Current Issues in Education, 25(1)  1 

 
 
Volume 25, Issue 1    04/09/2024  ISSN 1099-839X 
 

Teacher SEL Space: Addressing Beginning Teachers’ Social 
Emotional Learning in a Support Group Structure 

 
Peter Clyde Martin 

Ithaca College 
 
 

Abstract:  
There is evidence that ongoing social emotional learning (SEL) needs among teachers negatively 
impact teacher retention and student learning.  At the same time, teachers’ SEL has been 
insufficiently addressed in teacher preparation.  As a consequence, preservice and early-career 
teachers often lack the tools, perspective, and support to address their own SEL needs. The 
article describes a pilot project where current candidates and recent graduates in a teacher 
preparation program came together in an ongoing support group structure to share struggles, 
successes, and initiatives, support and advise each other, and reflect on their ongoing journey.  
After a review of the literature on teachers’ SEL needs, gaps and models in teacher preparation, 
and the potential benefits of support groups, data from the pilot “SEL Space” meetings are 
presented and discussed, with an emphasis on thematic patterns, evolution over time, and 
participants’ reflection on the process.  Implications for practice and research are presented. 
 
Keywords:  
Social Emotional Learning, Teacher Education, Teacher Retention, Teacher Effectiveness, 
Collaboration 
 
Citation:  
Martin, P.C. (2024). Teacher SEL Space: Addressing Beginning Teachers’ Social Emotional 
Learning in a Support Group Structure. Current Issues in Education, 24(3). 
DOI:10.14507/cie.vol25iss1.2186 
 
Accepted: September 19, 2023.
 
 
 
 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   2 

Introduction 

Although the issue is certainly not new, the need for the education world to attend to the 
general wellness of teachers has become increasingly acknowledged (Almerico, 2018; Katz et 
al., 2020).  For years, teachers leaving the profession early in their careers has been a defining 
concern (Greenberg et al., 2016). With teaching and learning themselves in upheaval during the 
reality of COVID-related lockdowns and the ensuing uncertainties, we have to regard the exodus 
of teachers before they have fully developed their practice as one of our most pressing problems.  
Indeed, there is ample evidence that high stress, low morale, and burnout have become constants 
in the teaching profession (Cipriano & Brackett, 2020), to the point where they are almost 
defining characteristics. 

While the realities that make teaching stressful to begin with may be deep-seated and 
beyond easy fixes, we have to address teachers’ preparedness to work successfully, happily, and 
healthily in these stressful conditions to a greater degree.  Indeed, while social emotional 
learning (SEL) in children has been increasingly recognized and targeted by schools as an area of 
need, the SEL needs of teachers have been largely overlooked (Donahue-Keegan et al., 2019; 
Jones et al., 2013). This gap is especially critical in teacher preparation. Katz et al. (2020) 
suggest that “SEL is sometimes called the ‘missing piece’ in education because it represents a 
part of learning that is inextricably tied to school success and positive student performance, yet it 
has not been explicitly addressed or given much attention until recently” (pp. 2-3).  The result is 
that preservice teachers are not prepared to understand and manage their emotions when they 
urgently need to do so as they take over a classroom (Donahue-Keegan et al., 2019; Katz et al., 
2020). 

It is increasingly clear that one of the main problems faced by public schools in various 
countries is the failure to keep teachers in the profession, with clear evidence that burnout and 
low morale, especially, drive teachers to leave for a different career within the first few years 
(Amitai & Van Houtte, 2022; Greenberg et al., 2016; Høigaard et al., 2012).  It has also become 
evident that, internationally, some of the biggest concerns beginning and early-career teachers 
face are not just about understanding the curriculum and being able to plan and implement 
effective instruction, but instead about dealing with the toll their work as teachers places on their 
well-being (Donahue-Keegan et al., 2019; Gustems-Carnicer & Calderon, 2013; Hosotani et al., 
2011; Lindqvist, et al., 2017; Väisänen et al., 2018;). Furthermore, while we know teachers are 
often unwell, the reasons that make teaching seem unsustainable are numerous, varied, and hard 
to sum up and address uniformly.  Finding ways to help teachers themselves identify and address 
those needs and stresses that are particular to them has to become a priority as well.   It is urgent 
that we provide teachers with the means, the space, and the voice to define and address those 
SEL-related issues that make it hard to keep the profession sustainable.  There are a number of 
questions teachers need to consider. Additionally, they need a space and agency to answer those 
questions.  For example, what are they most unhappy about? What problems do they want to 
solve? What solutions might they be arriving at but have difficulties implementing consistently? 
Also, how can this be a shared rather than a lonely, isolating exploration? As it is, however, we 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   3 

are still lacking definitive blueprints on how to guide beginning and early-career teachers in this 
process.   
 This article discusses a pilot project by a Master’s-level teacher education program in the 
United States preparing candidates for state-level certification to address some of these gaps in 
SEL support with current student teachers and recent graduates who were in their first and 
second year of teaching—in other words, early-career teachers who are at risk of leaving the 
profession prematurely due to struggles with stress and work-related burnout (Amitai & Van 
Houtte, 2022).  In particular, this pilot project sought to address teacher SEL challenges that are 
by their nature ongoing, making sure to give voice to and address truly individualized, actual 
teacher struggles, involving both an individual process of SEL-related reflection and planning; 
and a communal process whereby colleagues could share, support one another, process together, 
ask for and give help, problem solve, and generally feel that they were not alone.  The project 
sought to explore how to give teachers ongoing opportunities to express and share emotions, 
frustrations, puzzles, discoveries, and successes with one another in ways that were honest yet 
still constructive and forward-looking, and ultimately help them develop a personal teaching 
practice that was successful, healthy, and sustainable 
 
Findings from the Literature: The Need to Focus on Teachers’ SEL 
Teachers’ Struggles and the Need for SEL Support 

There is long-standing evidence that teachers, as a group, suffer more from job-related 
stress and burnout than many other professions, leading to high levels of staff turnover in schools 
(Greenberg et al., 2016).  Kiriacou (2001) defines teacher stress as “the experience by a teacher 
of unpleasant, negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, tension, frustration or depression, 
resulting from some aspect of their work as a teacher” (p.28). The helping professions in general 
involve frustrations that make the risk of burnout acute (Ratliff, 1988).  Research indicates that 
job-related stress has been steadily increasing over the years and that up to 40% to 50% of 
beginning teachers leave the profession within the first three years (Oberle & Schonert-Reichl, 
2016).  Since teacher turnover is likely to affect high-needs schools and districts to a 
disproportionately high degree, this crisis in teacher retention also contributes to social and 
economic inequities (Greenberg et al., 2016).      
 Chronic stress and job-related burnout have also had a significant impact on the well-
being and effectiveness of teachers who continue to work in schools.  Studies have found a close 
connection between teachers’ levels of stress and a range of debilitating struggles, including 
decreases in motivation and professional engagement, health impairments, and challenges in 
self-esteem, self-confidence, efficacy, and personal relationships (Cipriano & Brackett, 2020; 
Howard & Johnson, 2004; Ransford et al., 2009).     
 Given the severity of this wellness crisis among teachers, there have been calls for a more 
concerted effort to provide support for teachers’ SEL (Palmer et al., 2019; Schonert-Reichl, 
2017).  A widely referenced definition of SEL is as follows: “The process through which 
children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   4 

