Effects of a social-emotional learning program on self-regulation, social competence, empathy and responsibility of intellectually able and less able adolescents

Abstract

SEL is comprised of learning skills needed to establish and maintain personal and interpersonal situations effectively. In this study, we reflect on SEL in the context of Lebanon among intermediate school students whose ages range between 12 and 15 enrolled in a public school in Beirut. The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the impact of a social-emotional learning (SEL) program on Lebanese adolescents' self-regulation, social competence, empathy and responsibility, (b) examine the difference in self-regulation, social competence, empathy and responsibility between intellectual ability groups when being exposed to an SEL program; and (c) examine the difference in self-regulation, social competence, empathy and responsibility between boys and girls when being exposed to an SEL program. To answer the research questions, an experimental intervention was held in which 63 students participated from both 7th and 8th grade and were divided into two mixed classes, an experimental group and a control one. The control group received regular English lessons with no specific SEL activities, while the experimental group received the SEL activities through English lessons. The intervention was administered for 5 weeks, 3 times a week for 45 minutes each. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention using the Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS) and the teaching observational checklist. And data was collected only pre-intervention using the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices test and collecting the school grade point average from the school administration for intellectual ability categorization. Data was later analyzed using MANOVA and MANCOVA which showed a significant effect between research groups in benefiting from the SEL program, yet no significant differential effects between intellectual ability groups and gender. The SEL program used was effective for the research group in improving social competence, empathy, and responsibility, but was not notably effective in improving self-regulation. Al