Social and Emotional Learning
Definition of Social Emotional Learning
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is an umbrella term that refers to students' "acquisition of skills to recognise and manage emotions, develop care and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively" (CASEL).
Briefly it refers to skills to manage self, relate to others and make decisions.
Importance of SEL
Research has shown that SEL has impact on 2 main areas – character and citizenship.
Character is values manifested in life with Social & Emotional competencies as its vehicle for manifestation. For example, to demonstrate the value of responsibility, the person needs the SE skills of self-management, such as impulse control and responsible decision making.
Social and Emotional competencies help a person to be a good citizen, who contributes positively to civic life. He is personally and socially responsible in his behaviour, which requires the application of all the SE competencies. As a responsible citizen, he would take care of his personal health, which is enhanced with SE skills. For example, Self Management and Relationship Management skills help a person to manage stress better, have happier relationships, and lower his risk for stress-related illnesses like ulcers, depression or psychosis. Thus he can enjoy better physical and mental health.
For children and youths, being a good citizen means doing as well as he can in his studies. SE competencies help students to achieve his academic best. For example, Self Management skills like impulse control and stress management help students to finish their work first before play. It also helps them to deal with negative emotions like anger and anxiety, so that they can concentrate better in class and in their work. Relationship Management skills help students to reduce interpersonal conflicts that result in negative emotions. These skills also enable students to be more effective in obtaining the help they need from others for their studies.
For an adult, being a good citizen includes being a good worker. This means being equipped with skills that would enable him to be employable and productive. The Workforce Development Agency of Singapore lists these 3 skills -- Problem-solving and Decision-making, Communications and Relationship Management, and, Self Management – among its Top Ten Employability Skills. All these are SE competencies.
Thus SEL enables students to develop the skills to succeed in life.
The 5 core SE competencies are as follow:
Key SEL Competencies
| Core SEL | Description |
|---|---|
| Self Awareness | Identifying and recognising emotions |
| Accurate self-perception | |
| Recognising strengths, needs and values | |
| Self-efficacy | |
| Spritiuality | |
| Social Awareness | Perspective taking |
| Empathy | |
| Appreciating diversity | |
| Respect for others | |
| Self Management | Impulse control and stress management |
| Self-motivation and discipline | |
| Goal setting and organisational skills | |
| Relationship Management | Communication, social engagement and building |
| Working cooperatively | |
| Negotiation, refusal and conflict management | |
| Seeking and providing help | |
| Responsible Decision Making | Problem identification and situation analysis |
| Problem solving | |
| Evaluation and reflection | |
| Personal, moral and ethical responsibility |
The SEL Framework
The SEL Framework is a conceptual map showing the SE competency domains, key pillars for SEL in school and main outcome areas impacted by SEL.
The SEL Framework has four guiding principles:
- Principle 1: Values are at the core as they guide and provide the purpose for one’s behaviours. Values refer to the national values and school values that are being explicitly taught in the formal and informal curriculum. Enactment of actions without grounding in values would lead to inconsistency in purpose and actions.
- Principle 2: Core SE Competencies should be taught to students to ensure that they acquire the skills, knowledge and dispositions that will help them face future challenges. The 5 core competencies are Self Awareness, Social Awareness, Self Management, Relationship Management Skills, and Responsible Decision Making. Teaching of these associated skills to students can be explicit, through infusion or through incidental means.
- Principle 3: Schools play an important role in the teaching of SE competencies because school leaders and teachers are important role models of these competencies. Furthermore, the school environment is an important enabler of student learning that supports the teaching and learning of SE competencies.
- Principle 4: Children equipped with social and emotional skills, anchored in sound values, will be able to demonstrate good character and citizenship.