Partnership to Support the Social and Emotional Learning of Teachers: A New Teacher Learning Community

Teacher preparation programs and school districts annually invest significant personnel and money to support cohorts of preservice teachers and new firstyear teachers. Despite this support, the transition from teacher preparation to the first years of teaching remains challenging. In this article, the authors discuss the impact of a New Teacher Learning Community (NTLC) on supporting the social emotional learning (SEL) of first-year teachers. The NTLC encouraged new K–12 teachers to engage in community building with peers, reflective thinking, and collaborative problem solving. Data included a satisfaction survey and semistructured interviews with participants. New K–12 teachers who participated in the NTLC (n = 21) found increased confidence around key SEL constructs, including relational skills through fostering a sense of belonging and communication abilities and decision-making through practice with problem solving. NTLC findings have implications for future collaboration between teacher preparation programs and school districts to jointly support new teachers and together mitigate challenges first-year teachers face.