Fostering The Social Emotional Competence Of Educators Through A Virtual Professional Learning Community

Educators support students and families in numerous ways and commonly encounter inconsistent support which can lead to stress. Educators' stress usually combines unfinished training and non-supportive work environments. These stressors can compromise instructional quality and affect well-being. Educators benefit from social support that enhances their teaching and emotional well-being. My school provides professional development (PD) centered on social and emotional learning (SEL) to support educators' instructional and emotional skills. As a school counselor, one of my responsibilities is implementing SEL PD for my school staff, and self-care is a significant component of SEL.Teacher planning time is limited during the school day, leaving little time for deeper reflection and integrating new knowledge into existing practice. This action research study promoted self-care strategies in a virtual professional learning community (virtual PLC) by enlisting a small-scale group of educators (n = 8) that met four times to focus on self-care. Literature suggests that self-care and social support in the virtual PLC would influence resilience and stress. Through this action research, the value of educator self-care was confirmed to positively impact stress and resilience.