SEL: CASEL Competencies
What are the 5 Competencies of SEL?
Use the drop down arrows under each competency to learn more! Find ways to support SEL development in the home.
WHY Self-Awareness?
When kids are self-aware, they understand that how they see themselves may be different from how others see them.
Kids who are self-aware recognize their strengths and their challenges.
Self-awareness makes it easier for kids to build self-esteem and speak up for what they need.
The Importance of Self-Awareness in Kids - Understood.org
Self-awareness: The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.
Such as:
Integrating personal and social identities
Identifying personal, cultural, and linguistic assets
Identifying one’s emotions
Demonstrating honesty and integrity
Linking feelings, values, and thoughts
Examining prejudices and biases
Experiencing self-efficacy
Having a growth mindset
Developing interests and a sense of purpose
Ideas on Building Self-Awareness
Improving your Child's Self-Awareness Skills **
Develop checklists for your kids
Encourage estimation and prediction skills
Express yourself
Estimate how easy or difficult a task might be to help gauge ability to complete work
Be a friend - help your child plan for play dates by discussing what they might both enjoy
Be "reporters" - talk about social interactions you observe in the real world
Be actors - role play in preparation of meeting new people or entering a new setting
Younger children may benefit from visual reminders of their strengths and weaknesses
Relationship skills: The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.
Such as:
Communicating effectively
Developing positive relationships
Demonstrating cultural competency
Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving
Resolving conflicts constructively
Resisting negative social pressure
Showing leadership in groups
Seeking or offering support and help when needed
Standing up for the rights of others
Ideas on How to Support Positive Relationships
Self-management: The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.
Such as:
Managing one’s emotions
Identifying and using stress management strategies
Exhibiting self-discipline and self-motivation
Setting personal and collective goals
Using planning and organizational skills
Showing the courage to take initiative
Demonstrating personal and collective agency
Ideas to help with Self-Management
Responsible decision-making: The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.
Such as:
Demonstrating curiosity and open-mindedness
Learning how to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, and facts
Identifying solutions for personal and social problems
Anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one’s actions
Recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside and outside of school
Reflecting on one’s role to promote personal, family, and community well-being
Evaluating personal, interpersonal, community, and institutional impacts
Ideas on How to Support Responsible Decision Making
Child Mind - Helping Kids Make Decisions
PreK-2 Responsible Decision Making Tips
Grades 3-5 Responsible Decision Making Tips
Middle School Responsible Decision Making Tips
High School Responsible Decision Making Tips
Social awareness: The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.
Such as:
Taking others’ perspectives
Recognizing strengths in others
Demonstrating empathy and compassion
Showing concern for the feelings of others
Understanding and expressing gratitude
Identifying diverse social norms
Recognizing situational demands and opportunities
Understanding the influences of organizations and systems on behavior
Understanding the perspectives of others is NOT about changing the positions people hold. It is about learning to understand another's perspective, even if it is not the same as your own. While you might not share the same views, it is important to not be dismissive of them and to dig deeper to try to appreciate where those views come from. We become better people and a stronger community when we learn to respect one another and the differences that make each of us unique.