Impact of SEL intervention ‘Lead Well’ on teacher SEL development: Insights from a field study

Teachers’ social-emotional well-being is crucial for their quality of life. Their well-being is closely associated with the classroom practices, relationships and functioning with students. This study examines the impact of an intervention—‘Lead Well’ on the development of teacher SEL competencies. ‘Lead Well’ is a social-emotional learning (SEL) capacity-building program for teachers, developed by Learning Curve Life Skills Foundation, Hyderabad, India. The program aims to support, develop and promote social emotional well-being among teachers. A single group pretest and posttest design is adopted to conduct this study in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV). KGBV schools provide educational facilities for girl students (grades 6–10) belonging to backward classes, minority backgrounds and families below the poverty line in Educationally Backward Blocks. The study was conducted with teachers in the KGBV schools of Vikarabad district. Teachers were provided with the SEL capacity-building program for their own well-being for an academic year. The training was imparted in phases and regular support was provided. An end-line assessment was administered at the end of the academic year. Analysis reported a significant level of improvement in teachers’ SEL competencies (Emotional Intelligence, Engaging the Child, Shaping Attitudes, Mentor Mindset and Learning and Adaptability). The findings provide the empirical evidence on the impact of teacher-focused SEL interventions. It underscores the need for building teachers social-emotional competencies to improve classroom practices.