Article
A Biblioguidance Approach to Understanding and Developing Adolescent's Social-Emotional Competence in the Health Education Classroom: A Formative Research Study
Health Education
(2021)
Abstract
Purpose - Though the benefits of social-emotional competence (SEC) are well-recognized,
measuring it and designing appropriately matched interventions remains elusive and
methodologically challenging. This paper shares formative research designed to uncover the SEC
of one secondary school health teacher’s students and to help her make evidence-based curricular
and instructional decisions.
Design/methodology/approach – Inspired by bibliguidance (or bibliotherapeutic) approaches to
wellbeing, the researchers and teacher developed a fiction literature curriculum intended to foster
SEC and health literacy skills. A mixed-method approach was used to gather and analyze data
from 133 students and the teacher. A survey and journal entries embedded into the curriculum,
and an interview were the sources.
Findings - Results indicate the curriculum paired well with national standards for health
education and a respected SEC framework; it also served well as a vehicle to reveal students’
SEC. Students appeared to be competent in some areas and less in others, and there were
differences between self-assessed and expressed competence.
Practical implications – Biblioguidance approaches to developing SEC in health education and
other classrooms are worth continued investigation. The current results will be used to revise the
curriculum and to develop supplemental materials.
Originality/Value - In sharing the processes and findings, the authors hope teachers seeking to
foster their students’ SEC will replicate this work. Further, they hope health educators will gain
recognition as the ideal professionals to deliver social-emotional learning instruction in schools.
Keywords
- Action reseach,
- curriculum development,
- school health promotion,
- school mental health,
- teacher preparation,
- teachers,
- adolescents,
- young adult literature
Disciplines
Publication Date
2021
Citation Information
Jennifer Banas, Julia Valley and Amina Chaudhri. "A Biblioguidance Approach to Understanding and Developing Adolescent's Social-Emotional Competence in the Health Education Classroom: A Formative Research Study" Health Education (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/amina-chaudhri/6/