Date of Award

Spring 6-12-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

First Advisor

Kristina Hesbol

Second Advisor

Miriam Ezzani

Third Advisor

Doris Candelarie

Fourth Advisor

Rashida Banerjee

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Andragogy, Justice-focused, Leadership, Professional development, Social and emotional learning, Transformative social and emotional learning, Critical Race Theory

Abstract

Despite the wide use of social and emotional learning (SEL) in schools, and some evidence of SEL positively impacting students of color, racially and ethnically marginalized students experience inequitable educational outcomes. Transformative SEL (tSEL), a justice-focused framework from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), provides students with the liberatory tools to dismantle systemic inequity through collaborative problem solving. More research is needed on the professional development of staff implementing justice-focused SEL in diverse school settings. This revelatory, qualitative, single case study examined how a school leader implemented tSEL professional development in a school setting that served racially and ethnically marginalized students. The conceptual framework for this study was based on Critical Race Theory, andragogy, and creative leadership. The question that guided this study was: How does a school leader implement social and emotional learning professional development to support staff in effectively implementing transformative social and emotional learning in a school setting that predominantly serves racially and ethnically marginalized student populations? The two sub-questions for this study were: (a) What challenges does a school leader face when implementing transformative social and emotional learning professional development in a school setting that predominantly serves racially and ethnically marginalized student populations? and (b) How does a school leader address challenges to implementing transformative social and emotional learning professional development? Data were collected from a semi-structured interview with the school principal, a focus group discussion with school staff, and tSEL professional development and curriculum documents. Data revealed the following themes: 1. School leaders formulated an aligned tSEL vision to reimagine school, centered professional development in anti-racism and social justice, and implemented intentional learning design. 2. School leaders experienced challenges with time and the quality of outcomes with project-based learning. 3. School leaders addressed these challenges by building buy-in and through real-time learning. The examination of this issue will expand the education community’s understanding of tSEL professional development implementation and build practitioners’ awareness of implementing tSEL professional development in diverse schools.

Copyright Date

6-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Alana Raybon

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

327 pgs

File Size

1.8 MB

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