What is Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?

 

WHAT IS SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING? WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?


    Social-Emotional Learning, otherwise known as SEL, is an approach to education where social and emotional skills are a focal point for educators to develop alongside academics. Fostering an environment where SEL is included or even central has become a popular approach within classrooms, particularly in Kindergarten, although post-COVID education has begun to adapt and implement strategies in older grades. Although one may generally feel that junior grades, which for this purpose have been considered grades 4-6, have control over their emotional well-being. However, they are still children and youth, and emphasizing emotional support is never harmful. 
    
    According to CASEL (2020), a community centring on the importance of SEL, these skills are taught and obtained in various settings. Below is the framework that CASEL created, or by clicking here, you can engage with their framework interactively. 


    On the outside are the settings where SEL takes place most frequently and are the most common places for socializing children and youth. Inside are the key categories of SEL:
  • Self-Awareness
  • Self-Management
  • Social Awareness
  • Responsible Decision-Making
  • Relationship Skills
In a blog by TheSocialEmotionalTeacher (2021), she identifies some specific skills that belong under each category. Let's take a look!

SELF-AWARENESS
Self-awareness is critical for being meta-cognizant of one's own...
  • emotions
  • feelings
  • strengths and weaknesses
  • interests
  • purposes and roles
SELF-MANAGEMENT
This SEL skill helps students to manage...
  • their behaviours and actions 
    • planning
    • organizing 
    • motivation
    • self-discipline
  • emotions
    • stress 
    • frustration 
    • anger
  • thoughts 
    • motivation 
    • planning 
 SOCIAL AWARENESS 
Being the opposite of self-awareness, social awareness helps students to be cognizant of those around them.  Social awareness deals with being aware of...
  • cultures 
  • ethnic backgrounds
  • perspectives and beliefs 
  • built and display empathy for others
  • appreciate other social norms and traditions 
  • find gratitude with others
RELATIONSHIP SKILLS 
Understanding what can make healthy friendships and/or romantic relationships can influence students' lives forever. To have healthy relationships, students learn the important interdisciplinary skills of... 
  • communication 
  • problem-solving
  • sharing ideas and respectfully disagreeing
  • giving support to others

REASONABLE DECISION-MAKING
Another aspect of SEL skills that is crucial for individuals to possess is the capacity to make decisions. In doing so, teaching skills like the ones below can assist in building students' abilities to make healthy and responsible choices for themselves and others. 
  • evaluating consequences before doing an action or using some words
  • finding solutions and selecting the best one 
  • making safe and reasonable judgements 

Teaching these skills in classrooms can take on a variety of approaches and strategies. A resource provided by School Mental Health Ontario (2023) incorporates these key aspects outlined by CASEL into classroom-friendly strategies for Kindergarten all the way to Secondary! While the subtitles are different, the skills that the activities target deal with the same skills among others that focus on mental health. 

    
By incorporating SEL skills into the classroom, students begin to have skills to help regulate themselves. These skills not only serve as transdisciplinary skills within the classroom but helps students become the active and productive citizens that the education system yearns to mould.  The SEL approach helps students excel academically because they feel connected and safe (Center for Responsive Schools, 2021), but it helps to educate the whole child because all their needs are being met.  







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 SEL + LITERACY STRATEGIES = SAFE LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND GREAT RELATIONSHIPS      Learning about SEL through Literacy strategies can be beneficial. Numerous strategies can be utilized to create rich activities that center on SEL skills; for example, journalling is an effective literacy strategy for comprehension but can also be used to help students track certain emotions, feelings, or behaviours.            According to the Center for Responsive Schools, social-emotional literacy stems from "reading" emotions through written, verbal and visual languages, similar to how in literacy, one must read written texts (2021). Similarly, Hill (2022) argues that SEL is essential in learning literacy. If challenged with a difficult task, students must have the resiliency to push through the typical responses of shutting down and refusing to try it. By using SEL, students can manage their emotions and thinking to create the potential for resi...
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References

 REFERENCES  American Museum of Natural History. (2022). Integrating Literacy Strategies Into Science Instruction . American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved from https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/integrating-literacy-strategies-into-science-instruction CASEL. (2020, October 1). Casel's SEL framework . CASEL. Retrieved from https://casel.org/casel-sel-framework-11-2020/  CASEL . (2022, March 11). Fundamentals of SEL . CASEL - Fundamentals of SEL. Retrieved from https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/  CASEL. (2022, August 3). What is the Casel Framework? CASEL. Retrieved from https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/  Center for Responsive Schools. SEL and Literacy: A Natural Fit . (2021). Retrieved from https://www.crslearn.org/publication/feburary-2020-literacy-and-sel/sel-and-literacy-a-natural-fit/  Doyle, B., & Bramwell, W. (2006). Promoting Emergent Literacy and Social–Emotional Learning Through ...
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