understand and manage emotions, situations, set, and achieve positive goals, feel and show 
empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make decisions” 
(Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], 2019).  Indeed, SEL has 
been found to be central to a teacher’s work, serving as a cornerstone for effective relationship 
building with students, classroom management, and implementation of instruction (Jones et al., 
2013).  Teachers’ ability to successfully regulate and make use of their own emotions during 
instruction is a crucial aspect of teaching (Hosotami & Imai-Matsumura, 2011).  However, 
despite evidence that fostering and supporting teachers’ SEL is crucial, it has been largely 
overlooked in conversations and research around teacher quality, preparation, and professional 
development (Collie et al., 2011; Jones et al., 2013). 
 More than anything, teachers’ SEL needs to be addressed because of its impact on the 
well-being of students.  Because teachers are “the engine that drives social and emotional 
learning practices in classrooms” (Schonert-Reichl, 2017, p.137),  teachers’ stress has a 
contagious effect on students.  Jennings and Greenberg (2009) describe a “burnout cascade” 
where “the deteriorating climate is marked by increases in troublesome student behaviors, 
and teachers become emotionally exhausted as they try to manage them” (p. 492).   As 
Schonert-Reichl (2017) words it, “simply put, stressed out teachers tend to have stressed out 
students” (p. 137).  Consequently, if teachers and schools are to support students’ SEL as part of 
their education, teachers’ own SEL has to be addressed and supported as well (Jennings, 2019; 
Poulou, 2017; Jones et al., 2013; Schonert-Reichl, 2017; Waajid et al., 2013).   
 Facility in emotional understanding and management has been found to be at the core of 
skills teachers rely on in their daily practice.  Research has pointed to the centrality of SEL in 
helping teachers effectively exercise self-control in challenging situations, collaborate, and plan 
instruction for their students (Palmer et al., 2019).   SEL is also instrumental for teachers to feel 
professionally adequate and to accept the dependence on colleagues that is central to the 
collaborative setup of schools (Lindqvist et al., 2017).  Regarding the longer-term sustainability 
of teaching, it has been found that teachers who experience greater well-being in their work lives 
are more committed to the teaching profession as a whole (Collie et al., 2011). 
 Given that the social emotional challenges of teaching are situational and therefore 
unpredictable, Kyriacou (2001) has emphasized the importance of reliable social emotional 
coping skills.  These are, in turn, separated into direct action coping strategies, that are meant to 
be proactive and allow the teacher to set up themselves and their instruction so as to minimize 
possible stress, and palliative coping skills that allow them to address challenges as they arise.  
Kyriacou (2001) argues that both are requirements for successful and sustainable teaching.   
 It is not surprising that preservice and early-career teachers are especially vulnerable to 
stress and burnout factors (Vesely et al., 2014).  Studies have found that teachers in training 
frequently experience fear for their immediate safety during the school day, fear for the near 
future as effective teachers, and fear for the long-term sustainability and success of their work 
(Delamarter & Ewart, 2020) and a general feeling of professional inadequacy stemming from 
powerlessness and uncertainty (Lindqvist et al., 2017).   



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   5 

 
Value of Connection and Community 
 While there exists a substantial body of research examining the benefit of collaboratively 
working on developing wellness-related abilities in group settings, much of this literature focuses 
on nurses and social workers (Barak et al., 2008; Gunusen & Ustun, 2010; Medland et al., 2004) 
and very little is targeted at teachers.  This strengthens the sense that the teacher burnout crisis 
and accompanying social emotional needs continue to be largely overlooked.   
 Yet a prominent factor that can bind otherwise disconnected individuals to each other in 
mutually helping groups is having to cope with similar conditions of heightened anxiety 
(Davison et al., 2000).   This is true for support groups around addiction or grief, for example, 
but also for members of a professional group that shares a common level of job-related stress 
(Barak et al., 2008).   Here Rosenberg (1984) defines “support group” as “sharing one’s problem 
with others suffering from the same stress” (p. 173).  In a study on support groups for nurses, 
participants reported that hearing about the concerns of others gave them a useful perspective on 
their own situation, helping them understand their own challenges and feel less alone (Peterson 
et al., 2008).   
 Certainly, various 12 Steps movements have demonstrated that group processes can be 
instrumental in providing participants in stressful situations with emotional relief.  Here, there is 
a distinction between a therapy group, where a service provider implements a treatment, and a 
support group, where peers share, listen, and offer support and relief to one another (Barak et al., 
2008; Peterson et al., 2008).   In fact, the knowledge that one is helpful to others by listening and 
providing encouragement is a key benefit of being in a support group, as it allows participants to 
gain a sense of competence and confidence that is often lacking (Kirk & Walter, 1981; 
Rosenberg, 1984).   The communal, peer aspect of this group process, where challenges are 
shared, and everyone can contribute their own insider knowledge to help one another with 
challenges all identify with, facilitates understanding of the common struggles, a sense of 
belonging and community, and an increase in self-confidence (Peterson et al., 2008).   
 The social support provided by a group process has been shown to be effective against 
the kind of burnout endemic among teachers (Um & Harrison, 1998).  Indeed, the stress caused 
by job-related uncertainty and volatility is especially effectively addressed through the reflective 
process of a support group (Etzion, 1984; Medland et al., 2004).   It can allow participants to find 
ways of organizing, reflecting on, and arriving at practical responses to their fears rather than 
being overwhelmed by them (Delamarter & Ewart, 2020).  In the long run, having regular 
meetings with peers allows for important community building and opportunities for periodic 
check-ins that help participants to be seen, cared for, and cared for others (Korman et al., 2022).  
In this way, a significant impact is to break through the isolation that typically exacerbates both 
the anxiety and the feeling of helplessness in addressing it (Korman, et al., 2022; Rosenberg, 
1984; Sononne & Rochford, 2020).   
 In a study specifically about teachers with such a support group, it was found that the 
process helped with resilience, letting them know that there were others who cared about them 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   6 

and would be ready to help when things got hard (Howard & Johnson, 2004).  Similarly, Kirk 
and Walter (2008) found it important for participants to share both their challenges and their 
successes in order to steer the conversations toward overcoming problems rather than merely 
reaffirming them.  It was clearly important, above all, for participants to speak openly and to 
listen to one another supportively.   
 

Summing up: Support Groups to Address Teacher SEL 

 As is amply documented in the research literature, there is a long-standing SEL crisis 
among teachers (Delamarter & Ewart, 2020;  Lindqvist et al., 2017; Vesely et al., 2014) that has 
a substantial negative impact on both P-12 students (Cipriano & Brackett, 2020 ; Ransford, et 
al., 2009) and on the retention of teachers within the profession (Greenberg et al., 2016).  
Teachers as a group are especially subject to feelings of isolation and job-related stress, leading 
to a high level of burnout (Cipriano & Brackett, 2020).  While this crisis is and has been acute, 
there has been insufficient regard given to teachers’ SEL in teacher preparation and support of 
beginning teachers (Almerico, 2018; Hadar, et al., 2020; Schonert-Reichl et al., 2015).  Among 
other approaches, it has been found that a collaborative support group process can help 
professionals in high-stress sectors feel less isolated and anxious and develop a sense of self-
confidence, belonging, and greater resilience through an ongoing process of sharing, listening, 
problem-solving, and mutual support (Howard & Johnson, 2004; Kirk & Walter, 2008; 
Korman, 2022; Peterson et al., 2008). 

