supported by a cluster analysis differentiating between the skilful and less skilful teachers. The results of the supplementary instrument were equivalent to the cluster analysis maintaining criterion oriented validity of the method developed. The DCI appeared to be a reliable and valid tool for measuring teachers’ social interaction skills.

Modern learning psychology places an emphasis on the ability of teachers to promote their students’ social and emotional learning (SEL) and living a good life. Research on precisely how teachers promote SEL and well-being among their students, however, remains scarce. This study focused on evaluating the Lions Quest teaching workshop (LQ), which aims to improve the knowledge and skills of teachers in SEL and to promote a healthy and meaningful life among students. In total, 153 Finnish teachers participated in LQ. We compared these to 61 Finnish teachers who did not participate in the LQ training as well as a second comparison group consisting of 46 Finnish teachers to investigate the possible effects of pre-testing. We collected data from the intervention group before and after the training and from the first comparison group at approximately the same time points. Data from the second comparison group was collected only once. Using the repeated measures general linear model, we analyzed teachers’ readiness to promote the LQ goals from two perspectives, namely from participants’ experienced importance of those goals and their perceived competence in promoting them. In addition, we evaluated task values among participants. Teachers participating in LQ rated the goals as more important and relevant after receiving training. Furthermore, participants from the intervention group felt more competent in skills related to the LQ goals than the comparison groups.

Yliopistopedagogisella tutkimuksella on merkittävä rooli yliopisto-opetuksen kehittämisessä ja opiskelijoiden oppimisen laadun edistämisessä. Yliopisto-opettajan käsikirjassa esitellään uusinta yliopistopedagogista tutkimustietoa ja käytännönläheisiä esimerkkejä muun muassa opetuksen suunnittelusta, uusista opetusmenetelmistä, vaihtoehtoisista tenttikäytännöistä ja opintojen ja opinnäytetöiden ohjauksesta. Käsikirja tukee opettajan pedagogisen ajattelun kehittymistä. Kirjoittajat toimivat Helsingin yliopistossa yliopisto-oppimisen ja -opettamisen asiantuntijoina, ja kirjan aiheet perustuvat heidän opetus- ja koulutuskokemuksiinsa sekä tutkimuksiinsa.