Leadership in Action: Senior High School Heads as Catalysts for Social and Emotional Learning in Ghana

Abstract

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has gained recognition as a crucial component of holistic education, promoting students’ emotional intelligence, discipline, social competence, and overall well-being. While SEL has been integrated into educational systems globally, its implementation in Ghanaian senior high schools (SHSs) remains underexplored, particularly regarding the role of school heads. This study examines the perceptions of SHS heads on SEL, the strategies they employ to promote it, and the challenges they encounter in its implementation. Adopting an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative case study design, ten SHS heads were purposively sampled from Mampong Municipality and Sekyere South District. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically. Findings revealed that SHS heads perceive SEL as a fundamental aspect of education that fosters students’ holistic development, improves discipline, enhances emotional well-being, and prepares students for future success. To integrate SEL into school systems, school heads employ strategies such as embedding SEL in the curriculum, fostering a supportive school environment, and implementing mentorship and counselling programmes. However, several challenges hinder the effective SEL implementation, including financial constraints, resistance from teachers and students, and inadequate SEL training among educators. Despite these challenges, SHS heads adopt creative mitigation strategies such as seeking external partnerships, integrating SEL into extracurricular activities, and providing professional development for teachers. It was therefore recommended, amongst others, that the Ministry of Education, in tandem with the Ghana Education Service, should institutionalise SEL in the national curriculum, enhance teacher training in SEL, increase stakeholder collaboration, and develop assessment frameworks to measure SEL outcomes.