 

“SEL Space” 

 The SEL crisis for teachers and the SEL-related gap in teacher preparation that are 
documented in the literature were also evident in the teacher education program this study 
focuses on and the surrounding school districts where most of the graduates of the program 
spend their first years as teachers.  Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an 
acknowledgment that preservice teachers’ SEL, while addressed here and there in classes and 
advising sessions, was given insufficient space within the teacher preparation curriculum and 
was clearly set on a lower rung of importance than other less person-related skill areas.  At the 
same time, a substantial amount of effort was spent trying to find ways to support student 
teachers who were overwhelmed with stress and found themselves in serious wellness crises, 
leading some to withdraw from the program with the explanation that they needed to prioritize 
their mental health.  Furthermore, a number of recent graduates were prematurely resigning 
from their teaching positions to switch to “kinder” professions outside of schools. 

 In response to what was viewed as an entrenched crisis and a program gap, and drawing 
on some of the findings from the research literature, the author piloted an ongoing support 
group structure that would specifically address SEL areas with current student teachers and 
graduates who were in their first two years of teaching.  Modeling the initiative after some of 
the promising interventions documented with healthcare workers (Gunusen & Ustun, 2010; 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   7 

Korman, 2022; Medland et al., 2004; Peterson et al., 2008), the author set up a group that 
combined preservice and early-career teachers, all graduates from the same program, tasking 
them to reflect individually on their own SEL-related situations, needs, and accomplishments, 
and meeting on a regular basis to share, support one another, and plan and chart their own 
growth.  The stated goals were to develop a supportive community of peers who shared and 
understood the struggles of being a beginning teacher, provide a space to voice and hear 
personal experiences and give opportunities to help, strategize, and give and receive ideas for 
successfully tackling the challenges at hand.  The researcher hoped that these beginning 
teachers would help and be helped and feel less isolated in the process. 

 
Methodology 

Participants and Structure 

 The pilot project this study focuses on took place over the course of four months in the 
second half of the school year and involved a total of thirteen current students and recent 
graduates of an American graduate education program, leading to state-level teacher 
certification on the elementary and secondary level.  Students were selected from three different 
cohorts that had all been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  To the extent that there really is 
a ‘before’ and ‘after’ the beginning of the pandemic in terms of the reality of schools, it seemed 
important that some of this experience was shared by all participants.  The author invited 
students to participate based on an attempt to ensure representation across cohorts, grade levels 
taught, subject matter, and type of community setting.  Of the thirteen invited students and 
graduates who agreed to participate, five were in their second year of teaching, five were in 
their first year, and three were current students in the second half of their culminating student 
teaching experience.  They taught a range of content areas in high schools, middle schools, 
technical schools, and elementary schools in large cities, small cities, and rural areas. All 
aspects of the project were facilitated by the author, an Education professor who had worked 
extensively with each of the participants in their teacher preparation program. 

 At the onset of the project, participants created a personal SEL plan that addressed 
fundamental aspects of SEL adapted from the framework by CASEL (2020), which related to 
common challenges for teachers as had been identified in the literature (Cipriano & Brackett, 
2020; Greenberg et al., 2016; Oberle & Schonert-Reichl, 2016).  These aspects were defined as 
attending to personal well-being, managing own emotions, managing challenging situations, 
and engaging in problem-solving for students.  In each case, participants defined specific areas 
they were focusing on, struggles and/or successes they were experiencing, specific actions they 
were already taking to address this area, and actions they were planning to take moving 
forward.  In alignment with research pointing to the importance for teachers learning how to 
identify and approach stressors proactively (Gustems-Carniver & Calderon, 2013), participants 
updated their SEL plans on a monthly basis to ensure that these remained living documents, 
allowing for ongoing stock-taking, planning, and reflection.   



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   8 

 Once a month, participants gathered for a two-hour online support group meeting, split 
into two sessions in the same week, with six or seven participants in each.  Each of the sessions 
was structured in the same way, with an intent to provide both clarity and structure, 
opportunities for open self-guided conversation, and a focus on pragmatic problem solving, in 
keeping with research findings that ongoing training in proactive strategies for emotional 
regulation reduced student teachers’ perceived exhaustion and feeling of inadequacy (Vaisanen 
et al., 2018).  After initial greetings and a reminder of the general structure of the meeting, each 
session began with individual check-ins on current situations and open conversation on 
whatever topics participants were latching onto.  Other than keeping time, the facilitator 
provided little guidance during this section to ensure that the conversation was truly about what 
the participants wanted to talk about.  This part of the meeting was then followed by an 
overview of common themes that had emerged in the latest revisions of participants’ individual 
SEL plans and a more pointed discussion of recent struggles and successes.  After a break, the 
group was split up into smaller sessions with two or three participants in each.  Each group was 
asked to identify one or two problems they would like to solve and discuss ideas on how to 
approach them, exchanging experiences and building on one another’s discoveries.  The whole 
group then reconvened, and participants were asked to share out what they had discussed.  This 
then led to a larger and sense-making conversation where participants were asked to problem-
solve together and build on each other’s ideas.  To end the meeting, the facilitator asked each 
participant to identify insights they gained from the meeting and suggested the next steps for 
themselves moving forward.  As in all previous phases of the meeting, open conversation was 
encouraged, and guidance by the facilitator was kept at a minimum.  Each of the four monthly 
meetings followed this same structure.  

 

Research Questions 
 In order to examine what challenges participants were facing and wanted to address, how 
this process helped them face SEL-related issues, and  whether they found it helpful, the study 
defined the following three research questions: 
1. What themes did participants focus on, and what problems did they try to solve?  
2. How did the themes evolve from meeting to meeting? 
3. What did teachers seem to gain from this process, and what evidence is there that this process 

was helpful to them? 

 
Data Collection and Analysis 
 With participants’ written consent, each of the four pairs of online meetings was 
recorded, and written transcriptions were generated.  At this point, all data was anonymized, and 
strict confidentiality protocols were followed.  The author then broke down the transcripts into 
conversational turns, each delineated by a change of speaker.  A conversational turn seemed a 
significant unit, as it indicated an instance when a given student found a particular topic point to 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   9 

be important or compelling enough to introduce and weigh in on.  The author then gave each of 
these segments a descriptive topic label, using an open coding system to allow for patterns 
among themes to emerge.  Given that all of the first three pairs of meetings took place as the 
school year was proceeding and teachers were facing ongoing day-to-day challenges, similar 
codes were used and could be compared.  The fourth pair of monthly meetings, however, took 
place at the very end of the school year and featured different, more summative topics of 
conversation, leading to a different set of codes.    

Once the data from the first three pairs of meetings was coded, the author identified 
patterns and changes across sessions and identified and analyzed them in relation to the research 
questions.  The fourth pair of meetings was analyzed separately. Once each turn-based segment 
was attributed a descriptive label, the emerging list of codes was then further sorted and 
combined into a smaller number of themes. These themes were, in turn, separated into the three 
larger categories of struggles, successes, and ongoing constructive initiatives. In the case of the 
struggles category, the assembled themes suggested two separate perspectives that separated the 
larger category into two distinct topics (overall challenges and feelings of dissatisfaction, and 
specific, troubling situations that teachers had difficulties addressing).  The number of segments 
for each theme and for each larger category was tabulated, first for each meeting, and then for 
the combined meetings.  Thus coded, organized, and tabulated, the data lent itself to a 
comparative analysis. 

The sorted and tabulated data relating to participants’ struggles, successes, and ongoing 
constructive initiatives were then examined in terms of their variety and the prominence of the 
different themes.  Frequencies of code-based themes were examined to determine which of these 
three categories were discussed most often.  Struggles, successes, and ongoing initiatives will 
first be examined in terms of overall codes.  A second examination of the same tabulated data 
will pertain to how these changed over time. Finally, the author will present data to examine the 
participants’ reflections on the SEL meeting process and where they felt it left them.  Data from 
the last meeting and the closing sections of the previous meetings will be examined here.  
 

