Adolescence through the pages: young adult novels as a lens for supporting social and emotional growth in high school students.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20398299

Social emotional learning (SEL) is an important field of education, and has been for the past 25 years, although the majority of SEL programs are designed for elementary ages, some for middle school, and only a few designated for high school ages. With a weakening of community organizations, an increase in stressors, and higher occurrences of mental health struggles, students need instruction and interventions in this field more than ever. However, Yeager (2017) and Elias (2019) have indicated that high school students do not respond positively to many programs because they are not developmentally appropriate. As a result, this study utilized social cognitive theory and participatory evaluation as a qualitative approach to investigating an alternative method of SEL instruction: using young adult (YA) novels as a lens for that learning. An analysis of participant interview responses identified three separate themes to the primary research question: (a) improved reflective practices, (b) increased abilities in understanding and empathy, (c) and a greater awareness of SEL competencies in one's life. Results, analyzed with the theoretical framework and the literature, revealed that this method is potentially an effective alternative to teaching SEL, and provided greater insights into how students process and understand their SEL struggles and potential growth, providing opportunities for educational stakeholders to further examine the YA's potential for teaching SEL to high school, as well as other developmentally appropriate methods.