Enhancing Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Boarding Students: Evaluation of a Social and Emotional Learning Pilot Program

Linél Franck, Richard Midford, Helen Cahill, Petra T. Buergelt, Gary Robinson, Bernard Leckning and Douglas Paton
Additional contact information
Linél Franck: Psychology Department, College of Health and Human Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin 0810, Australia
Richard Midford: Perth Psychological Services, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia
Helen Cahill: Youth Research Centre, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
Petra T. Buergelt: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra 2617, Australia
Gary Robinson: Menzies School of Health Research, Centre for Child Development and Education, Darwin 0810, Australia
Bernard Leckning: Menzies School of Health Research, Centre for Child Development and Education, Darwin 0810, Australia
Douglas Paton: Psychology Department, College of Health and Human Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin 0810, Australia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Boarding schools can provide quality secondary education for Aboriginal students from remote Aboriginal Australian communities. However, transition into boarding school is commonly challenging for Aboriginal students as they need to negotiate unfamiliar cultural, social and learning environments whilst being separated from family and community support. Accordingly, it is critical for boarding schools to provide programs that enhance the social and emotional skills needed to meet the challenges. This study evaluated a 10-session social and emotional learning (SEL) program for Aboriginal boarders and identified contextual factors influencing its effectiveness. The study combined a pre-post quantitative evaluation using diverse social and emotional wellbeing measures with 28 students between 13–15 years (10 female, 11 male, 7 unidentified) and qualitative post focus groups with 10 students and episodic interviews with four staff delivering the program. Students’ social and emotional skills significantly improved. The qualitative findings revealed improvements in students seeking and giving help, working in groups, managing conflict, being assertive and discussing cultural issues. The focus groups and interviews also identified program elements that worked best and that need improvement. Secure relationships with staff delivering the program and participation in single sex groups stood out as critical enablers. The findings lend evidence to the critical importance of collaborative design, provision and evaluation of SEL programs with Aboriginal peoples.

Keywords: Aboriginal peoples; social and emotional learning; students; boarding school; Australia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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