Findings 
Major Topics 
 Upon looking at the data overall, while the majority of conversational turns focused on 
struggles students were facing, it is to be noted that participants also substantially addressed the 
successes and initiatives they were actively working on (see Table 1). 
   
Struggles 

Within the general category of struggle, most participants’ turns connected to their 
general feeling of challenge and unhappiness rather than specific instances or situations that 
needed to be negotiated.  The distinction seems meaningful, as difficult situations might be 
talked about in terms of practical problem solving. In contrast, general statements of feeling and  
 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   10 

Table 1 
SEL Meetings: Discussion Themes, with Frequency of Coded Turns in Total  
 

Thematic Categories 
 
Struggle (167) 
             General Struggle (96) 
             Addressing Specific Difficult Situations (71) 

Success (109) 

Ongoing Initiatives (35) 
 
Reflection (31) 
 

 
personal situations are less obviously turned into actionable steps and are maybe more likely to 
feed into a sense of hopelessness.   
 
Table 2 
General Struggle: Frequency from Combined Meetings 
 

 
Breaking down this category further, it was found that participants talked most often 

about struggles related to personal wellness (see Table 2). They discussed not taking care of 
themselves physically, in terms of sleep, diet, and exercise, and feeling constantly tired.  They 
said they felt overwhelmed with stress, struggled with feeling competent, and worried about 
being able to adequately prepare their students for high-stakes exams.  They expressed feeling 
lonely and struggling with what it means to adopt a teacher identity.  Often, they mentioned 
struggles with personal boundaries, feeling that they were working all the time and did not have 
a private or home life that was separate from their work life as teachers.   

After personal wellness, they mentioned struggles with colleagues, administrators, the 
school culture, and being young teachers.  Participants talked about disrespect or even abuse by 
more veteran colleagues, administrators they felt not supported by, and a general school culture 
that they thought did not welcome them or respect them because of their relative youth and 

Themes Number of Turns 
Personal Wellness 56 
School and Colleagues 25 
Parents and Students 15 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   11 

inexperience.  Finally, participants talked about general unhappiness in their relationship with 
disrespectful or even hostile parents and with students themselves. 

It was noteworthy how little of these beginning teachers’ expression of general distress 
was related to the actual ins and outs of instruction and connected curriculum, lesson planning, 
and assessment, which so much of teacher preparation focuses on, and how much had to do with 
matters of wellness and relationships.  Participants’ main sources of unhappiness, it appeared, 
came from not feeling able to take good care of themselves and not feeling supported or 
respected by the people they worked with.  
 
Table 3 
Struggles—Challenging Situations: Frequency from  Combined Meetings 
 

 
When asked more specifically about challenging situations they were facing and did not 

know how to address successfully, the most frequently mentioned points had to do with a lack of 
support and clear structures and rules that they attributed to general chaos in their schools (see 
Table 3).  They did not know what the disciplinary protocols were, what their school expected of 
students, teachers, and families, or even what the rules were regarding teachers’ sick and 
personal leave.  The next most frequent type of challenging situations related to student behavior, 
in terms of disrespect, unruliness, and refusal to do assigned schoolwork.  Participants mentioned 
not knowing how to address levels of student disrespect that they thought felt outside of the usual 
norms and that they attributed to pandemic-related home instability and being “COVID kids” 
who had not been socialized into school norms in the same way as students previously had.  
Students were anxious and, according to one participant, “easily triggered.”  Especially given the 
lack of administrative and collegial support, some teachers stated not knowing how to motivate 
students who were already far behind academically and knew they were likely to fail their 
classes. A major challenge, again, concerned difficult situations with other teachers. One 
participant stated that even when she was starting to feel settled and less anxious in her work, 
“other teachers make it hard for me, as though they want to watch the young female teacher fail.”  
Participants mentioned not knowing how to deal with unfriendly gossip and conflict among 
teachers, the choice being to either participate without wanting to or stay away and have even 
less contact with colleagues.   
 Other challenging situations connected again to their own wellness. The participants 
wanted a stable routine they could build boundaries and sustainable habits around, yet found that 
the professional demands kept changing. Because of staff shortages and turnover in their 
buildings, they found themselves asked to take on additional extra-curricular responsibilities and 

Themes Number of Turns 
 
Students, Colleagues, and Chaos 56 
Personal Anxiety 15 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   12 

substitute assignments with little notice or preparation. It added to the chaos of the workday and 
made it harder to organize their time. How to address these additional demands was seen as 
challenging. Teachers were unclear about what they had to do, what they could say no to, and 
when they were being taken advantage of because they were new. Some mentioned being afraid 
to say no and being viewed as “not being a team player.”  Three mentioned wanting to leave 
their placement for a district that seemed less chaotic, but they were anxious about leaving 
schools that were clearly in need and thus add to the general inequity. They felt a responsibility 
to their students and yet thought that their current work situation was not sustainable for them. 
 
Successes  
 While participants struggled considerably, they also voiced substantial successes and 
reasons for hope, often in the same areas they were struggling with (See Table 4). In over one-
third of all turns with this theme, teachers talked about things getting better in general. They 
mentioned becoming more skilled as instructors, feeling more comfortable with their teacher 
identity, and building a positive professional reputation. They also mentioned getting resources 
and interesting work opportunities and the school implementing structures they liked. The most 
frequently mentioned reason for positivity was presented as a general sense that things were 
getting better and that they were hopeful.   
 
Table 4 
Success: Frequency, Combined Meetings 
 

Themes  
 
Number of Turns 
 

Generally Better--Teaching, Reputation, Identity, Hope 30 
Better Relations with Teachers, Administrators, and Staff 21 
Better Relations with Students 16 
Better Self-Care 10 
Better with Classroom Management 10 
Better at Managing Time 8 
More Kind to Myself  8 
Less Isolated 6 

  
The next most prominent source of feeling of success related to improved relations with 

other teachers, staff, and school administrators. Participants mentioned receiving support from 
colleagues and appreciating the fact that other teachers shared with them that they had similar 
struggles with students. They felt validated and comforted by veteran teachers in their buildings.  
Finally, some referred to feeling newly supported and appreciated by school administrators. 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   13 

 To a similar extent, participants found success and hopefulness in their relations and 
interactions with students. A number of teachers talked about connecting better with students, 
some pointing to the positives of being open with students about who they were and how they 
felt.  Participants spoke of the validation they received from their students, being in tune with 
them, and providing them with SEL opportunities organically through improved relations.  They 
also mentioned having students help with discipline issues because they were invested in the 
relationship as well.  Participants acknowledged actions they had deliberately undertaken that 
had contributed to the relationship-building.  They told of having visited students at their places 
of work and their sporting events and becoming better at understanding and adjusting to demands 
placed on students in their other classes.  They felt successful in validating students, expressing 
empathy, and generally showing personal curiosity.   
 Participants also talked about improvements in how they managed their own well-being.   
They shared general success at self-care, some stating that they had become better at developing 
healthier habits, and managing their personal stress through exercise.  They were getting more 
sleep, generally decreasing the pressure they placed on themselves, and following advice they 
had received in a previous group meeting to maintain a list of activities they did for fun.  
Participants also reported successes in managing their time. Several shared that they were 
becoming better at knowing what grading tasks to prioritize, as grading had often been reported 
as particularly time-consuming. They had become better at grading assignments right away. One 
teacher reported success at spending less time creating assignments and freeing themselves to 
instead spend more time carefully reading students’ work, which they considered a more 
valuable use of time.  Another mentioned giving students more independent work to do in class, 
during which time she could do work that she would otherwise have to do after school. 
 Participants also noted becoming kinder to themselves.  Several shared that they felt 
better at forgiving themselves and acknowledging that they did not have to be perfect teachers at 
all times.  Some mentioned accepting that teaching evolves and that making and correcting 
mistakes is an integral part of this evolution.  One said a breakthrough had been taking the 
initiative to ask other teachers for help when she was struggling with a group of students.  It was 
noteworthy that this was seen as a success and not as a shortcoming. 
 Another success area related to handling classroom discipline.  Participants noted a 
greater understanding of students and their situation and a better appreciation for generational 
differences. Teachers also mentioned choosing their battles more and using humor when 
redirecting students. Some participants noted that they were generally more patient and less 
quick to react to student behavior emotionally. They had become better at giving themselves 
time to calm down. 
 A noteworthy success over the course of these meetings related to a decrease in isolation.  
Several participants talked about seeing the importance of finding opportunities to connect with 
others. One teacher mentioned participating in a group chat with peers from the same graduate 
school cohort. Some mentioned feeling less isolated in the school, and finding much-needed peer 
support among their colleagues.   



