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

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      Responsible decision making

      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.

Rapid Reference 1.2 Exemplary Programs Where SEL Content Is Included in Pre‐service Teacher Preparation*

Academy for Social‐Emotional Learning in Schools (Academy for SEL), College of Saint Elizabeth and Rutgers University

      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.

      Center for Reaching and Teaching the Whole Child (CRTWC), San Jose State University

      The CRTWC views SEL from a systemic perspective, rather than as an add‐on program. The program seeks to transform teacher preparation by integrating SEL competencies and culturally responsive teaching practices into course content and field experiences. SEL is infused into the fifth year of the K–8 teacher certification program using a framework developed for the program called the Social, Emotional, and Cultural Anchor Competencies Framework. It focuses on a broad set of SEL competencies needed by teachers and students, along with specific strategies for teaching them, and refers to this as the Social‐Emotional Dimensions of Teaching and Learning (SEDTL). The program’s executive director is Nancy Markowitz, PhD.

      Attentional Teaching Practices (ATP), University of Pittsburgh

      The ATP program helps pre‐service teachers enrolled in the Master’s in Teaching program learn to focus on the psychological space for learning. Students who are getting certified to teach in middle and high school are taught mindfulness and self‐regulation strategies to increase their own self‐awareness and recognize their own emotional triggers. The program focuses on how to create a classroom environment that is optimal for implementing other pedagogical practices. While not a complete SEL program, the ATP is a yearlong program that helps teachers learn how to manage and cope with the future stresses they might experience as a teacher. The program was co‐created and is co‐taught by Tanner Wallace, PhD, and Shannon Wanless, PhD.

      Source: Modified from Schonert‐Reichl, K.A., Kitil, M.J., & Hanson‐Peterson, J. (2017). To reach the students, teach the teachers: A national scan of teacher preparation and social and emotional learning. A report prepared for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia.

What this means is that although most states don’t require teachers to have knowledge and skills in SEL, teachers are required to teach and promote student SEL competencies. This gap between what teachers are required to know about SEL and what they are required to teach students is an area where schools must prioritize their efforts in order to implement a sustainable approach to SEL.

      These are but a few of the many challenges faced in implementing SEL, but these are by no means the only ones. Implementation of SEL is a comprehensive process involving many stakeholders and many aspects of a school’s or district’s operations. It is not a “one‐size‐fits‐all” model. Rather, it is a process through which a school or district must include all stakeholders and all systems involved. It requires a thorough analysis of all programs, resources, policies, procedures, operating guidelines, and other relevant data, which can then be used to inform a multistage plan for aligning all system components, allocating resources, identifying targeted areas of need, and implementing with fidelity and integrity. A detailed discussion of implementation planning will be discussed further in Chapter 14.

DEFINING SEL

One of the most difficult challenges at the outset of implementation is that of understanding and agreeing on what SEL is. The ambiguity in defining SEL has led to many terms being used to describe it. While some refer to it as soft skills, others use terms like non‐cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, or character education to describe it. Some prefer to describe SEL through programming models such as mindfulness education or through frameworks such as Positive Behavior Interventions and СКАЧАТЬ