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Social and emotional learning (SEL) is promoted by offering teachers’ SEL workshops worldwide. However, little is known about their short-term and long-term outcomes. We explored how teachers benefit from Lions Quest (Mitt Valg in Norwegian) training in the short and long term in Norway. The development of teachers was investigated by exploring their perceived importance and sense of competence in teaching SEL during an almost two-year period. The development of their students’ SEL was explored as well. Imputed values from the intervention group (n = 247) and the comparison group (n = 47) were used in analysing teachers’ short and long-term outcomes. Students’ intervention group consisted of 112 students and the comparison group consisted of 53 students. Data were collected from the teachers three times and from the students two times via Likert-scale questionnaires. The results indicated that the teachers felt to be more competent in teaching SEL after their Lions Quest (Mitt Valg) teacher training. This trend appeared to be continuing in the long run. Students’ SEL among the intervention group slightly increased whereas SEL among the comparison group decreased during their teachers' training. Lions Quest (Mitt Valg) intervention appeared to improve teachers’ sense of competence to teach SEL at school. In addition, findings showed that teachers were willing to implement LQ as part of their teaching.

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.

The positive psychology movement values good atmosphere and flourishing in the classroom. In order to do this, it is important to develop teachers’ social and emotional learning (SEL) as a part of expertise, because teachers are in key position to create supportive and engaging learning environment. Even though promoting SEL as a means to create a flourishing classroom is often recommended in the literature, there is not much multi-national evidence about the development of the teachers’ competencies associated with SEL. Previous research indicates that it is difficult to aid students to flourish without teachers having the necessary skills to scaffold them. Focusing merely on cognitive outcomes is not helping, but instead, we need to train the teachers to support autonomy, agency and self-efficacy in classrooms to build sustainable success and happiness among youth. The whole classroom culture should be developed to support positive encounters. This chapter describes studies on SEL interventions on teachers. The participants of the first study were Finnish teachers who attended to Gordon’s Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET) workshops, based on humanistic psychology. For assessing teachers’ development of SEL, a new method, Dealing with Challenging Interaction (DCI) was developed. DCI helps to capture the real-life challenging situations at teacher’s work in various settings. In all, after the TET intervention the teachers really started using the studied skills, and they were more likely to support their students’ autonomy and agency than the teachers in the comparison groups. The next step was to carry out global investigations about the Lions Quest teacher workshops. These studies revealed increased readiness to develop teachers’ SEL competencies worldwide. Finally, various SEL interventions in nine European countries were looked at. So far, using mixed-method approach in several countries has produced consistent results with satisfactory effect sizes. The research methods appear ecologically valid, yet generalizable in various cultures and contexts. In all, these studies demonstrated that teachers benefit from SEL training. Diverse interventions appeared to increase teachers’ readiness to implement SEL. Especially, teachers’ sense of competence in teaching SEL increased. As such, the purpose of this chapter is to present an intervention protocol, based on the SEL interventions described above that aims at enhancing teachers’ social and emotional learning. The final aim is to develop classroom cultures that promote flourishing in both teachers and students. The present research adds to both theoretical and practical understanding of teachers’ continuing professional development worldwide.

espanolIntroduccion: La tendencia global de los nuevos curriculos de muchos paises de la OCDE indica que las habilidades de interaccion social son cada vez mas importantes. Los educadores deben comenzar a fomentar el desarrollo de las competencias sociales de los alumnos, lo que requiere el desarrollo de sus propios conocimientos y habilidades. Este estudio investigo el posible cambio en el conocimiento de los docentes, su conocimiento aplicado y su percepcion de competencia durante los talleres Lions Quest (LQ). Para medir esto, los participantes res- pondieron a la encuesta de LQ. Metodo: Reunimos diez muestras de 2120 participantes en nueve paises. Del total de partici- pantes, 1206 docentes asistieron a los talleres LQ para docentes (grupo de intervencion). Los datos de comparacion se recopilaron de 914 docentes que no participaron en el LQ; se calcu- laron las puntuaciones de la suma media de las medidas de multiples items, y estas fueron utilizadas como variables en los analisis posteriores. Especificamos un diseno mixto multiva- riado en el que examinamos el efecto de la intervencion con respecto al cambio medio de las variables a traves del tiempo en los diferentes grupos. En cuanto a la muestra, exploramos las diferencias de medias intra-grupo entre las puntuaciones pre-test y pos-test y evaluamos los tamanos del efecto de la intervencion. Resultados: Los resultados indicaron que la intervencion tuvo un efecto positivo en los parti- cipantes en todas las muestras menos una, y que los docentes se beneficiaron de la formacion continua en aprendizaje social y emocional (ASE). Discusion y Conclusion: Los resultados del presente estudio indican que merece la pena in- cluso una intervencion de relativamente corto plazo y bajo coste en el ASE de los docentes. Un ASE adecuado permite afrontar mas facilmente los desafios dentro y fuera de la escuela, ahora y en el futuro, tanto para los docentes como para sus alumnos. EnglishIntroduction: The global trend of new curricula in many OECD countries indicates that so- cial interaction skills are becoming increasingly important. Educators need to start fostering the development of learners’ social competences, which requires development of their own knowledge and skills. This study investigated the possible change in teachers’ knowledge, their applied knowledge, and their sense of competence during the Lions Quest (LQ) work- shops. For us to measure this, the participants responded to the LQ inquiry. Method: We collected ten samples from 2120 participants in nine countries. Of all the partic- ipants, 1206 teachers attended the LQ teacher workshops (intervention group). Comparison data were collected from 914 teachers not participating in the LQ, and the mean sum scores from the multi-item measures were computed and used as variables in further analyses. We specified a multivariate mixed design, in which we examined the effect of the intervention with regard to mean change over time across groups in the variables. Sample-wise, we ex- plored the within-group mean differences between pre- and post-test scores and evaluated the effect sizes for the intervention. Results: The results indicated that the intervention had a positive effect on the participants across all samples apart from one, and that teachers benefitted from continuous training on social and emotional learning (SEL). Discussion and conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that even a relatively short-term, low-cost intervention in teachers’ SEL is worthwhile. Successful SEL enables teachers and their students to face challenges more easily, inside and outside school, now and in the future.

