About Social Emotional Learning
SEL is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.
SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.
- Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL), October 2020
Schoolwide Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Schoolwide SEL is a systemic approach to infusing social and emotional learning into every part of students’ educational experience -- across all classrooms, during all parts of the school day and out-of-school time, and in partnership with families and communities. This involves cultivating caring, participatory, and equitable learning environments and using evidence-based practices that actively involve all students in their social, emotional, and academic growth.
The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL leads school-based teams through a process for systemic SEL implementation. The Guide contains four focus areas that will help you organize, implement, and improve your SEL efforts.
Build awareness, commitment, and ownership — and create a plan.
Strengthen adult SEL.
Promote SEL for students.
Practice continuous improvement.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Cultivating Equity
SEL can help school communities advance educational equity by cultivating adult and student practices that close opportunity gaps and create more inclusive and equitable learning environments. By promoting understanding, examining biases, reflecting on and addressing the impact of racism, building cross-cultural relationships, and adopting schoolwide practices that emphasize equitable engagement and support, SEL can be used to drive systemic change, uplift marginalized voices, and promote belonging and equity.
Promote Social Emotional Learning for Students
Develop a coordinated approach for supporting students’ social and emotional learning across the school, classrooms, homes, and communities.
What is CASEL
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a trusted source for knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL supports educators and policy leaders and enhances the experiences and outcomes for all PreK-12 students. CASEL is committed to advancing equity and excellence in education through social and emotional learning.
Social Emotional Learning and MTSS
Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) is a framework designed to address academic, behavioral, and social-emotional learning (SEL) in a fully integrated system of support. Social emotional learning (SEL) approaches and programs are often considered an important component of universal approaches within MTSS, because they are designed to promote positive academic and behavioral outcomes in all students.