Students’ Possession of Social and Emotional Learning Competencies in the Second Cycle Schools of Basic Education in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the degree of students’ social and emotional learning competencies in the schools of the second episode of basic education in Oman after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the researchers used the descriptive curriculum. The questionnaire of the OECD study was used for social and emotional skills in learning (Kankaraš and Suarez-Alvarez, 2019) which consisted of 5 competencies and 30 indicators: accomplishing tasks; emotional organization; dealing with others; cooperation; and openness. The results of the study showed that the overall degree of students’ ownership of social and emotional learning competencies was largely, with an average account (3.70), 74%, and a degree of ownership of each competency to a large extent, and in proportions percentage, ranged from 60.3% to 82%. There are statistically significant differences in the degree to which students have social and emotional learning competencies in the schools of the second episode of basic education in Oman in the total degree attributable to the sex variable, in favor of females (female students), while there are no statistically significant differences in the degree to which students have the competencies of social and emotional learning in the overall degree depending on the age variable. The study recommended that social and emotional learning skills be integrated into the curriculum, and that the Ministry of Education adopt courses, workshops, and lectures on emotional social learning programs aimed at educating all educational, community and media institutions.

Keywords:

Social and emotional learning competencies, The top five areas of personality, Episode II schools, Corona pandemic

References
[1] Allbright, T. N., Marsh, J. A., Kennedy, K. E., Hough, H. J., & McKibben, S. (2019). Socialemotional learning practices: insights from outlier schools. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 12(1), 35–52. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-02-2019- 0020

[2] Beggs, A., & Olson, S. (2020). The effects of social-emotional learning and teacher relationships on middle school student well-being. Saint Catherine University.

[3] Salta, K., Paschalidou, K., Tsetseri, M., & Koulougliotis, D. (2021). Shift from a traditional to a distance learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Science & Education, 31, 93–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-021-00234-x

[4] Pancorbo, G., Primi, R., John, O. P., Santos, D., Abrahams, L., & De Fruyt, F. (2020). Development and psychometric properties of rubrics for assessing social-emotional skills in youth. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 67, 100938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100938

[5] Jones, S., Barnes, S., Bailey, R., & Doolittle, E. (2017). Promoting social and emotional competencies in elementary school. The Future of Children, 27(1), 49– 72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44219021

[6] Balta-Salvador, R., Olmedo-Torre, N., Peña, M., & Renta-Davids, A. )2021). Academic and emotional effects of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic on engineering students. Education and Information Technologies, 26, 7407– 7434. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10593-1

[7] Clarke, A., Sorgenfrei, M., Mulcahy, J., Davie, P., Friedrich, C., & McBride, T. (2021). Adolescent mental health: A systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based interventions. Early Intervention Foundation.

[8] Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156– 1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12864.

[9] Jones, D. E., Greenberg, M., & Crowley, M. (2015). Early social-emotional functioning and public health: The relationship between kindergarten social competence and future wellness. American Journal of Public Health, 105(11), 2283– 2290, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302630

[10] Jones, E. P., Margolius, M., Skubel, A., Flanagan, S., & Hynes, M. (2020). All of who I am: Perspectives from young people about how learning happens. America’s Promise Alliance.

[11] Pellegrino, J. W., & Hilton, M. L. (2013). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century. The National Academies Press.

[12] Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., & Roberts, B. W. (2020). Taking skills seriously: Toward an integrative model and agenda for social, emotional, and behavioral skills. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(1), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420978613

[13] Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., Sewell, M. N., Yoon, H. J., & Roberts, B. W. (2022). An integrative framework for conceptualizing and assessing social, emotional, and behavioral skills: The BESSI. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123(1), 192–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000401

[14] Kankaraš, M., Feron, E., & Renbarger, R. (2019). Assessing students’ social and emotional skills through triangulation of assessment methods (OECD Education Working Papers No. 208). https://doi.org/10.1787/717ad7f2-en

[15] CASEL. (2019). What is SEL? https://casel.org/whatis-sel/

[16] Dibbets, P., & Jellemer, J. (2006). The switch task for children measuring mental flexibility in young children. Cognitive Development, 21(1), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2005.09.004

[17] Gross, J. J. (1998b). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089- 2680.2.3.271

[18] Abrahams, L., Pancorbo, G., Primi, R., Santos, D., Kyllonen, P., John, O. P., & De Fruyt, F. (2019). Social-emotional skill assessment in children and adolescents: Advances and challenges in personality, clinical, and educational contexts. Psychological Assessment, 31(4), 460–473. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000591

[19] Kankaraš, M., & Suarez-Alvarez, J. (2019). Assessment framework of the OECD study on social and emotional skills (OECD Education Working Papers No. 208). https://doi.org/10.1787/5007adef-en

[20] Primi, R., John, O. P., Santos, D., & De Fruyt, F. (2017). SENNA inventory.