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.

1. IntroductionCultural sensitivity is one of the quality criteria of programmes on social and emotional learning (SEL) (Collaborative of Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, 2002). When students with various cultural backgrounds enter the SEL workshop it is important that their experiences are beneficial so that they can anchor the outcomes of the workshop to their life. Hence, when adapting the SEL programme to a new country, local circumstances including values and customs should be taken into consideration. However, international SEL programmes are often registered trademark products including the requirement to obey predefined principles and goals so that they can be identified as the same programme. Thus, recommendations about cultural sensitivity might remain unfulfilled because of certain agreements between the implementer and the owner of the programme.Lions Quest (LQ) is a registered trademark SEL programme organized for teachers in 80 countries. More than 500,000 educators have been trained to implement the LQ programmes (Lions Clubs International, 2013a). When LQ is adopted in a new country, it is implemented through the local trainers and country directors who are trained and supported by the LQ headquarters. At a national level, trainers adjust the original LQ curricula to the local circumstances and conduct LQ teachers' workshops in their own country. Country directors, in turn, are responsible for organizing resources for marketing and financing. Thus, it depends to a large extent on these two groups what the course is like in a particular country. At present, the length of the teachers' workshop varies from one to three days depending on the country. In addition, the content of the teacher's manual varies from country to country.The current study is part of a larger evaluation project on the outcomes of LQ. To be able to compare them in different countries, it is essential first to compare the perceptions on LQ goals of these two key groups. Only if their perceived goals on LQ are similar in different countries can we compare the outcomes of the LQ training later on. In this study we investigated if the original goals of the multinational LQ programme differ from the perceived goals of the national LQ executors and whether there was variation internationally.1.1. Social and emotional learning (SEL) and substance abuse prevention behind the LQ programmeSocial and emotional learning (SEL), first introduced in 1994, is a conceptual framework including core components, namely self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making (Elias et al., 1997). According to Greenberg et al. (2003), the roots of the framework of SEL are found in young people's health promotion and prevention. The perceived ineffectiveness of diverse educ ational efforts on, for example, drug and alcohol prevention, spurred a meeting of school-based education researchers, teachers and advocates. They created a framework of SEL to address the underlying causes of problem behaviour rather than targeting a specific problem (Greenberg et al., 2003). Based on the foundation of the SEL framework, a new non - profit organization, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), was established, which works to advance both the science and evidence-based practice of SEL and strengthen the field and impact of SEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2013; Greenberg et al., 2003).SEL is based on the idea that learning can be improved by enhancing the relationships in the learning context (Elbertson, Brackett, & Weissberg, 2010). Two groups of theoretical models comprise the SEL framework (Payton et al., 2000). First, theoretical models of social and emotional learning consist of theories of emotional intelligence (Mayer & Salovey, 1997), social and emotional competence promotion (Haggerty, Sherrod, Garmezy, & Rutter, 1994), the social developmental model (Hawkins, 1997), social information processing (Crick & Dodge, 1994), and self-management (Kanfer & Goldstein, 1991). …

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.

Teachers benefit from social interaction skills, and studying such skills is often recommended. In the present study, we explored whether comprehensive school teachers of Finland participating in the three credit follow-up training learned to use social interaction skills during the intervention. The studied skills were based on Gordon's theory (2003). The participants were 20 teachers who attended the training, and 20 teachers not attending the training. The effects of the intervention on teachers were examined by using the DCI-instrument ( Talvio et al., 2012 ). Qualitative, theory-driven content analysis was used to classify the data. The statistical differences between the pre-test and post-test scores were examined with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. After the intervention, teachers who participated in the training used significantly more active listening skills and communicated in constructive ways. In the comparison group, no differences between pre- and post-tests were perceived. To conclude, the teachers’ course on social interaction skills appeared to achieve its goals, since the teachers learned to apply the studied skills during the intervention. This study adds to the development of continuing teacher training.