Turkish EFL Teachers’ Knowledge, Perceptions and Practices Regarding Social and Emotional Learning

Abstract

The study aims to portray how Turkish EFL instructors perceive social and emotional learning in their own contexts. This research study was primarily based on a mixed-methods research design. In total, 238 Turkish EFL teachers were involved in the study. The study relied mainly on two distinct sources of data, including a Likert-style questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide. Our data analysis procedure was separated into three stages. First, the quantitative phase of the investigation was analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses on SPSS. As for the second stage, the inferential analysis was carried out using MANOVA. Finally, the focus of the third stage of our data analysis process was centered on qualitative data analysis, which was conducted through content analysis. According to descriptive findings, teachers’ views about their self-efficacy were observed to be moderate, teachers’ views about their desire at a high level and teachers’ views about school culture at a moderate level. According to MANOVA results, there existed statistically significant differences in how teachers perceive SEL among all other independent variables except age. Lastly, two different major categories emerged from qualitative data analysis. These include teachers’ views about the importance of SEL and factors that prevent teachers from integrating SEL instruction into their curriculum.