Social-Emotional Integrated Differentiated Learning in Vocational Schools: A Study of Educational Development

Abstract

Differentiated learning that is integrated with social-emotional development in Vocational High Schools (SMK) is a relevant approach to facing the challenges of 21st century education. However, implementing this strategy often faces various obstacles, such as teachers' lack of understanding of the concept of differentiation, limited resources, and difficulty integrating social-emotional aspects into competency-based learning. This research aims to describe the development of teaching modules with a differentiation and socio-emotional approach in learning at vocational schools. This research consists of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation stages using the ADDIE development method with a mixed-method approach. The research participants were one teacher and 27 class XI students at a vocational school in Central Java. The research instruments are learning style tests, questionnaires and observation sheets. Data collection through interviews, tests, observations and surveys. Interview data were analyzed using theme analysis, while quantitative descriptive analysis used student learning style data, expert validation and user evaluation. Results of this research found that the success of this implementation was greatly influenced by school management support, availability of resources, and sufficient time for learning planning. These results conclude that social-emotional integrated differentiated learning has great potential to be implemented in vocational schools, but requires a clear framework, continuous training, and collaboration between educational stakeholders to achieve optimal results. The implication of this research is that teachers need structured and ongoing training to understand and apply differentiation strategies and social-emotional integration in learning. Governments and educational institutions must provide training programs that focus on developing these capabilities.