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Over the last few years, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has gained global recognition among educators, practitioners, researchers and policymakers as numerous psychological and educational studies link SEL concepts to an improvement in students’ educational and developmental outcomes. These positive outcomes reflect in social-emotional skills, academic achievements, pro-social behaviour, and wellbeing (CASEL, 2020; Cipriano et al., 2023; Durlak & Weissberg, 2011). SEL enhances emotional abilities (like understanding one’s own feelings and thoughts, managing emotions and behaviour in response to dynamic situations) and social skills (of making positive and supportive relationships and taking responsible decisions beneficial for self and others). SEL knowledge and skills also help an individual adapt to unpleasant situations, overcome challenges, and manage stress and anxiety. Majority of SEL research has always focused on finding evidence for how SEL benefits children and students’ development. But since teachers play a central role in both students’ educational journey and in successfully imparting knowledge on SEL, recently, few researchers have drawn attention to the importance of teachers themselves having good SEL knowledge and skills. However, unlike the Western countries, SEL is still unfamiliar to mainstream Indian education and there is just one empirical study on Indian teachers’ SEL skillset and that too was limited to two cities in the state of Punjab (Kaur & Sharma, 2022). Therefore, the current study chose to assess the SEL knowledge of Indian primary and secondary school teachers from all over the country, through a self-report questionnaire over an online survey. Additionally, the study also analysed whether factors like school level (primary vs. secondary), school type (public vs. private), and school culture would influence teachers’ SEL competencies of self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness. The study’s findings indicated that on average, secondary school teachers had scored more on the SEL competencies than primary school teachers. Similarly, teachers from private schools had on average, higher levels of self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness than those from public schools. However, caution was exercised when generalising the implications of this statement to all public schools since the study’s sample of 75 responses was unequally divided between 26 responses belonging to public school teachers and 49 to private school teachers. The main finding of the study was identifying the strong relationship school culture had with teachers’ SEL competencies. However, since the study did not look at any other environmental variables, there was very limited scope to speculate how and why school culture has such a strong effect on the competencies. This was a key limitation of the study but, at the same time, it also provides scope for future research.

This study’s research offers critical insights into the current status of SEL’s usage in Indian classrooms. By examining Indian teachers’ SEL competencies in relation to school level, school type and school culture, the study shed light on how familiar or unfamiliar Indian primary and secondary school teachers, working in public or private schools, are with SEL concepts. The findings of the study can be important for a range of stakeholders including the teachers themselves. Firstly, knowing their own SEL levels, could help Indian teachers become aware of the gaps in their professional skills and seek out resources that will allow them to upskill. Just like how teachers’ workload and mental burden from schools carry over to personal life, the benefits of social and emotional skills too are not limited to the purview of classrooms. The study’s findings also highlighted the role of school administrators and education policy makers in promoting SEL practice in Indian classrooms. Since school culture was found to have a strong influence over teachers’ SEL competencies, the findings can provide school administrators with evidence for the need to look after staff wellbeing. Additionally, since public and private schools differ in socio-economic, geographical and political contexts, the findings can provide education policymakers with meaningful information for devising revisions in policies that will support the integration of SEL curriculum into Indian education system. The study also has strong implications for teacher training programs. The findings of the study can urge policymakers and training providers to reevaluate current teacher training requirements and look at ways SEL modules can be offered as part of teacher training. Lastly, the biggest beneficiaries of this research would be the students since SEL courses can help them manage the stress and anxiety related to academic performances, developmental challenges of adolescence and other life stressors.