Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Social Emotional Learning is the process by which children grow and develop their emotional lives and their relationships. — Tim Shriver, Founder, CASEL

Research has shown the positive impact SEL-focused instruction can make on students’ academic lives, including higher attendance and graduation rates as well as fewer school suspensions. But how do we define Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?

Social Awareness

Self-Awareness

Why am I angry? How do I feel about what I just read? Can I pass Friday’s test or will only the smart kids do well Students’ ability to understand their own emotions, thoughts, and values, and develop a healthy sense of themselves and their abilities, is crucial in building their confidence and purpose.

Self-Management

Keeping your eye on the prize while dealing with stress and varying degrees of motivation takes courage and initiative as well as planning and organizing. Tweens and teens need many opportunities to develop self-discipline and problem-solving strategies for when things don’t go as planned.

Relationship Skills

Understanding how to develop positive relationships is a big part of adolescents’ social and emotional development. Students needs many opportunities to collaborate, constructively resolve conflict, and help one another as they build positive social connections and stand up against negative ones.

Responsible Decision Making

You might think adolescence and responsible decision-making are contradictory terms but how often do your students have opportunities to practice analyzing a situation or problem from multiple perspectives while considering its implications and consequences? As you well know, students need a lot of practice figuring out how to make responsible decisions as they grow into young adults.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is multi-faceted and therefore can feel overwhelming but our friends at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) have created a comprehensive SEL framework that highlights five important areas of SEL including Social Awareness, Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision-Making, and Relationship Skills.

Video

Christina Cipriano, PhD: Social Emotional Learning Is Important and Useful for Adolescents

Historically, there has been pushback on teaching SEL at the secondary school level. This is starting to change, and it’s a positive shift because the changes and emotions that are typical during adolescent years are exactly the areas that can be successfully impacted by SEL.

Video

Ebony Holliday, PhD on the Importance of Social Emotional Learning for Autistic — and All Students

Learning social emotional competencies is very important for autistic — and all — students to be successful in and beyond the classroom, explains Ebony Holliday, PhD, from the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism Services, Science and Innovation (CASSI). However, for autistic students, sometimes those instructions need to be individualized and adapted so they can get the most benefit, too.

Assessing Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Research has shown the positive impact SEL-focused instruction can make on students’ academic lives but how do we gauge students’ social emotional development?

American Institutes for Research

SEL Assessment Toolkit

Minnesota Department of Education

SEL Assessment Guidance

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