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   14 

 
Ongoing Initiatives 
 In addition to areas where they felt they had made tangible progress, participants also 
pointed to current initiatives that appeared to be promising, even if these were still works in 
progress (see Table 5).  The most frequently mentioned area in this regard was boundary setting 
and time management, with various participants describing efforts they were making to establish 
clear personal boundaries with students and families.  To this effect, one teacher said that they 
were in the process of building a true wall between home and work in order to protect their 
personal time.  Two participants pointed to their ongoing efforts to have grading take less time to 
make it easier to end the work day early enough that they could have a life outside of it.   Some 
teachers were still exploring what boundary setting actually involved for them, including what 
aspects of themselves to share with their students and what to maintain as private. 
 
Table 5 
Ongoing Initiatives: Frequency, Combined Meetings 
 

Themes Number of Turns 
 
Boundaries and Time Management 10 
Improving Classroom Management 8 
Doing What Is Right for Me/Taking Care of Myself  5 
Being Positive/Avoiding Negativity 5 
Connecting with People and Asking for Help 4 
Accepting My Own Learning and Growth 3 

 
 The next most frequently mentioned area is related to becoming better at classroom 
management. Several talked about making efforts to become more deliberate and consistent in 
addressing disciplinary issues. Some talked about wanting to determine when to forgive students 
for inappropriate behavior and when to hold them accountable. One mentioned wanting to 
determine when it was appropriate to actually remove a student from the classroom as a 
consequence of disruptive and disrespectful behavior. Two teachers talked about wanting to give 
students room to advocate for themselves respectfully and, in the process, give them more 
control over how behavioral norms were to be maintained in the classroom. 
 Participants also stated focusing on taking care of themselves and, more generally, trying 
to find ways to do what was right for them as individuals with lives beyond the classroom.  
Teachers mentioned wanting their next steps to involve being mindful of stepping away from 
their school-related tasks, making sure they also engaged in activities that brought them joy, and 
developing better, more healthy eating and sleeping routines. One teacher was trying to become 
better at advocating for themselves, prioritizing what was in their own interest. Another was 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   15 

currently working on managing their emotions in difficult situations by learning from veteran 
colleagues. 
 In a similar vein, participants shared that they were working on finding ways to be 
positive and avoid the negativity they found themselves often slipping into and that they sensed 
from many of their colleagues. One teacher mentioned intentionally avoiding negative thoughts 
and negative talk from other teachers by avoiding eating her lunch in the teacher’s lounge.  One 
explained that she focused too much on her challenges and was disciplining herself to think more 
about the joy she experienced as a teacher. Another participant wanted to strategize how to bring 
more joy into her classroom instruction.  Yet another was trying out a system to consistently hold 
on to positive comments by students, so she could remember them during challenging times. 
 Reaching out more was a goal for several of the participants.  One explained that she 
wanted to become better at asking colleagues for help.  Another added that she was working on 
soliciting help before finding herself in a crisis situation rather than when she was already 
struggling.  Two teachers mentioned wanting to find, within their school buildings, other people 
to be open and vulnerable with, similarly to how they could be open and vulnerable during these 
monthly meetings. 
 Going along with this larger theme of wanting to find ways to be kinder to themselves 
and less constantly anxious, several teachers talked about becoming better at accepting their own 
status as beginning teachers, that they were still learning and growing in their practice.  One 
mentioned wanting to work on not feeling incompetent. Another talked about wanting to teach 
herself that her lessons, in fact, didn’t have to be perfect.  One participant spoke about wanting to 
accept their learning curve and focus on how much they were learning this year in order to 
improve their teaching for next year. 
 
Patterns Among Struggles, Successes, and Ongoing Initiatives 
 Comparing the themes that were emphasized when participants talked about struggles, 
successes, and ongoing initiatives, one notes a considerable overlap (see Table 6).  In each of the 
categories, themes can be further grouped into three separate yet connected topic areas, namely, 
wellness, relationships, and classroom management. Participants focused considerably on the 
area of personal wellness, which in turn included time management and professional boundary 
setting, experiencing joy, self-efficacy, and concerns around loneliness.  Here concerns were 
widespread, but participants also experienced successes and engaged in ongoing problem-solving 
activities. A separate area that was highlighted related to relationships and coping with the 
school environment. The teachers emphasized relationships with other teachers, as well as with 
administrators, students and families, and general structures and supports within the school.  
Again, participants voiced struggling significantly in these areas, yet also achieving important 
successes and continuing to find approaches to improve their situation.  Finally, participants 
highlighted student behavior and classroom management as areas of struggle, success, and 
continuous endeavor. Based on the data, it appears as though the SEL needs and work of these 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   16 

teachers was largely defined by these three interrelated areas of personal wellness, work-based 
relationships, and classroom management.  

 
Table 6 
Main Themes: Struggles, Successes, and Ongoing Initiatives 
 

Struggles 
 

Successes 
 

Ongoing Initiatives 
 

 
General Sense of Struggle 
 
 
 
Wellness and Loneliness 
 
 
 
School Environment 
Relationships  
 
 
Student Behavior 
      
 

 
General Sense of Hope and 
Progress 
 
 
Wellness 
 
 
 
Relationships and 
Connectedness 
 
 
Classroom Management 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Wellness and Boundary-Setting 
Being Positive and Kind to Oneself 
 
 
Connectedness 
 
 
 
Classroom Management 
 

 
Struggles, Successes, and Ongoing Initiatives Over Time 
Struggles 
 While participants spoke about struggles, successes, and ongoing initiatives concerning 
the same general areas, how much they emphasized each theme/area varied considerably from 
meeting to meeting.    
 
