Social Emotional Learning

Meeting social emotional needs of all students is a first step of learning in a classroom. What is SEL? According to CASEL (The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) “social and 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”.

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Social emotional learning meets the needs of all students, culturally and linguistically diverse student population, to create welcoming and emotionally safe learning environments. In a classroom, it is not only the academic needs that has to be met, but also the emotional and cognitive needs of all students; to be able to make learning conducive for all students. Students have a voice and choice, and they are included in classroom discussions, and they develop skills to manage their emotions by forming relationships through empathy, compassion, and communication.

Why SEL?

Why is there a need for SEL? Well, students spend a lot of their time in school, and to use this time for their overall growth is much needed. In addition to academic learning, students need to learn how to control their emotions, manage their stress, improve personal growth and learn right social interactions. Research has shown that there is a strong correlation between social skills, emotional skills, and a child’s ability to learn. Some researchers even believe that cognitive development and achievement accounts for just 50 percent of success in school, with social and emotional development accounting for the other 50 percent.

Just like there is an art and science of teaching, learning has 2 components too- social learning and emotional learning. These soft skills have to be explicitly taught in class, which may have taken a back seat due to the high stake state testing. But it has been shown by research that till the emotional needs of kids are met, and students are taught in social setting; the teachers won’t be able to reach all students to improve their academic learning. Social learning includes use of group work, cooperative learning, peer tutoring, buddy system, and numerous other classroom strategies where students learn by observing others, interacting with others, developing communication and collaborative skills, and promoting supportive behaviors. Emotional learning includes meeting emotional needs of students to help them develop character, and leadership, and thus help them become good, knowledgeable, responsible, and caring citizens with positive values who are able to interact effectively and behave constructively.

Teaching SEL

Like academic subjects, emotional intelligence can be taught. Many schools have advocacy classes where some part of SEL may be taught, but the teaching needs to extend to all classes- core as well as elective. Lot of research emphasize the benefit of social emotional interventions early in life and through out the entire schooling years. In addition to closing the achievement gap, SEL practices lead to higher graduation rates, less disruptive behaviors in classrooms, reduced crimes, minimize school to prison pipeline, healthier relationship, work place success, mental health improvement, positive decision making and overall success in life.

Social emotional learning has been broken into 5 categories by experts:

• Self-awareness – recognition of one’s own emotions, personal goals, and values
• Self-management – regulation of one’s own emotions and behaviors
• Social awareness – understanding of and compassion for others’ backgrounds or cultures
• Relationship skills – ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships
• Responsible decision-making – making safe, healthy choices that abide by one’s positive and healthy personal moral code

Benefits of SEL

Teaching social emotional skills has multiple facets. Students needs to be taught these soft skills like kindness, empathy, and compassion while they are gaining academic knowledge in their educational settings. Students learn how to manage stress, anxiety, conflict, classroom behavior, depression, and learn to cope with other negative situations at home front, if any. Use of circle time, self-reflection, peer connections, and other active talk time in classroom are helpful in meeting social emotional needs of all students. Circle time may include restorative practices where students with behavioral, counseling and classroom management issues are given opportunities to foster student, teacher, and family relationships. In addition circle time can be used for any class discussions including community issues, or family circles with parents involved.

My experience

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In my 13 years in education, I have met students whose academic needs directly relate to their emotional state of mind. With least family support and not so favorable home environments, some of these students’ basic needs are not met and hence they are not ready to show much academic gains. Do you know that in regular comprehensive public high schools, there are students who may be: homeless, have incarcerated parents, taking care of younger siblings while parents work multiple jobs, raised by single parents whom they may get to see once a week only as they work 2 or 3 jobs to make their ends meet, pregnant and nursing girls, teenagers who have infants or toddlers at home being taken care of by grand mothers, and/or exposed to drug abuse, addiction, gang activities, violence and other type of neglects? These include our at-risk students who live in poverty and may have traumatic experiences. It is very imperative that teachers get to know their students and are able to meet them at their behavioral and emotional needs. Taking time out of each week in school to focus on social and emotional development can go a long way in relieving some of the tension these students face and carry around with them each day. Creating and maintaining a positive classroom environment and finding connection between students is an integral part of classroom learning, where overall needs of all students are met on a regular basis.

If you would like to learn more about SEL, you may check this book: All Learning Is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond

In my graduate program, I have read this book as part of my curriculum and it made a great impact on me. You can find more information here: The Students are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract

In addition to teaching SEL at school, our homes can definitely be an extension where our kids learn to manage strong emotions, navigate relationships, work effectively with others, solve difficult problems, and make responsible decisions. Parents have a huge role in being role models and guides, by helping their kids practice and extend the learning beyond the 4 walls of the classroom.

Conclusion

The overall purpose of school is for students to feel safe, emotionally supported, and socially connected so they can make leaps and bounds of progress in academic as well as social emotional skill development. I feel it is the job of every teacher to make sure that they are meeting the learning needs of all students in a holistic way. Please share your strategies, as a classroom teacher or as a parent, by commenting below or sending an email at nishtha@dawnandhope.com