INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Empty Seats at Circle Time: A Phenomenological Perspective of Social-Emotional Learning in Preschool

Name_____________________________________ Title_______________________________ School ____________________________________ Date_______________________________ I appreciate you for taking time to speak with me about your lived experiences as a school leader. The purpose of this interview is to describe your perceptions and accounts of preschool behaviors that effect school readiness and often lead to exclusionary discipline measures. More specifically, the questions seek to explore the implementation of social-emotional learning in preschool classrooms as a preventative behavior intervention.

During this interview, I will use a digital recorder to record the interview so that I may script all of your comments verbatim. Afterwards, you will be able to review all scripted notes and listen to the recordings. At this time, you will be able to decide whether or not you conveyed your intended thoughts and feelings. Confidentiality will be maintained throughout the study through the use of pseudonyms for participants. As we talk, please refrain from using any names or information that could identify other people. In addition, all data collected and materials related to this study will be kept by the researcher in a locked, filing cabinet and will only be viewed by the investigator during the study.

I want to really know your experiences so feel free to discuss your views. Are you ready to begin?

Personal Background Questions

1. Tell me about yourself, personally.

2. Tell me about your background in education.

a. How long have you been in the field of education? 3. What made you choose a career working with children? School-Specific Questions

4. What is your title and role in your school? 5. How long have you been at your school?

7. How many preschool classrooms are there in your building? Preschool-Specific Questions

8. Do your preschool teachers address social-emotional learning standards? 9. How are teachers “educated” about social-emotional learning standards? 10. What do you see as the main social-emotional needs of children in preschool?

11. From an educator's point of view, what role do you think schools have, if any, in promoting these social and emotional skills of children?

Behavior-Specific Questions

12. What role do administrators play in assisting with the social-emotional needs of children? 13. What challenges or barriers, if any, have you experienced related to behaviors with preschool

aged students?

14. Can you give an example of a situation where you were confronted with internalizing behavior from a preschool aged child? How did you react?

15. Can you give an example of a situation where you were confronted with externalizing behavior from a preschool aged child? How did you react?

16. What do you find most challenging about managing the internalizing behaviors of preschool students? Externalizing behaviors?

Social-Emotional Competency Discussion

17. Preschool teachers are proactively building social-emotional skills with students in their classrooms. In your opinion, what is the importance of social-emotional development in students?

18. In your opinion, what aspects of the students’ life will benefit by the development of these skills?

19. Are you aware of the following five internationally recognized core social and emotional competencies for students? • Self-awareness • Self-management • Social awareness • Relationship skills • Responsible decision making? The next set of questions are specific to these competencies.

20. Self-awareness has been defined as: identifying and recognizing emotions; recognizing personal interests and strengths; maintaining a well-grounded sense of self-confidence. In what way do you assist students to develop this competency? What behaviors do you see from students which could demonstrate their development of self-awareness?

21. Self-management has been defined as: regulating emotions to handle stress, control impulses, and motivating oneself to persevere in overcoming obstacles, setting and monitoring progress

toward the achievement of personal and academic goals; expressing emotions appropriately. In what way do you assist students to develop this competency? What behaviors do you see from students which could demonstrate their development of self-management?

22. Social awareness has been defined as: being able to take the perspective of and empathize with others; recognizing and appreciating individual and group similarities and differences. In what way do you assist students to develop this competency? What behaviors do you see from students which could demonstrate their development of social awareness?

23. Relationship skills has been defined as: establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships based on cooperation and resistance to inappropriate social pressure, preventing, managing, and constructively resolving interpersonal conflict; seeking help when needed. In what way do you assist students to develop this competency? What behaviors do you see from students which could demonstrate their development of relationship skills?

24. Responsible decision making has been defined as: making decisions based on a consideration of all relevant factors, including applicable ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms; the likely consequences of taking alternative courses of action; evaluation and reflection. In what way do you assist students to develop this competency? What behaviors do you see from students which could demonstrate their development of responsible decision making?

25. In what ways has the development of social-emotional learning skills changed the atmosphere in your school? If so, in what ways and why?

**Additional follow-up questions for clarification may be presented, pending participant responses.

Thank you again for your time and assistance. I hope the information that you have provided will assist school and district administrators, teachers, policy makers, and most of all, children. May I contact you