Towards a Cross-Cultural Conceptual Framework for Researching Social and Emotional Education

• Main Author: Edurne Scott Loinaz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The International Academic Forum 2018-12-01
• Series: IAFOR Journal of Education
• Subjects: social and emotional education; comparative education; emotional wellbeing; social and emotional learning; emotional intelligence
• Online Access: https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-education/volume-6-Issue-3/article-7/

The central aim of this study was to investigate how different countries practice social and emotional education (SEE) using a comparative research design to create a cross-cultural conceptual framework. The study used a sequential quantitative-qualitative analysis with a comparative design that included 750 teachers. Cross-cultural differences were found in the research sample regarding teachers’ self-perceived role in socialising emotion: specifically, the teachers’ openness to emotional expression in the classroom, and what social and emotional aptitudes were more likely to be included as part of SEE provision. More variation was found in these variables internationally compared to intranationally. A conceptual framework using two dimensions was created in order to aid future cross-cultural research regarding SEE provision and the study of emotional rules in the teaching profession: the Ideal Affect (likelihood of suppressing rather than expressing emotion) and the Ideal Self (likelihood of developing skills for independence versus interdependence).