Observing the Gaps from Theory to Practice in Rural Indian Public School Teachers’ Pedagogical Competencies in Social-Emotional Learning

Establishing good practices for promoting Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools helps children acquire important life skills. SEL has a growing focus in schools from Western countries. However, there is a lack of evidence on SEL practices in the Global South, especially in India. This paper presents an exploratory study to explore the current status of SEL experiences of rural Indian public school teachers through the conceptual lens of TPACK. It covers qualitative data collected from 3 public rural schools by conducting focus groups with 24 teachers. Using a thematic analysis, we identified a gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application of SEL among teachers. Their SEL understanding and practices were intuitive rather than consistent or aligned with research-based frameworks. Future works suggest further exploring training teachers with a holistic vision of SEL education, e.g., incorporating TPACK and CASEL components.