Social-Emotional Learning

Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Social emotional learning or SEL is defined by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) as the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Decades of research, practice, and policy have demonstrated the effectiveness of SEL in supporting students’ academic and long-term success. By systematically integrating SEL across classrooms, schools, homes, and communities, adults and students work together to develop and apply five core competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and responsible decision-making. These competencies are needed generally throughout our lives and particularly in this moment to manage our own stressors, anxieties, and joy; understand how the pandemic is influencing others (often in inequitable ways); and build relationships and make decisions that best support our communities. Schools can build on their existing strengths to develop a transition plan that supports SEL for students and adults. The guidance below is organized around four critical actions, which are adapted from what has been learned about systemic SEL in collaboration with researchers and practitioners:

1. Take time to build partnerships, deepen your understanding, and plan for SEL.

2. Design opportunities for adults to connect, heal, and cultivate their own SEL competencies and capacities.

3. Create emotionally and physically safe, supportive, and engaging learning environments that promote all students’ social and emotional development.

4. Use data as an opportunity to deepen relationships and continuously improve support for students, families, and staff.

The five CASEL core competencies are:

Self-awareness
Self-management
Responsible decision-making
Social awareness
Relationship skills

Self-Awareness:

Self-awareness is the ability to identify and assess your thoughts, feelings, and values, as well as how they intersect with your behavior. Students who cultivate self-awareness should be able to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses with a balance of accuracy and positivity. To practice self-awareness, for example, a student could recognize their stress triggers while still appreciating their hardworking personality.

This core competency also involves combining self-analysis with confidence and optimism. After evaluating their strengths and weaknesses, the ultimate goal is to create a “growth mindset.” Once students have developed self-awareness, they view themselves as capable enough to reach their aspirations despite setbacks or weaknesses.

Like all CASEL core competencies, self-awareness begins in early childhood development and has profound, long-lasting benefits. Students with strong self-awareness skills generally make better choices that reflect ethics and selflessness than those without. In young children, self-awareness development can also be a predictor of emotional intelligence, leadership skills, and long-term success.

Self-awareness skills include:

Identifying emotions
Accurate self-perception
Self-confidence
Recognizing strengths
Self-efficacy

Self-Management:

In many ways, self-management is taking self-awareness and putting it into action. It refers to the ability to not only identify but regulate emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. With self-management skills on their side, students also have a stronger capacity for stress management and impulse control, as well as self-motivation.

Beyond emotional self-regulation, self-management also encompasses positive goal setting. By keeping their thoughts and behaviors in check, self-management can help students develop the willpower, organizational ability, and daily habits needed to meet their aspirations. While this competency can be difficult to teach younger students, it can ultimately lead to a happier and more focused classroom.

According to SEL research, self-management is especially beneficial for students with disabilities. Students with emotional or behavioral issues who study self-management at school often see academic improvement.[And on a classroom-wide level, self-management provides students with study habits that improve their grades for years after the initial lessons.[Teaching students self-management is a gift that keeps giving for a child’s entire academic career.

Self-management subskills include:

Self-motivation
Stress management
Goal setting
Impulse control
Self-discipline
Organizational skills

Responsible Decision-Making:

Responsible decision-making is the ability to make positive, constructive choices about your behavior and social interactions. You base these decisions on situational factors such as personal morality, safety concerns, or prosocial behavior.

This core competency also involves a realistic evaluation of various consequences using advanced critical thinking skills. While evaluating, you would consider the well-being of others as well as yourself.

Providing choice-making opportunities for students increases classroom engagement. It also prepares them for future academic or workplace situations where they’ll have to make decisions that affect themselves and others.

Responsible decision-making subskills include:

Analyzing situations
Outcome evaluation
Identifying and solving problems
Personal reflection
Ethical responsibility

Social Awareness:

Relationship skills and social awareness go hand-in-hand. Social awareness is the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, as well as learning social and ethical behavior. Developing social awareness requires high emotional intelligence, which, just like math or science, has a place in school curriculum.

Social awareness also involves becoming aware of and tolerant towards diverse backgrounds. This appreciation can come from recognizing similarities but also respecting possible differences. Every classroom is made up of children from a variety of lifestyles, cultures, and other circumstances. Adding diversity appreciation to your school standards not only teaches students empathy but helps every family feel welcome at school.

The benefits of social awareness speak for themselves. Research shows that highly empathetic people generally have less stress than unempathetic people. Social awareness also improves cooperation, particularly in tense situations, which strengthens both classroom climates and a student’s capacity for other SEL competencies.

Social awareness subskills include:

Empathy
Perspective-taking
Respect for others
Diversity awareness

Relationship Skills:

People are biologically wired to need close, rewarding relationships. Learning how to establish and maintain these relationships is essential for not only success but lifelong fulfillment. Relationship skills teach students how to get along and make meaningful connections with people in their life. They could include the ability to communicate, listen, validate emotions, resist social pressures, and use conflict resolution methods, among other social skills.

Another crucial component of this competency is learning to seek or offer help when needed. By knowing when a loved one is struggling and reaching out, students can put their relationship skills to practice. Plus, students can strengthen their relationships and support system by asking for help when challenges arise.

As mentioned earlier, close relationships are essential for both physical and mental health. People who have close relationships in life experience significantly less stress than those who feel isolated. They also have better health overall and are less likely to develop physical or mental illnesses. And, best of all, those with strong relationship skills report feeling a greater sense of purpose in life.

Every component needed to be a healthy, happy human being is affected by the connections we share with other people – which is why teaching your students relationship skills is one of the most meaningful things you can do for them.

Relationship subskills include: