Social and Emotional Learning Integration in the classroom
About meSocial and Emotional Development SpecialistWorking as the Social and Emotional Development Specialists across all grade levels, my goal and aspiration is to help guide all students in the right direction towards resources, answers, and social and emotional well-being .
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My Work
As stated by Elmi (2020), an effective SEL approach improves the quality of the classroom when it comes to interaction, academic development, motivation to learn, teacher-student engagement through empirical practices, classroom activities with social and emotional competencies, and teacher-student interactions (p. 849). Successful integration of social and emotional learning (SEL) in curriculum strongly relies on the organization’s views on the exclusivity between social and emotional competencies and its academic curriculum. According to Elias (2006), the school’s vision to adopt SEL school-wide will provide the “missing piece” to the specific set of skills important for success at home, school, and life (as cited in Ee & Quek, 2013, p. 68). What are some barriers or root causes that contribute to the challenges with SEL integration in schools? The fishbone below (Figure 1) was constructed by myself and another colleague at High Tech High (HTH) and informed by research literature and empathy interviews with students, teachers, and other professionals within the organization. We found emergent factors thought to contribute to the lack of SEL effectiveness and its integration in the curriculum: lack of professional learning and workshops, lack of organizational pedagogy on social and emotional competencies, lack of scaffolds to support effective integrations of SEL in the curriculum, and lack of equitable support towards SEL. |
Why Social and Emotional Learning (SEL):
Social and emotional learning has never been as needed as much as now, especially in education. As we are still dealing with the traumatic experience of COVID-19, it is important that we as educators revisit our mindset regarding the importance of social and emotional learning. According to Jennings & Greenberg (2000), teachers influence their students not only by what they teach, but also by how they relate, teach and model social and emotional constructs, and manage the classroom (as cited in Ee & Lee Cheng, 2013, p. 60).
Social and emotional learning has never been as needed as much as now, especially in education. As we are still dealing with the traumatic experience of COVID-19, it is important that we as educators revisit our mindset regarding the importance of social and emotional learning. According to Jennings & Greenberg (2000), teachers influence their students not only by what they teach, but also by how they relate, teach and model social and emotional constructs, and manage the classroom (as cited in Ee & Lee Cheng, 2013, p. 60).