Has the explicit teaching of emotions a place in the secondary school curriculum? a small-scale PE-based study

The secondary school curriculum largely aims to prepare students academically, often overlooking the holistic development of the learner. The benefits of socio-emotional learning (SEL) to student behaviour and academic attainment are gradually acknowledged and discussed, but teachers may find it hard to integrate SEL into their subject knowledge. This paper draws on the findings of a novel pilot project that aimed to integrate socioemotional-oriented teaching into the secondary school curriculum. It employs a lesson study (LS) approach to actively involve teacher trainees in curriculum development that introduces SEL in the context of physical education (PE). The project was conducted in partnership with one mainstream secondary school in the Southwest of England for a period of 2 months during the summer term 2021–2022. Two teacher trainees and one qualified PE teacher designed, evaluated, and planned a sequence of four research lessons focusing on integrating socioemotional-oriented teaching in PE. Data collection involved four focus groups and six in-depth evaluation interviews. Our findings provide insights into the tensions, challenges and significance of explicitly introducing socioemotional-oriented teaching into a secondary curriculum subject raising questions about the place of emotions in education. It also highlights the potential of a lesson study approach in empowering teachers' involvement in curriculum development. Evidence suggests that teacher trainees might be more motivated to draw on SEL teaching when it is integrated in their subject topic. Practical implications for teacher training and professional development are discussed.