UB researcher implements transformative social-emotional learning as a school-based intervention

By Tiffany J. Nhan

High school youth demonstrated greater empathy, self-awareness and other positive outcomes from participating in transformative social-emotional learning while in a school setting. This was the key finding of a program co-led by a University at Buffalo School of Social Work researcher and PhD alum of the school.

Published in the journal Children and Schools and available online, the study was led by Annahita Ball, PhD, associate professor in the UB School of Social Work, and Candra Skzrypek, PhD ’24, MSW ’17, assistant professor of social work at the University of North Florida.

As part of the study, researchers worked with teachers, public school leaders and UB social work students to implement a six-hour, in-person intervention program, called Challenge2Change, for youth from six suburban high schools to facilitate transformative social-emotional learning and intergroup dialogue.

Transformative social-emotional learning employs a social justice and equity lens to develop youth’s social and emotional skills, foster cross-cultural relationships and center inclusivity. The researchers used intergroup dialogue to facilitate cross-cultural communication among participants, to develop understandings of social identity, intergroup empathy, justice and change.  

Using both results from survey data and focus groups with participants, Ball and Skzrypek found increased social identity awareness, interest in bridging differences, intergroup empathy and openness to multiple perspectives. Youth reported greater awareness of cross-cultural experiences, including discrimination, and reflected on the similarities and differences they share across region. “Youth also said they were starting to notice oppression and discrimination more in their lives, saying that they had to ‘call it out,’” the study authors noted.

In the following Q&A, researcher Annahita Ball expands on the paper to provide more information on how their intervention promoted youth development. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What are the study’s practice implications, particularly as it relates to educational justice and the current youth mental health crisis?

Annahita Ball: Broader universal interventions can reach all kids; they’re meant to promote preventative mental health interventions and can help support belonging, self-worth and communication skills. Challenge2Change, the program we created, utilized a broader universal intervention approach and focused on developing empathy and self-identity. It’s a way to help kids understand other people in their community and understand themselves, and it’s especially important for kids who are minoritized.

It provided them a chance to think about their own personal experiences and how that might be similar or different to other kids in their communities. We had kids from different high schools across the whole region, and they were able to meet other kids like them. The intervention was a way to help improve kids’ mental health from a universal approach, rather than targeting kids with really high needs.

How can transformative social-emotional learning benefit kids in schools?

AB: Schools are where kids spend most of their time, so they’re an ideal place to foster social-emotional learning. Schools are a social setting, so when you teach them something, they get a chance to practice it for the rest of the day.

Also, public schools are a broad snapshot of our society, so things that happen in our society get played out in schools. If you aren’t helping them navigate social differences in school, there can be a lot of problems with bullying and social identity. We can try to reduce that by teaching kids to have more empathy, which was the biggest outcome from our study. This can carry over into other parts of their lives and into adulthood, so it can have a potentially really large impact.

Another purpose of public education is to prepare students for a democratic society. When we’re doing this in schools, we’re actually living out the purpose of public education and raising socially aware individuals in our society.

What are the benefits of using transformative social-emotional learning for youth development?

AB: The kids told us that they understood more about themselves, other kids and their communities. After participating, youth were able to better see discriminatory behaviors in their schools.

For them, it’s a first step toward really understanding the world, and how different groups of people come together, and what it means to be kind and inclusive to other people. It’s not something that people may understand until they are explicitly taught, especially if you live in a segregated community that has little diversity.