 
 
 
Table 7 
Change Over Time—General Struggle: Frequency by Meeting 
 

Themes Number of Turns 
 
  Meeting 1 Meeting 2 Meeting 3 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   17 

 
Personal Wellness 19 19 18 
School and Colleagues 8 13 4 
Parents and Students 9 0 6 

 
 Among sources of struggle, personal wellness was a constant throughout the process, 
remaining the most frequently mentioned subject of concern (see Table 7).  Here specific 
struggles with boundary-setting were the most emphasized in the first two meetings, but not in 
the third.  Conversely, the topics of physical well-being, tiredness, and being overwhelmed or 
stressed became more prominent with each meeting.  However, concerns with a general sense of 
loneliness that were prominent in the first meeting were not brought up after that.  While 
personal wellness as a general struggle featured relatively evenly across the three meetings, , 
other areas fluctuated.  Thus, general struggles with relationships with students and their parents 
were mentioned frequently in the first meeting, not at all in the second meeting, and were again 
talked about a bit in the third meeting.  General struggles related to school issues and colleagues 
were brought up substantially as a topic in the first meeting, spiked in prominence during the 
second meeting, and received little attention in the third meeting.  All in all, it may not be 
surprising that the focus on work situations fluctuated over time, presumably based on particular 
events, while struggles with feeling well remained constant. 
 Examining the data on specific situational struggles, the extent to which participants 
talked about challenging situations with students, chaos, and general instability within their 
school was a consistent focus over the course of all three meetings (see Table 8).  Regarding 
more narrow themes, challenges related to student behavior and home instability, on one hand, 
and general chaos and lack of support within the school, on the other, were consistent concerns 
throughout the meetings. 
 
Table 8 
Change Over Time, Challenging Situations: Frequency by Meeting 
 

Themes Number of Turns 
 
 Meeting 1 Meeting 2 Meeting 3 
 
Students, Colleagues, and Chaos 18 16 22 
Personal Anxiety 6 3 6 

 
 While the general feeling that participants struggled to be personally well remained 
constant from meeting to meeting, the overall sense that things were going poorly with students 
and colleagues fluctuated.  When it came to talking about specific challenging situations, 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   18 

however, teachers mentioned struggles with students and with other staff on a fairly consistent 
basis over time. 
 
Successes 
 Regarding successes, there were very different patterns from one meeting to the next (see 
Table 9).  Examining the frequency with which different areas of success were mentioned, one 
notices that, for some, there was little variation from one meeting to the next. In some cases, 
there was erratic fluctuation; in other cases, there was a trend of increased frequency over time, 
and in one category, there was considerable mention of in the first meeting, but not subsequently.  
Indeed, a great number of participants mentioned successes in receiving validation from other 
colleagues in the first meeting, but not in the second and third meetings.  One might speculate 
that participants were worried and therefore focused on this area at the beginning, given the 
general anxiety of chaos in the school and a lack of supportive relations with colleagues.  
 
Table 9 
Change Over Time—Success: Frequency by Meeting 
 
Themes  Number of Turns 

  

 
Meeting 1 Meeting 2 Meeting 3 

 
Generally Better--Teaching, Reputation, 
Identity, Hope (30) 6 14 10 
Better Relations with Teachers, 
Administrators, and Staff  16 3 2 
Better Relations with Students (16) 5 4 7 
Better Self-Care (10) 0 7 3 
Better at Managing Time 0 0 8 
More Kind to Myself 2 1 5 
Better with Classroom Management (10) 0 0 10 
Less Isolated 0 6 0 

 
Conversely, teachers did not mention having achieved success in the area of classroom 

management and student discipline until the third meeting.  This seems especially significant 
given how much teachers referred to this as an area of struggle.  Arguably, while success at 
building supportive relationships with colleagues is important early on in order to establish 
positive working conditions, feeling successful in terms of classroom management takes time, 
especially for early-career teachers, and success is likely to come later.  

Similarly, participants spoke more frequently about successes in the area of time 
management late in the process, only mentioning by the third meeting that they had become 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   19 

better at knowing when to grade assignments, working less from home, and generally becoming 
more time-efficient.  There was also a notable increase in teachers mentioning becoming better at 
being kind to themselves.   

There was more fluctuation and less of a clear trend from one meeting to the next in 
problem areas that are arguably less easily solved.  Thus, mentions of successes in their actual 
teaching, and the feeling that their practice was improving were mentioned in each of the 
meetings. However, it increased significantly in the second meeting and decreased again in the 
third.  Similarly, while no one mentioned successes in the area of self-care during the first 
meeting, a number of teachers did so during the second meeting, but that number decreased 
again for the third meeting.  No one talked about achieving success in breaking through 
loneliness and isolation during the first and third meetings, but a number of participants did so 
during the second meeting.   

Finally, there were consistently a substantial number of participants who mentioned 
experiencing success, connecting with, and feeling validated by students.  Given the long-term 
work of establishing relationships with students, this should perhaps not seem surprising, and the 
fact that successes were mentioned throughout would seem encouraging.   A small number of 
participants also mentioned successes at establishing positive relationships with administrators 
during each of the three meetings. 

Overall, then, it seems that some of the trends regarding participants’ successes, as shared 
in the meetings, may have been connected to what areas were most prioritized early on and 
which required a longer learning curve.  Indeed, successes in building relationships within their 
schools, which was talked about as an area of concern, were mentioned early in the process.  
Successes in classroom management and time management, however, were only brought up in 
later meetings, possibly because they involved a slower growth process.  
Ongoing Initiatives 
 While the ongoing initiatives participants were engaged in were mentioned with relative 
consistency, for the most part, the pattern was different in two noteworthy areas (see Table 10).  
A number of participants mentioned intentionally working on boundary-setting and time 
management in the first meeting, but this decreased in the meetings that followed.  Conversely, 
while teachers hardly mentioned wanting to focus on becoming better at classroom management 
during the first two meetings, the topic was mentioned a considerable number of times during the 
third meeting, at which point it seemed to have become a clear priority.  In the areas of self-care, 
being positive, finding others to connect with, and being kind to oneself, a relatively small 
number of participants mentioned ongoing initiatives at each of the three meetings. 
 
Last Meeting: Personal State at the End of the School Year 
 Whereas the initial three monthly meetings were approached as a way to connect about 
ongoing situations, challenges, successes, and initiatives, the final meeting at the very end of the 
school year had, understandably, a very different tenor.  Although it followed the same structure 
as the previous sessions, it was clearly a summative, stock-taking meeting, where participants 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   20 

Table 10 
Change Over Time—Ongoing Initiatives: Frequency by Meeting 

Themes Number of Turns 

 
 
Meeting 1 Meeting 2 Meeting 3 

 
Boundaries & Time Management 5 3 2 
Improving Classroom Management 1 0 7 
Doing What Is Right for Me/Taking Care of Myself 0 3 2 
Being Positive/Avoiding Negativity 1 2 2 
Connecting with People and Asking for Help 2 0 2 
Accepting My Own Learning and Growth 1 1 1 

 
reflected on where they had arrived to close out this academic year and, in many cases, how they 
positioned themselves for the year to come. 
 Generally, what participants brought up as summative points for the school year relates to 
their own well-being, in terms of understanding, achievement, and ongoing work they felt they 
still needed to engage in (see Table 11).  Indeed, the thematic categories that were clearly about 
teachers’ own wellness were by far the most frequently mentioned.  The most prevalent theme 
concerned the realization that teachers needed to be able to find a way to “go back to neutral” 
from heightened emotional conditions they found themselves in by the end of the school day, 
because of intense feelings of joy and excitement or, more frequently, because of strong 
frustration, disappointment, anger, and/or hurt that was often paralyzing and deeply 
disillusioning.   
 
