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May Duong Ed.D., is a 2025 graduate of the Ed.D. program in Educational and Professional Practice at Antioch University.

Dissertation Committee:

John Scott, Ph.D., Committee Chair

Lesley Jackson, Ph.D., Committee Member

Anabel Jensen, Ph.D., Committee Member

Keywords

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), parent education, emotional intelligence, culturally responsive pedagogy, parent-child relationships, family-school partnerships, transformative learning, ecological model of human development, self-awareness, self-efficacy, empathy, noble goal, mindfulness, resilience, intergenerational patterns

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

This study examines how Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)-based parent education can bridge cultural divides and strengthen family-school partnerships in increasingly diverse educational settings. Conducted at an independent California elementary school where student demographics shifted to become more diverse in the last ten years, the research addresses a critical gap: while parent education is essential to child development, it remains overlooked in SEL implementation. The research investigates whether Western-based SEL frameworks, which emphasize individualism, can effectively support families from collectivist cultures. Through the EQ Gym program—a culturally responsive parent education initiative—the study explores three key questions: how school-based SEL research can address parenting needs, how centering social-emotional topics builds parental awareness and efficacy, and how SEL interventions enhance parents’ connections to others and their school community. Using a mixed-methods approach with 14 participants (43% U.S.-born, 57% immigrants from China, India, Iran, and other countries), the study reveals transformative outcomes across multiple dimensions. Parents shifted from control-oriented to connection-oriented approaches, moving from behavioral directors to facilitators of their children’s emotional development. The program fostered unexpected personal growth, with participants applying SEL concepts to professional settings, spousal relationships, and self-development journeys beyond their original parenting goals. The research demonstrates that effective parent education requires meeting parents at their entry points and addressing immediate daily challenges while building communities of practice that normalize struggles and leverage collective wisdom. Through the ecological model of human development, findings show how SEL operates across multiple system levels: transforming direct parent-child interactions (microsystem), transferring skills across life contexts (mesosystem), and challenging conventional child-centered approaches by recognizing parents as developing individuals alongside their children (macrosystem). In an era where AI threatens to replace authentic human connection, this study positions parent education as “technology-resistant work” that preserves humanity’s advantage in emotional intelligence and social skills. The findings suggest SEL-infused parent education can serve as a throughline connecting various systems toward an ecosystemic view of well-being, with implications for program design emphasizing cultural responsiveness, incremental skill-building, and structured reflection opportunities. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

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ORCID No. 0009-0001-0969-1261

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