Abstract:
This study evaluated the effectiveness of professional development of Pre-K teachers for
social-emotional learning (SEL) against routine practices, and to assess the association between
classroom environment and behavioral problems in public Pre-K classrooms of rural Pakistan.
Sample size included 12 schools, 24 teachers, and 410 Pre-K students. The SEL teacher training
program was based on a homegrown contextualized curriculum. The intervention period was 4
months, during this time along with training teachers were also mentored for implementation of
SEL curriculum. Each participating school was assessed before and after the intervention with
Classroom Assessment and Scoring System (CLASS) and Strengths and Difficulties
Questionnaire (SDQ) to capture teacher-student interaction and behavioral problems. Afterintervention findings showed statistically significant improvement in CLASS and SDQ mean
scores for treatment schools. Linear regression analysis indicated that CLASS domains
instructional support and emotional support have an inverse and significant association with
behavioral problems in Pre-K students. Recommendations are to incorporate SEL component in
pre-service and in-service teacher education programs to improve the classroom learning
environment and teacher-student interaction, resulting in better social-emotional functioning
among preschoolers.
