Social Emotional Learning Curriculum Overview

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the backbone of school climate, student culture, and academic success, yet it can be difficult to properly administer. It is an evidence-based educational practice that offers numerous benefits to both students and teachers. SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation.

The Importance of Social-Emotional Learning

SEL is defined as an educational approach that emphasizes the development of social and emotional skills. It is the process by which children and adults learn to understand and manage emotions, maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Chances are, when thinking of a young person, social and emotional skills - like staying motivated, communicating effectively, practicing curiosity, and working with others to solve problems - come to mind.

Today’s young learners have dealt with unprecedented circumstances that have greatly shaped their ability to interact with one another, connect with their classmates and regulate their emotions. In an age when children of all ages are struggling with emotional regulation and emotional intelligence, it’s become clear that there is a need for a social skills curriculum at every level of education. Adding SEL to the curriculum of your school equips children with skills that help them advance beyond the classroom. It encourages students and teachers to work together, thereby improving students’ academic and social performance.

For a social-emotional learning curriculum to provide maximum impact, it must meet the needs of students in a developmentally appropriate way. Effective SEL programs enable students to develop and practice core social and emotional skills. There is an extensive body of research available regarding SEL skills development. When effectively structured and supported, SEL programs have been shown to benefit students in a number of ways-from improving academic performance to decreasing problem behavior and emotional distress, to helping students succeed in higher education and the workplace.

Core Competencies of SEL

At the center are the five core social and emotional competencies-broad, interrelated areas that support learning and development. Each of these five competences are interdependent, allowing individuals to develop qualities that lead to successful, productive, and healthy lives. A social-emotional learning curriculum provides specific instruction in each of these competencies, building skillsets as students grow and mature. Programs included in the CASEL Guide address all five of these competencies. The core components that occurred most frequently across programs were Social Skills (100% of programs), Identifying Others’ Feelings (100% of programs), Identifying One’s Own Feelings (92.3% of programs), and Behavioral Coping Skills/Relaxation (91.7% of programs).

The CASEL framework organizes the skills targeted by SEL programs into five interrelated sets of competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Key Elements of Effective SEL Programs

Effective SEL Programs work best when they:

Offer learning opportunities that are “SAFE.” That acronym refers to four principles. The programs are "sequenced," meaning each activity builds on the one before. They are "active," meaning students get a chance to practice what they’re learning. They are "focused," meaning they aim to develop specific skills. They are "explicit," meaning that those skills are named and defined.
Take place in schools and classrooms that support healthy relationships and pro-social behavior
Build adults’ own social and emotional competence
Take into account students’ cultural backgrounds, identities, environments, and possible trauma
Set reasonable short- and long-term goals

Integrating SEL into the Curriculum

Academic lessons are often focused on specific skills and subject areas that students need to master, which may make it seem like they are a separate entity entirely from social-emotional learning. However, teachers in today’s evolving educational landscape can effortlessly incorporate SEL into academic lessons by providing more opportunities for discussing the material and acknowledging how the students feel about it.

SEL instruction shouldn’t be dry and dull. Today’s learners respond well to interactive lessons that give them the opportunity to develop, practice, and master new skills. The pace of learning may vary from student to student. Lesson facilitation guides can provide educators with actionable ideas for activities aligned to the lesson content. Providing lesson content for educators that coordinate with student lessons can help educators dig further into topics with their students. This can foster deeper discussions, better understanding, and better mastery of SEL skills as students move through the curriculum.

