Browsing by Author "Ellonen, Eetu"

Goal. The importance of socioemotional skills has grown in our society. Those are positively related to learning and well-being. Skills are needed in people's daily life and working, as well as in the school world. Research on the topic has focused more on children than teachers in the school world, although it would be important to study teachers as well. Teachers can support the socioemotional skills of their students, which requires teachers to master those skills themselves. The aim of this study was to increase awareness of the socioemotional skills of classroom teachers. The study was used to find out what kind of socioemotional skills classroom teachers feel they have and how attending interaction training affects the skills. In addition, the study looked at socioemotional methods that teachers used in the work and in what situations they needed those skills. Methods. 41 classroom teachers from all over Finland participated in this multi-method study. Subjects answered 43 multiple-choice questions and six open-ended questions on the topic using an E-form sent to social media groups for teachers and educators. Based on the background data, the amount of work experience of the respondents varied and they had graduated over several decades. Results and conclusion. Classroom teachers felt they had high socioemotional skills in this study. Attending interaction training did not have a statistically significant effect on the experience of skills. However, open-ended responses made it possible to question the veracity of one's own experience, especially for classroom teachers who had not participated in interaction training. The study also found that those who underwent interaction training used more methods of socioemotional skills in their work and were more likely to succeed in solving challenging situations. Classroom teachers needed their skills, especially when working with students, colleagues, and student caregivers. Based on this research, interaction training may have a positive effect on teachers’ socioemotional skills.