Emma McMain’s Three Minute Thesis
Critical Discussion Groups as a Collaborative Form of Teacher Engagement with Social and Emotional Learning
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has become prolific in education since the early 2000s, but seldom do researchers and educators critically examine its cultural underpinnings (e.g., deep-seated values and assumptions). In my dissertation, I explore these underpinnings alongside elementary teachers in a qualitative and collaborative approach to professional development. Together, 6-8 teachers and I will discuss critical readings on SEL and how they relate to our own experiences/identities as teachers and as humans. For instance, we will consider what it means to label emotions as “positive” or “negative,” how children’s squirming bodies are welcomed into (and perhaps excluded from) SEL practices, and what it might mean to nurture and experience social-emotional aspects of personhood outside of pre-determined SEL curricula. My aim as a researcher, facilitator, and learner is to help educators recognize ourselves in our educational practices and our educational practices in ourselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGG-p-uJoA
Broadly, Emma McMain’s research focuses on promoting social and ecological justice in education. Her past and current projects incorporate critical discourse analysis, critical media literacies, feminist and affect theories, and anti-racist pedagogies in explorations of curriculum, film, literature, and youths’ lived experiences.
Outside of academia, Emma enjoys running, hiking, cooking, and creative writing.