Practical Strategies for Teachers

Morning Meetings: Morning meetings are one of the most effective SEL strategies for teachers, as they provide a designated time for the classroom to come together and start the day on the best possible note. During the morning meeting, the teacher can address the schedule for the day, as well as begin the day with a structured routine. This may consist of checking attendance, doing the calendar and giving the lunch choices for the day.
Reading and Discussing Books: Another way students can begin to recognize their own feelings is to experience those same emotions through the eyes of a beloved character in a book. Teachers can help reinforce their social skills curriculum by reading a wide range of stories out loud, assigning students books to read in the classroom and discussing the social and emotional topics that arise.
Community-Building Activities: Classroom community-building activities are the perfect way to incorporate SEL into group work.
Modeling SEL: As adults and educational experts, teachers are often adept at identifying and managing their own emotions. However, they can still model SEL as a teacher to set an example for the students. For example, suppose a teacher is beginning to feel mad or frustrated because the class is not listening. Then, they can identify how they are feeling out loud and explain to the class what they are doing to try to regulate their feelings of anger or frustration.
Investing in SEL Tools and Resources: By investing in SEL-focused tools and resources, teachers can provide students with a wide variety of materials to use as they navigate life in the classroom each day.

Extending SEL Beyond the Classroom

One important component that is often overlooked is the extension of SEL lessons beyond campus boundaries. SEL classroom activities can be incredibly impactful, but when teachers partner with families to carry the social skills curriculum into the home environment, the results are even more impressive. By explaining the purpose of the SEL curriculum and providing updates about the topics being discussed, teachers can connect with family members and encourage them to use these same tools and strategies in their homes.

Read also: Choosing a Social Science Major

Including families through SEL lessons and materials that reflect what students are learning can help encourage SEL at home. Families receive lessons related to what students learn in school, providing an avenue to continue the conversation at home.

Examples of SEL Curricula

Positive Action: Positive Action provides a complete SEL and character education curriculum for PreK-12, with engaging lessons designed for every grade and developmental level. The Positive Action curriculum is delivered digitally through Pasela, a web-based platform designed for seamless access to Positive Action lessons. Positive Action focuses on overall personal development for students, teachers, and parents.
Suite360: Fortunately, you can provide social-emotional learning for all stakeholders with Suite360, a powerful SEL solution offering evidence-based lessons for all. Suite360 for Students includes more than 500 scaffolded lessons for grades PK-12, engaging students at every level in a format they can understand. Suite360 for Staff enables staff to better support students through emotional wellness and professional development curricula specifically for staff. Suite360 for Families provides a powerful connection between school and home.

Challenges in Implementing SEL Programs

Following program selection, there are a host of barriers to SEL program adoption and implementation. Factors affecting implementation of school-based prevention programs have been organized in a three-level framework consisting of individual-level factors (e.g., intervention perceptions and attitudes), school-level factors (e.g., personnel expertise, alignment with school mission/policy), and macro-level factors (e.g., policies and financing; Domitrovich et al., 2008).

At the school and macro levels, SEL programs may not be viewed as aligning with schools’ mission of academic achievement and may compete with achievement testing priorities (Forman, Olin, Hoagwood, Crowe, & Saka, 2009). Also, there may be limited financial (Forman et al., 2009) and personnel (Mihalic & Irwin, 2003) resources to support implementation. Indeed, costs of manualized SEL programs generally include materials and equipment, training, teacher time, and lost academic instructional time (Hunter, DiPerna, Hart, & Crowley, 2018). At the individual level, school counselors and teachers may view implementing lengthy SEL programs as outside of the scope of their role or may cite inadequate time in the day to implement such programs (Forman et al., 2009).

The Role of Trauma-Informed Practices in SEL

A trauma-informed school recognizes that trauma affects staff, students, families, communities, and systems. A trauma-informed child and family service system responds to the impact of traumatic stress on children, caregivers, and service providers.

SEL and Equity

SEL and equity work hand-in-hand! Recommendations for how to achieve equitable SEL, including common barriers and best practices, are essential. The Washington Social Emotional Learning (SEL) standards and benchmarks were developed and adopted in January 2020 through the lens of four guiding principles: equity, universal design, culturally sustaining, and trauma-informed practices.

Read also: Landing a Social Media Internship

tags: #social #emotional #learning #curriculum #overview