Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Ellis, David

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

This thesis project aims to determine whether or not UNESCO’s Social Emotional Learning (SEL) network, structured in terms of its global and regional topology, is positioned to facilitate the diffusion of SEL frameworks and practices. In recent history, a new, competing paradigm of global citizenship, facilitated through UNESCO’s SEL frameworks, has made waves within the international society. UNESCO’s goal is to transform the ontologies of billions of people through education, by utilizing its extensive, global networks. As a result, UNESCO’s global, regional and national partnerships and networks provide the structure, and a varied enough approach to impacting educational policy and substantive curriculum development. For the purposes of this thesis project, the methodology involved the extensive construction of a list containing over 18,000 UNESCO and SEL affiliates. This list was then uploaded into an open-source network analysis software called Gephi, to evaluate the topological structure and relationships of affiliates in UNESCO’s SEL network. According to the results, an overwhelming portion of these affiliates, including schools and universities, serve as the main nodes facilitating SEL pedagogies. Due to the global scale and uniform distribution of these affiliates, with relation to UNESCO, this study concludes that UNESCO’s SEL network is highly conducive to diffusing SEL frameworks.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

Download

Share

COinS