Transformative Social–Emotional Learning and Intergroup Dialogue: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of a School-Based Intervention

Social–emotional learning (SEL) is a widely accepted evidence-based strategy to improve youth’s social and emotional skills. Transformative SEL adapts traditional SEL by emphasizing social justice and collective action, rather than individual competence and responsibility. SEL research has demonstrated sustained effectiveness for a variety of traditional school-based programs, yet research on SEL with adolescents is limited. There is almost no research on transformative SEL. This study explored the outcomes of a school-based transformative SEL program with adolescents. A two-part mixed-methods sequential design used quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups with two samples of high school youth from five different high schools. Multivariate analysis of variance and thematic description were used to analyze the data from each part of the study. Then, results were connected across the quantitative and qualitative analyses. Youth’s self-reported intergroup empathy increased significantly from pre- to posttest, as did their interest in building bridges, social identity awareness, and openness to multiple perspectives. Qualitative results supported the quantitative findings, especially as youth detailed how their intergroup empathy changed following the intervention. Their comments in the focus groups also varied across racial subgroups, indicating that future research should explore differential transformative SEL outcomes.