You Can Do It! A narrative inquiry into children’s experiences of a social-emotional and academic learning programme

ABSTRACTInternationally and nationally, government and educational policies prioritise wellbeing to support education. Social-emotional learning (SEL), a frequently used term for wellbeing in the United States of America (USA), comprises accrued skills enacted over time. This article presents the findings of an arts-based narrative inquiry exploring eight primary school children’s experiences of the five foundations of the social-emotional and academic learning program ‘You Can Do It (YCDI) Program Achieve’. YCDI is a structured classroom-based programme where children are taught explicit SEL skills through lessons based on the five programme foundations, or SEL competencies, of Organisation, Confidence, Getting Along, Persistence, and Resilience. Using a three-dimensional, narrative inquiry framework, the researcher addresses two questions: What impact did the YCDI programme and its foundations have on the children’s lives on and off the school landscape? What are the implications for the future implementation of the YCDI programme? Through the presentation of children’s narratives, this study provides insight into how YCDI improved the children’s SEL skills and wellbeing. It also prompts important questions for those considering the program’s implementation in the future.KEYWORDS: Social-emotional learningYou Can Do It!wellbeingnarrative inquiryarts-based research Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsJohn MeeganJohn Meegan is a lecturer in Primary Education in the School of Education, Hibernia College. John’s research interests include social-emotional learning, narrative inquiry research, twenty-first-century skills, virtual scenario-based learning, and digital technologies for teaching, learning and assessment.