The Perceptions of Kansas Debate and Forensics Teachers Regarding Factors thatAffect Instruction in their Classrooms

Abstract

This study was a quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive survey of Kansas debate,forensics, and debate and forensics coaches. The purposes of this study were todetermine the extent Kansas debate and forensics teachers perceive that they have Socialemotional learning (SEL) professional development opportunities available, have SELclassroom resources available, are confident in promoting student growth anddevelopment related to SEL, are ready to address issues of diversity, and have integratedSEL into their classroom. Teacher perceptions of SEL were examined first individually,second by comparing large school and small school classifications, third by examiningperceptions of teachers who taught both debate and forensics and those who teach onlydebate or forensics, and finally by comparing the perceptions of teacher type by schoolclassification. The sample consisted of 142 debate, forensics, and debate and forensicsteachers from across the state of Kansas. The survey was conducted via Google formsand involved the use of components of the Panorama Teacher and Staff SEL Surveys(Gehlbach, 2018). The results of the 144 hypothesis tests were complex and mixed.Comparisons between school classifications and teacher types, for the most part, weremixed or indicated no differences in teacher perceptions. Results from individual teacherperceptions were of interest and indicated that no matter the size of the school, or contenttaught, Kansas debate and forensics teachers might need additional SEL professionaldevelopment opportunities and additional access to SEL classroom resources. Results onstudent growth and development and readiness to address issues of diversity were alsomixed. Kansas debate and forensics teachers do not integrate SEL into their classrooms.Further research is warranted.