Everyone is saying that social emotional learning is more important than ever, and I generally agree. But what does that mean? Why is it important? What do we do with that? As one interrupted school year winds down and we look forward to the possibility of another, how does SEL
A Recipe for…Nothing To my friends in the education community, I have a simple and sure-fire way for you NOT to succeed in your SEL work, or at least, to have a very small chance at success. Let’s call this “standard practice”: Buy an evidence-based SEL program or curriculum. Invest
This post is an honor of International SEL Day on March 27, 2020. Learn more and sign up to showcase, promote, advocate for and support SEL in your community today! Share with your social media networks using the #SELday and #SEL hashtags. Social and emotional learning, or SEL, includes a
With nationwide school closures in effect, many households have become unplanned home schools, and parents have become teachers, with all of the responsibilities that go with the job, including setting the climate for learning, managing “student” behavior, and supporting student motivation. In my non-scientific sample of a handful of new
This blog post is for those of you who appreciate symmetry and who take pleasure in imposing a little order on chaos. The SEL Rubik’s Cube: Coordinating Programs, Practices, Policy and Assessment First, let’s consider a list of ingredients that often provoke confusion when put next to one another: SEL
Most people agree that it’s good to know yourself. In fact, “self-awareness” is one of the five core CASEL competencies and is reflected in state social and emotional learning standards that say what competencies student should know and be able to demonstrate at different ages. A key piece of self-awareness—the
Last month, CASEL released an important report, Ready to Lead (2019 update), about principals’ views of social and emotional learning. That report closely followed the release of a report by the RAND corporation focused on teachers’ and principals’ views of SEL. The CASEL report summarizes findings from a survey of
Why do you believe the SEL field is gaining momentum, and how do you hope the upcoming SEL Exchange captures and advances that momentum? First, it is pretty universally accessible—most people can grasp the kinds of competencies it takes to develop relationships, interact effectively with others, be part of a
Since I received my PhD, I have worked hard to unlearn the copious amounts of jargon endemic to the social sciences. Don’t get me wrong: The right jargon can be an economical way to pack a lot of information in a small package. The problem is that our shorthand often
Specialization in Social and Emotional Learning The field of social and emotional learning (SEL), like most fields, has its silos. This, as I see it, is the inevitable and natural consequence of the high level of sustained effort required to make progress on creating useful innovations that solve specific problems,