Table 11 
Personal State at the End of the School Year: Frequency, Last Meeting 
 

Themes Number of Turns 
 
Our Need To Go Back to Neutral 6 
Coping with Being Emotionally Overwhelmed 7 
Setting Goals for Next Year 7 
Impact of “SEL Space” Meetings 7 
Accepting That Only so Much Can Be Done 6 
Ongoing Worry About Failure and Negativity 6 

 
 Teachers spoke considerably about the importance of calming themselves down and 
finding a way to refocus when they were emotionally overwhelmed during the school day, in 
order to conserve energy and be able to focus on their next teaching tasks rather than finding 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   21 

themselves immobilized by the stress of the moment.  Again, there seemed to be a general 
understanding that knowing how to affect an emotional “reset” was an important skill to develop 
moving forward. 
 Connected to this focus on making their teaching lives more emotionally sustainable, a 
number of participants mentioned the importance of accepting that they could only do so much 
to get past those problems and limitations beyond their control.  They spoke about needing to 
acknowledge that some problems were indeed not theirs to solve. They also needed to accept that 
instruction does not always go according to plan and that they would inevitably have setbacks 
and unexpected turns. They realized that they needed to continue becoming better at not viewing 
this as a sign of their own incompetence or personal failure.    
 At the same time, several participants mentioned still being worried about failing and 
about “catastrophizing” when things do not seem to be going well. One teacher mentioned still 
getting “stuck in a cycle of negativity” that seemed unsustainable.  Another added that unless she 
became better at breaking out of such “emotional ruts,” she didn’t think she could remain a 
teacher for very long. In regard to this, a substantial number of participants pointed to the impact 
of the “SEL Space” meetings as a way to combat the negativity.  One participant contrasted the 
constructive tenor of these meetings with the defeatist tone of typical conversations with 
colleagues in their school. Teachers mentioned that while it was good to hear different 
perspectives within the group, they felt in sync. Their commonality, one said, didn’t feel forced.  
One teacher mentioned the importance of ending this school year and these meetings with the 
knowledge that they were not alone. 
 Importantly, a number of teachers talked about areas they were excited to work on 
moving forward on feasible tasks.  One mentioned looking forward to building on lessons she 
created this year rather than having to create everything from scratch.  Another was intent on 
starting the next school year with a clearer curriculum map.  Another wanted to spend time 
noting what all went well this year so they could build on it.  Teachers also talked about wanting 
to develop better classroom management approaches and stronger professional relationships with 
colleagues.  Finally, one stated that they simply wanted to take a “long mental break,” which in 
itself was likely to solve many of their problems. 
 
Reflection on the “SEL Space” Process 
 Participants also reflected on the meetings’ impact (see Table 12). The most prevalent 
theme was that the meetings cut into their isolation and provided the relief of knowing that others 
were in similar situations. Several teachers stated that participating in these “SEL Space” 
meetings made them feel less alone. Others talked about the importance of seeing familiar faces 
on a regular basis and the comfort this provided. The teachers also reported feeling the relief of 
knowing that others were struggling with similar issues, that their difficulties were not unique to 
them or indicators of their own personal inadequacy.  One pointed to how the sharing and 
collaborative problem-solving that occurred in these meetings highlighted for them the ongoing 
need to find peers to work with.   



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   22 

 
Table 12 
Reflection: Frequency from Combined Meetings 
 

Themes Number of Turns 
 
Feeling Less Alone 13 
Perspective—Helping Me Focus on Growth 5 
Helping/Learning from One Another 4 
This is SEL--Safe Space 4 
Reminder of the Importance of Reflection 2 
Comfort in Knowing Other Teachers Are Struggling 2 
Value of Puzzling Together 1 

 
 Another common theme was that this process helped provide the beginning teachers with 
a more developmental and longer-term perspective on their professional reality and helped them 
focus on those areas they most needed to attend to. One mentioned the importance of 
understanding that the challenges she was experiencing now will not simply go away in the next 
year of teaching or the one after that.  Another was comforted to know that how she was feeling 
about her day-to-day was not unusual, that it was acceptable to feel the way she did.  On a more 
practical level, one first-year teacher valued learning from others that if the first few weeks of the 
school year are strong, the rest of the year will benefit.  Another noted learning from others about 
the importance of taking time to calm down in a crisis situation.  One spoke about the clear 
priority she needed to place on learning how to handle challenging situations with individual 
students and individual colleagues. 
 Not surprisingly, participants also talked about the benefit of having a space to help one 
another and be able to learn from the experiences of others.  Novice teachers pointed to the 
importance of having teachers in their second or third year in the profession to get advice and 
perspective from. One mentioned the networking opportunities and the sharing of information on 
job openings.  Another spoke about the importance of being able to puzzle over truly challenging 
issues together. 
 Teachers also pointed to the importance of having these meetings simply to have them.  
One teacher, describing the value of the process, stated “this is SEL.”  Another mentioned that it 
provided a safe space to talk and be themselves in a way that they did not think was possible in 
their school. One participant, echoing the importance of the relationships that these meetings 
helped foster, mentioned how she started connecting with some of her “SEL Space” peers at 
other times as well, getting needed help and solidarity.  Finally, teachers mentioned the sheer 
importance of having a place where they were brought to reflect on their lives as teachers.  One 
phrased it as being brought back into an “ethical state of mind” where she could reflect on the 
big picture of what she was doing rather than get caught up in the practicalities of the day-to-day.  



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   23 

She wondered how she could get into this state of mind without these meetings.  Another 
mentioned, point-blank, that she was so tired on a daily basis that she didn’t know how she could 
engage in true reflection without these meetings. 
 

Discussion 
 Based on our findings, there were marked trends in topics the participating teachers 
talked about, how they talked about them, and how these evolved over time.  In order to make 
sense of the data in light of the bigger issues and needs this pilot project aimed to address, each 
of the research questions will be taken in turn. 
 
What Teachers Talked About: Topics and Problems to Solve 
 While teachers talked about a wide variety of topics during these meetings, the areas of 
personal wellness, work-based relationships, and classroom management were especially 
emphasized.  Echoing what is found in the research literature (Almerico, 2018; Schonert-Reichl, 
2017), a major area of focus for teachers was their own wellness.  Participants repeatedly 
mentioned their struggles with being physically and mentally well, with particular difficulties 
ensuring they slept enough, exercised, and managed time and tasks well enough to lead 
satisfying lives outside of work.  While this was also an area where participants mentioned 
experiencing successes, taking care of themselves, setting work-life boundaries, remaining 
positive, and being kind and forgiving toward themselves were discussed as ongoing growth 
areas that needed to remain priorities. 
 In a sense, the fact that participants focused on those areas that we know are issues in the 
teaching profession and are often linked to teachers burning out and leaving the profession 
(Cipriano & Brackett, 2020) points to the authenticity of the meetings and the conversations 
participants engaged in.  Indeed, they used these opportunities to discuss areas we know are 
critical and that teachers are generally underprepared in.  Teachers talked about broader feelings 
of unhappiness and loneliness, but also discussed and problem-solved around specific, practical 
considerations such as how to ensure they also did things that were fun, recognized their 
accomplishments, and spent less time grading and preparing outside of school.  There was a 
combination of vulnerable emotional sharing and trading of practical questions, strategies, and 
discoveries. Given the possible truism that only other beginning teachers can fully appreciate the 
physical and emotional hardship of being a beginning teacher, the fact that so much time was 
spent discussing these areas seems to indicate that the opportunities were well-taken advantage 
of.  Furthermore, the fact that participants mentioned struggles, successes, and ongoing 
initiatives also gives a sense that these concerns continued to be taken seriously, but that teachers 
were learning, actively trying to tackle their areas of wellness, and that they were experiencing 
growth.  Given the danger of low morale and burnout, successes and ongoing initiatives around 
the area of personal wellness seemed especially significant. 
 Connected to emotional well-being and a struggle against loneliness was the emphasis on 
work-based relationships with colleagues, administrators, and students.  While this area was 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   24 

