Belonging, Visibility, and Voice: Perceptions and Practices Promoting Social–Emotional Support in Online Learning in Teacher Education

The consolidation of online learning in higher education raises a question teacher education can no longer defer: How is social–emotional –support created when teaching and learning are mediated by screens? This study explored how preservice teachers experienced social-emotional learning (SEL) in an online course, focusing on three dimensions: belonging, visibility, and voice. Using reflexive thematic analysis within a constructivist orientation, the study analyzed the summative written reflections, composed as letters to the lecturer, of preservice teachers (N = 27) in a year-long synchronous online course at a teacher education institution. The cohort, aged 19 to 35, was heterogeneous in life circumstances, professional experience, and learning profiles. The analysis constructed four themes: belonging built through structured relational rituals; visibility as pedagogical noticing across the screen; voice as graduated, chosen participation; and the intended translation of experienced online SEL (O-SEL) into a professional toolbox for inclusive teaching. The findings indicate that the online space is double-edged: it heightens the risks of invisibility and disconnection, yet its affordances, written channels, structured formats, and learner control over self-presentation, can deepen inclusion when deliberately designed. Because the letters were addressed to the lecturer–researcher, the findings are read as situated accounts of perceived support and intended practice rather than as evidence of effectiveness or of classroom implementation. The discussion links the findings to systemic and transformative SEL and online disinhibition theory, and proposes a practice architecture for preparing teachers for inclusive classrooms.