Social Emotional Learning

Social emotional learning (SEL) is an approach to education that focuses on the whole student, with particular emphasis on the emotional development of the learner. Western schools have traditionally focused almost entirely on the intellectual aspect of the learner and often taught students to ignore or 'overcome' their emotions that may get in the ways. In contrast, holistic, social emotional learning encourages students to become aware of their emotions and use that knowledge to better understand and relate to themselves and others around them.

In the High School Social Studies Context

The majority of research on social emotional learning has focused primarily on elementary and middle schools. Meanwhile, less is known about what social emotional learning could look like in the high school context (Hamedani & Darling-Hammond, 2015).Yet social emotional learning is crucial for teenagers; the rapid changes that characterize adolescence provide an important opportunity to develop and practice social emotional skills that can guide them through challenges and help them build healthy habits for life (Lieber, Tissiere & Bialek, 2017). Given the nature of high school instruction, it is likely best for educators to incorporate SEL through a shift in their teachign practices that emphasize caring relatinships, high support and meaningful dialogues to create a safe and supportive classroom.

Social studies provides a unique opportunity to explore social emotional skills through a variety of subject matter.

What Can it Look Like?

Check out this blog post that outlines many different ways social emotional skills can be developed in the social studies classroom, such as focusing on the emotions of a historical figure and creating opportunities for collaboration and sharing.

CASEL has detailed examples of social studies activities that align with their social emotional learning competencies for middle schoolers (but they can easily be translated to high school too!) Check it out here.

Want some great social studies resources and lesson plans that integrate SEL?

Teaching Tolerance is a fantastic website with lots of social studies lesson plans and they have an SEL filter when you search.

Facing History was recently recognized by CASEL for its incorporation of SEL competencies in its social studies lesson plans around topics such as civic engagement, human rights and bullying.

References

Hamedani, M. G., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2015). Social emotional learning in high school: How three urban high schools engage, educate, and empower youth.Lieber, C. M., Tissiere, M., & Bialek, S. (2017). Embedding Social and Emotional Learning in High School Classrooms.

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