defined as separate from personal wellness, the two are certainly connected. Issues related to 
loneliness and self-confidence were affected by the quality of participants’ relationships with 
other teachers, especially.  Participants struggled with finding supportive teachers they could 
trust within their buildings, especially as young teachers who did not always feel that they were 
given adequate professional respect.  Feeling supported and connected within their school 
buildings was talked about at length as general and situational struggles, areas of success, and 
ongoing areas to work on.  If social emotional wellbeing has to do in part with feeling supported, 
validated, and understood, then it figures that the topic of work-based relationships would be 
central to these conversations.  Again, the fact that these were major themes speaks to the 
authenticity, perhaps validity, of the meetings. 
 The third major subject area that was mentioned at length is related to classroom 
management.  Student behavior was a significant point of struggle, but teachers also mentioned 
successes in terms of classroom management and ongoing initiatives they were engaging in.  
This, too, might not come as a surprise, linked as it is to how teachers are likely to feel about 
their daily work lives.  Indeed, if stress and a feeling of helplessness are the basis of professional 
burnout, then the area of classroom management and addressing student behavior would, in all 
likelihood, be a critical area.  Disrespectful, non-compliant, or confrontational student behavior 
can be personally hurtful, make it challenging to teach a lesson successfully, make teachers 
doubt their competence, and lead them to a level of emotional and nervous crisis that is 
exhausting and extremely difficult to manage given the professional setting and norms.  Again, 
the fact that this topic was a mainstay during the meetings makes sense and confirms the 
relevance of the conversations. 
 As a whole, then, the process seemed to focus on topics that are clearly relevant and 
critical, and arguably areas of challenge that are difficult to prepare for or “fix,” and where 
understanding, solidarity, and practical support are most likely to be found among peers who are 
effectively “in the same boat.”  In this way alone, the “SEL Space” process was meaningful and 
occupied a role that was difficult to fill otherwise. 
 
The Process: How the Conversations Evolved over Time 
 Not surprisingly, the data shows variation in terms of how much these topics were 
addressed in the various meetings.  Indeed, while some of the areas of struggle, success, and/or 
ongoing initiative remained constant in conversations over the course of the process, others 
increased or decreased in prominence.  Again, other topics fluctuated without a clear pattern of 
increase or decrease.  To the extent that a dual aim of “SEL Space” was to be able to provide a 
reliable place to talk about certain issues and to solve problems in collaboration with peers, these 
evolutionary patterns are important to note.  Attention here will be paid to those areas where 
there seemed to have been a discernible trend over time. 
 Strikingly, the main areas of struggle, with personal wellness, in-school relationships, and 
student behavior, were constants in all meetings.  They were always mentioned to a similar 
degree, and while the specific concerns changed, they clearly remained challenges that were not 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   25 

going away regardless of specific successes or initiatives.  In every meeting, the struggle to be 
well and feel connected in their schools, especially with other teachers, was mentioned as 
obvious, along with the difficulties of addressing student disrespect and non-compliance.  It may 
be that having these shared baseline struggles identified the participants as members of the same 
group.  Ultimately, of course, there were reasons why they had all chosen to participate in this 
“SEL Space” process, and sharing these deep-seated challenges may well have been the common 
draw.   
 In terms of areas of success and ongoing initiatives, there were more changes between 
meetings.  There was a decrease in mentions of success regarding relations with colleagues and 
initiatives to improve boundary-setting and time management.  It may be that these are areas that 
can be addressed through specific action steps whose results will either come quickly or not at 
all, rather than remaining topics to build on and revisit over the course of the meetings.  It is 
noteworthy that there was an increase in conversation around successes in the area of classroom 
management and important aspects of personal wellness.  Indeed, as the meetings went on, there 
were more mentions of improvements in time management and participants being kinder to 
themselves.  Furthermore, there was an increase in conversation about implementing targeted 
initiatives to help with addressing student behavior and time management.  Given that wellness 
and addressing student behavior were discussed as constant struggles across meetings, the fact 
that teachers felt that some things had gotten better in this regard is important and points to 
growth in at least some critical SEL-related areas. 
 It seems significant, then, that some of the themes evolved over time while others 
remained constant.  Importantly, participants increasingly mentioned successes in the areas of 
classroom management and aspects of personal wellness that related to the goal for teachers to 
feel less anxious and close to burnout—to feel happier—and to gain a sense of self-efficacy that 
failure in classroom management arguably undermines most directly.  While this would be 
beyond the scope of the current study, it might be hypothesized that the problem-solving and 
strategy sharing that was engaged during the meetings contributed to some of the successes 
participants talked about.  Underneath it all, however, the larger struggles with personal 
wellness, connectedness within the school, and addressing student behavior were constant.  They 
were consistently shared and validated as important and legitimately challenging within the safe 
space of these meetings. 
 
Outcomes: What Teachers Got out of the Process  
 While the nature of the topics that teachers discussed during the meetings seemed to 
confirm its positive impact on their SEL, participants also pointed out how the process was 
valuable to them.  The teachers highlighted three areas that were particularly impactful.  For one, 
the meetings helped teachers feel less isolated and reminded them that they were not alone in 
experiencing the hardship they were going through.  This seems particularly crucial, given how 
teachers struggled with feeling disconnected and unsupported by other teachers in the schools 
where they worked and given what is reported in the literature about the impact of isolation on 



 

Current Issues in Education, 25(1)   26 

teacher burnout (Almerico, 2018).  If there is a single SEL area that one would want to prioritize 
above all, having a sense of belonging and being supported may be the most prominent. 
 Another benefit mentioned was that these meetings, bringing together early-career 
teachers with varying amounts of professional experience, allowed brand-new teachers to learn 
from the experiences and perspectives of others who had a bit more experience, and for the latter 
to recognize that they had indeed grown as a result of their developing practice.  Thus, 
participants were able to help—teach—one another on a practical level, while also gaining a 
better sense of their own development as teacher. 
 Finally, the participants valued the space for being safe.  During these meetings, they felt 
that they could have a voice and be heard, without having to worry about the interpersonal 
complexities that they encountered in their schools.  Here they felt they could be themselves.  
Reiterating what one participant said about the process, “this is SEL.”   

In summary, participants focused on personal wellness, work-based relationships, and 
classroom management in their discussions across the meetings. While the topics themselves 
remained constant, there was a noticeable evolution as the meetings went on regarding personal 
successes. Indeed, while work-life boundary setting, relationships with colleagues, and 
addressing disrespectful student behavior continued to be discussed as struggles, there was a 
noteworthy increase in successes in the area of classroom management and key aspects of 
personal wellness. Overall, participants found the process to be valuable, helping them feel less 
isolated, learn from peers with different levels of experience, and feel that they could have a 
voice in a truly safe space. 

 
Implications  

 These meetings, clearly, were beneficial for participants and provided a venue where 
topics they found to be critical could be discussed and where they could learn from the 
experiences of others.  On a basic level, it allowed teachers to address the different pieces that 
constituted their SEL challenges head-on with others who were in very similar situations.  The 
fact that none of them had other spaces that allowed for this made it all the more impactful. 
 While this process seems like a promising prototype to continue to explore further, it 
would also be worthwhile to examine how it would work with participants with a wider range of 
experience. On a research level, it would be useful to study such a process on a larger scale, 
considering variables related to different types of schools, locations, and subject matter.  The role 
of the facilitator might be investigated as well to see what impact different models of facilitation 
might have on the process itself.  
 

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Author Notes 
 
Author Name: Peter Clyde Martin 
Author Affiliation: Ithaca College 
Author Email: pmartin@ithaca.edu 

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