[21] São Paulo, Brazil: Institute Ayrton Senna.

[22] Primi, R., Santos, D., John, O. P., & De Fruyt, F. (2021). SENNA inventory for the assessment of social and emotional skills in public school students in Brazil: Measuring both identity and self-efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(716639). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.716639

[23] Schoon, I. (2021). Towards an integrative taxonomy of social-emotional competences. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(515313). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.515313

[24] Duckworth, A. L., & Yeager, D. S. (2015). Measurement matters: Assessing personal qualities other than cognitive ability for educational purposes. Educational Researcher, 44(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X15584327

[25] Lechner, C. M., Anger, S., & Rammstedt, B. (2019). Socioemotional skills in education and beyond: Recent evidence and future research avenues. In R. Becker (Eds.), Research handbook on sociology of education (pp. 427–453). Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788110426.00034

[26] De Fruyt, F., Wille, B., & John, O. P. (2015). Employability in the 21st century: Complex (interactive) problem solving and other essential skills. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 8(2), 276–281. https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2015.33

[27] Roberts, B. W., Jackson, J. J., Fayard, J. V., Edmonds, G., & Meints, J. (2009). Conscientiousness. In M. Leary & R. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp 369–381). Guilford.

[28] Hough, L. (2003). Emerging trends and needs in personality research and practice: Beyond main effects. In M. R. Barrick & A. M. Ryan (Eds.), Personality and work: Reconsidering the role of personality in organizations (pp. 289–325). Jossey-Bass.

[29] Yusup, M., Subarjah, H. S., & Sudrazat, A. (2021). Effect of life skill, discipline and motivation toward learning result Pf sport subject during pandemic Covid-19. Jurnal Maenpo: Jurnal Pendidikan Jasmani Kesehatan Dan Rekreasi, 11(2), 169–181. https://doi.org/10.35194/jm.v11i2.1688

[30] Malinauskas, R., & Malinauskiene, V. (2021). Training the social-emotional skills of youth school stuents in physical education classes. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(741195). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.741195

[31] Niu, S. J., & Niemi, H. (2020). Teachers support of students’ social-emotional and self-management skills using a solution-focused skillful-class method. The European Journal of Social & Behavioural Sciences, 27(1), 3095–3113. https://doi.org/10.15405/ejsbs.269

[32] Lim, Q. (2020). The impact of social-emotional training on social-emotional development in students based on student grade and teacher experience. Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 227. https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/227/

[33] Oktaviani, P., Syahid, A., & Moormann, P. P. (2020). Santri’s emotional intelligence and big five personalities on bullying behaviors in Pesantren. Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 6(2), 179–192. http://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/jpi

[34] Corcoran, R. & Cheung, A., Kim, E., & Xie, C. (2017). Effective universal school-based social and emotional learning programs for improving academic achievement: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 50 years of research. Educational Research Review, 25, 56–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2017.12.001

[35] Jones, S. M., McGarrah, M. W., & Kahn, J. (2019). Social and emotional learning: A principled science of human development in context. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 129–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1625776

[36] Newell, L. C. (2017). Social and emotional learning in Australia and the Asia- Pacific: Perspectives, programs and approaches. Educational & Developmental Psychologist, 34(2), 144–145. https://doi.org/10.1017/edp.2017.10

[37] Oberle, E., Domitrovich, C. E., Meyers, D. C., & Weissberg, R. P. (2016). Establishing social and systemic emotional learning approaches in school: a framework for schoolwide implementation. Cambridge. Journal of education, 46(3), 277–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2015.1125450

[38] OECD. (2015). Skills for social progress: The power of social and emotional skills, OECD skills studies. OECD Publishing.

[39] McRae, K., Ochsner, K. N., Mauss, I. B., Gabrieli, J., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Gender differences in emotion regulation: An fMRI study of cognitive reappraisal. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 11(2), 143–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430207088035

[40] Grant, S., Hamilton, L. S., Wrabel, S. L., Gomez, C. J., Whitaker, A. A., Leschitz, J. T., Unlu, F., Chavez-Herrerias, E. R., Baker, G., Barrett, M., Harris, M. A., & Ramos, A. (2017). Social and emotional learning interventions under the Every Student Succeeds Act: Evidence review (RR-2133-WF). RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2133.html

[41] Center for Research and Reform in Education. (2017). Evidence for ESSA. Johns Hopkins University. http://www.evidenceforessa.org/