It is important to teach young learners the important concepts but they should be taught in a manner that doesn’t make them yawn. You need to give them clear reasons on why something is important and how a subject will benefit them. Young learners need to find constructive ways to deal with their emotions and interact with one another in a respectful manner. This is the guiding principle behind social emotional learning.
What is Social Emotional Learning?
SEL is a methodology that helps students of all ages to better understand their emotions, feel them fully, and demonstrate empathy for others.
These behaviours are used to help students make better decisions. Social-Emotional Learning has 5 core competencies.
- Self Awareness
This curriculum helps students recognize their emotions and learn the impact they have on their behaviour.
- Self Management
When there is ownership of emotions, kids learn how to regulate their emotions.
- Social Awareness
It is important to have the ability to empathize with those who are from a different culture and social background. Empathy can only be developed if the child has social awareness.
- Relationship Skills
It is important for kids to have the ability to build and maintain relationships with those who are from different backgrounds.
- Making Responsible Decisions
Decision making is important but one of the most important skills is to learn to make ethical decisions based on different scenarios. Philosophers have tried to find a balanced way to make an ethical decision. It is important for kids to have this skill.
The Benefits of Social Emotional Learning
SEL is beneficial for kids because it increases self-awareness, academic achievement, and positive behaviours in and out of the classroom. There are academic benefits of the program, students who participated saw an 11% increase in their overall grades. On an individual level, the skills learned in the program helps students cope with emotional difficulties and avoid peer pressure.
If students are equipped with the ability to deal with problems that affect them in their day to day life, they are able to navigate through their academic life in a better way. We see this often when a student faces problems in their personal life, their grades often drop.
A report by the AEI/Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity noted that, “despite their importance to education, employment, and family life, the major educational and social reforms of the K-12 system over the last few decades have not focused sufficiently on the socio-emotional factors that are crucial to learning.”
When educators can see which students are not able to understand the core concepts of SEL, they can pay extra attention to them and develop their self-control, confidence, and empathy.
People need soft skills such as polite behaviour, understanding, teamwork, and empathy in their jobs to excel. The Social Emotional Learning programs result in the development of such soft skills and that is why it has a positive impact on employment too. Social-Emotional Learning helps students beyond the classroom and throughout their life.
