Donna Lord Black - Essentials of Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

SEL is not and never has been touted as a program that takes away from or supplants academic instruction. On the contrary, it has always been promoted as a process for enhancing instruction and improving the learning environment, and when implemented with fidelity, it contributes to improved outcomes for students and for the systems that serve them. Until educators recognize and accept that the benefits of SEL far outweigh the challenges of implementation, there will continue to be resistance.

There also may be obstacles to acquiring funding and resources, as well as to developing a SEL curriculum. Perhaps one of the most critical and often less recognized obstacles, however, is the need for staff training in SEL. Staff knowledge and skills in SEL are fundamental to a sustainable approach to implementation, but these are areas that are frequently overlooked. What are the knowledge and skills needed by staff? While there are a multitude of frameworks identifying critical social and emotional skills, the framework developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL 2017) is the framework most widely adopted by schools. The competencies identified by CASEL address five key areas: self‐awareness, self‐management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. A graphic illustration of the framework and a detailed description of the competencies are provided in Rapid Reference 1.1.

Source : Core SEL Competencies, from CASEL. © 2017, CASEL.

The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well‐grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

Examples:

Integrating personal and social identities

Identifying personal, cultural, and linguistic assets

Identifying one’s emotions

Demonstrating honesty and integrity

Linking feelings, values, and thoughts

Examining prejudices and biases

Experiencing self‐efficacy

Having a growth mindset

Developing interests and a sense of purpose

The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.

Examples:

Managing one’s emotions

Identifying and using stress management strategies

Exhibiting self‐discipline and self‐motivation

Setting personal and collective goals

Using planning and organizational skills

Showing the courage to take initiative

Demonstrating personal and collective agency

The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

Examples:

Taking others’ perspectives

Recognizing strengths in others

Demonstrating empathy and compassion

Showing concern for the feelings of others

Understanding and expressing gratitude

Identifying diverse social norms, including unjust ones

Recognizing situational demands and opportunities

Understanding the influences of organizations and systems on behavior

The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

Examples:

Communicating effectively

Developing positive relationships

Demonstrating cultural competency

Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem solving

Resolving conflicts constructively

Resisting negative social pressure

Showing leadership in groups

Seeking or offering support and help when needed

Standing up for the rights of others

The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well‐being.

Examples:

Demonstrating curiosity and open‐mindedness

Identifying solutions for personal and social problems

Learning to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, and facts

Anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one’s actions

Recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside and outside of school

Reflecting on one’s role to promote personal, family, and community well‐being

Evaluating personal, interpersonal, community, and institutional impacts

Source : From CASEL with permission. ©2017 CASEL. All rights reserved. Learn more at www.casel.org.

The degree to which teachers have knowledge and skills in these competencies is an area where concern is warranted, given that teacher‐preparation programs traditionally have not incorporated SEL into their curriculum. Likewise, many state certification requirements do not include knowledge and skills in SEL.

A recent study of teacher preparation programs in the United States was conducted by the University of British Columbia’s Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education. The study scanned teacher education programs in colleges of education throughout the United States. The purpose of the scan was to examine what states require teachers to know about SEL for certification and what institutions of higher education actually teach these teachers. Results of the study showed that while all states require some level of SEL knowledge and skills for teacher certification, none of the states require knowledge and skills in all five of the SEL competencies. Greater than half of the states require teachers to have knowledge in teaching three of the SEL competencies—self‐management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making—but less emphasis was placed on the SEL competencies of self‐awareness and social awareness. While most pre‐service programs fell short of providing comprehensive training in SEL, there were three exemplary programs identified in the report (Schonert‐Reichl, Kitil, & Hanson‐Peterson, 2017). These are described in Rapid Reference 1.2.

The Academy for SEL is a partnership between the College of Saint Elizabeth and Rutgers University. It offers an online credentialing program designed to help school professionals develop the competencies needed for successfully implementing social emotional learning, character development, and positive culture and climate initiatives schoolwide. Students earn a certificate in social emotional learning and character development with a concentration in either school leadership or classroom instruction. Participants in the program benefit from exclusive access to an online professional learning community (PLC), which provides resources, online discussion forums, access to a secure resource library, and access to program mentors. The program’s faculty and mentors include highly experienced teachers, principals, district leaders, superintendents, and higher education professionals who have significant experience in implementing social emotional learning and school culture and climate initiatives at the school and district levels. The program is co‐directed by Patricia Heindel, PhD, and Maurice Elias, PhD.