Online Teaching Self-Efficacy, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies, and Compassion Fatigue Among Educators During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Guided by the social-cognitive theory and job demands-resources model, this study examined how educators perceived online teaching self-efficacy and social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies concurrently and interactively influenced educators' compassion fatigue during distance learning in the COVID-19 pandemic among 321 educators in California. Survey results suggested that educators with longer years of working in education and White educators reported higher levels of compassion fatigue than their counterparts. Controlling for educators' demographic factors, online teaching self-efficacy had a negative and significant association with compassion fatigue. Moreover, the negative association between online teaching self-efficacy and compassion fatigue was intensified among educators with a higher level of SEL competencies. The findings highlight the importance of promoting educators' online teaching self-efficacy in preventing educator compassion fatigue. It also indicates that educators with higher SEL competencies were more attuned to the negative association between online teaching self-efficacy and compassion fatigue than educators with lower SEL competencies. IMPACT STATEMENT This is one of the first empirical studies examining educators' experiences with online teaching self-efficacy, compassion fatigue, and SEL competencies during the COVID-19 pandemic and distance education. It highlights the importance of promoting educators' online teaching self-efficacy and monitoring their SEL competencies in preventing compassion fatigue among educators. It also indicates that educators with a higher level of SEL competencies were more attuned to the negative influence of online teaching self-efficacy on compassion fatigue than educators with a lower SEL competency level.