Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Goli Rezai-Rashti
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
affective education, children's literature, cooperative learning, curriculum integration, disciplinary referrals, discipline, elementary schools, homework completion, literacy-based instruction, negative behaviors, office referrals, peer cooperation, positive behaviors, positive vocabulary, principal's office, pro-social skills, reading instruction, Self-Esteem Curricula, social development, social development curriculum, social emotional competence, social emotional development, social emotional improvement, social emotional intelligence, Sowing SEEDS, student behavior, student referrals, teacher training, third-grade students, vocabulary strategies
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to provide educators with a curriculum embedded program to prevent, curtail, or reverse the negative trajectory of poor social emotional development of elementary students. Third-grade students failed to demonstrate social emotional intelligence. They lacked discipline. They exhibited difficulty staying on task and working cooperatively with peers, repeatedly interrupted instruction, used negative language, did not return homework, and were often referred to the office for disciplinary action.
In a 5-week training session, teachers learned how to implement the writer’s Sowing SEEDS (Social Emotional and Educational Development of Students) Curriculum. This literacy-based program contained children’s literature aligned with positive vocabulary. Structured lessons provided students opportunities to use positive vocabulary, to work cooperatively with peers, and to identify and demonstrate behaviors indicative of social emotional competence within storybook characters. Teachers were trained to integrate the social development curriculum in the subject of reading.
Results indicated that student referrals to the principal’s office decreased. An analysis of data revealed that the vocabulary strategies that were utilized were not sufficient to promote an increase in positive vocabulary scores, and 11 out of 12 objectives were not met. However, most students demonstrated improvement on all social emotional intelligence measures except positive vocabulary. The writer concluded that the use of a literature-based social development program that was incorporated in reading instruction facilitated knowledge of positive social emotional intelligence and decreased negative behaviors.