SEL Competence – Beyond the Buzzword

The AMLE Research to Practice Podcast is back! In this episode, Dr. Sarah Pennington dives into the new Middle Level Education Research Agenda and The Successful Middle School Research Progress. She and hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey discuss the importance of building stronger, more collaborative relationships where researchers see educators as true partners. They explore how all educators can serve as researchers, as well as ways to bridge the gap to ensure that research can directly inform and improve what's happening in middle school classrooms.

In this episode, the hosts discuss a qualitative study of teachers' perceptions of classroom management in the middle grades, including common themes around what strategies work and differences in perceptions between general and special education teachers.Always a hot topic, classroom management is often cited by teachers as a reason why they leave the profession. It’s a problem exacerbated by lingering post-pandemic student social and emotional needs and behavior challenges. The hosts explore what is, and isn’t, within the power of teachers to control and how understanding the developmental characteristics of this age group can help.  

What does being “SEL competent” mean for middle grades teachers entering the profession today? How do teachers continue to adapt and develop that skillset over time? The hosts discuss two recent studies that explore these questions and their impact on effective classroom management. 

Even without additional trauma (such as the continuing impacts of the pandemic), adolescents are in a dynamic period of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development.  In this episode, co-hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey discuss a recent study that looked at health education teachers’ and school counselors’ views of their students’ challenges and their strategies for supporting students’ social and emotional development. The study was published in the June 2023 edition of Research in Middle Level Education Online, an open access journal available at https://www.amle.org/research-in-middle-level-education-online/. 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, while nearly half of the U.S. workforce is women only 27% are STEM workers. Could STEM self efficacy be a key to better female representation in STEM? What is “STEM self efficacy,” anyway? And why is it particularly important in the middle grades? Co-hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey dig into these questions, discussing why it may be the key to moving the needle. 

How did teachers perceive leadership support in the emergency transition to remote learning in 2020? Co-hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey discuss insights from the article, with Andrew sharing from his own experience as an administrator. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a recent study shows a relationship between amotiviation, absenteeism, and student performance. So what does this mean, practically speaking, for educators? Hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey break down a recent study conducted by researchers in Turkey and published in Research in Middle Level Education Online. 

Peer relationships become increasingly important during adolescence. So it’s not surprising that researchers are interested in the connection between peer relationships and academic achievement. Hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey break down a recent study published in Research in Middle Level Education Online that examined this relationship. 

Co-hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey discuss a new study that explored preservice mathematics teachers’ beliefs and the relationships among those beliefs and specialized content knowledge and technology utilization. The study offers important lessons about the role of beliefs during preservice teacher education that can be extended to teachers’ learning and growth at all stages of their careers. 

Hosts David Virtue and Andrew Maxey discuss a recent study that looked at how students in International Baccalaureate (IB) programs perceive international mindedness as part of their identity.  They then explore how all middle grades schools, IB or otherwise, can promote international mindedness to help students become globally engaged and culturally competent adults who understand the world’s interconnectedness and can find belonging wherever they might end up in the future.