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What is Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?
What is Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
What are the benefits of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?
What are the benefits of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?
Research confirms and teachers, parents, and principals agree: Social and emotional competencies can be taught, modeled, and practiced and lead to positive student outcomes that are important for success in school and in life.
Decades of research studies demonstrate the following benefits of SEL:
Improvement in students’ social and emotional skills, attitudes, relationships, academic performance, and perceptions of classroom and school climate
Decline in students’ anxiety, behavior problems, and substance use
Long-term improvements in students’ skills, attitudes, prosocial behavior, and academic performance
A Systemic Framework:
A Systemic Framework:
For a growing number of schools and districts, SEL has become a coordinating framework for how educators, families, and communities partner to promote students’ social, emotional, and academic learning.
SEL is embedded in their strategic plans, staffing, professional learning, and budgets. It guides their curriculum choices and classroom instruction — both direct practice in SEL as well as integrated instruction with reading, math, history, and other core subjects.
It drives many of their schoolwide practices and policies. It informs how adults and students relate with each other at all levels of the system, creating a welcoming, participatory, and caring climate for learning.
It shapes their partnerships with families and community members, highlighting engagement, trust, and collaboration.
And it works. Check out the research.
5 Core Competencies Taught Across Diverse Settings:
5 Core Competencies Taught Across Diverse Settings:
Our widely used Framework for Systemic Social and Emotional Learning identifies five core competencies
Just as important as the SEL competencies are the contexts for teaching them, the overall educational environment. SEL is not a single program or teaching method. It involves coordinated strategies across classrooms, schools, homes, and communities. It is fundamental to how adults interact with children and youth in school, family, and community settings.that educate hearts, inspire minds, and help people navigate the world more effectively.
What can teachers do to promote Social-Emotional Learning?
What can teachers do to promote Social-Emotional Learning?
In addition to providing instruction in social and emotional skills, teachers’ involvement in promoting SEL goes beyond the classroom and includes:
Participating on a school team or committee that selects SEL programs and oversees the implementation and evaluation of SEL activities; and communicating regularly with students’ families about SEL classroom activities to encourage reinforcement of SEL lessons at home.
What can parents do to to promote their child’s SEL?
What can parents do to to promote their child’s SEL?
Parents can promote their child’s SEL by learning more about their school’s SEL initiative and modeling behaviors and adopting practices that reinforce their child’s SEL skills at home. Examples include:
Participating in family informational meetings at their school to learn more about its SEL initiative; and emphasizing their child’s strengths before discussing deficits and needed improvements.
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