Social and Emotional Learning

Neil Humphrey, Ann Lendrum, Michael Wigelsworth, Mark T. Greenberg, Neil Humphrey, Ann Lendrum, Michael Wigelsworth, Mark T. Greenberg

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780429815843
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Universal school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions seek to improve the social-emotional competencies (e.g. self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making) of students through explicit instruction in the context of learning environments that are safe, caring, well-managed and participatory. In recent years, SEL has become a dominant orthodoxy in school systems around the world.

In this important new book, leading researchers provide a comprehensive overview of the field, including conceptual models of SEL; the assessment of social and emotional competence in children and young people; key issues in the implementation of SEL interventions; the evidence base on the efficacy of SEL in improving students' outcomes; and critical perspectives on the emergence of SEL. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the role of schools in promoting children's wellbeing. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Cambridge Journal of Education.

Establishing systemic social and emotional learning approaches in schools: a framework for schoolwide implementation

Eva Oberle, Celene E. Domitrovich, Duncan C. Meyers and Roger P. Weissberg

ABSTRACT

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a fundamental part of education. Incorporating high-quality SEL programming into day-to-day classroom and school practices has emerged as a main goal for many practitioners over the past decade. The present article overviews the current state of SEL research and practice, with a particular focus on the United States. The need for a model of SEL that goes beyond the classroom is illustrated, and a systemic approach to implementing SEL school-wide is introduced. It is argued that school-wide SEL maximises the benefits of SEL programming by becoming the organising framework for fostering students’ potential as scholars, community members, and citizens. Further, a Theory of Action (ToA) developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is presented that serves as a blueprint for implementing systemic SEL in schools. Potential challenges and barriers involved in moving toward school-wide SEL implementation are considered and discussed.

There has been a great expansion of interest in social and emotional learning (SEL) in education during the last two decades (Humphrey, 2013; Durlak, Domitrovich, Weissberg, & Gullotta, 2015). A multitude of programmes and strategies designed to teach and foster SEL have been developed, implemented and reviewed since the turn of the century, with the conclusion that SEL is an essential component for learning and success in life (Weare & Gray, 2003; Weissberg, Durlak, Domitrovich, & Gullotta, 2015). Schools are critical contexts for promoting SEL because children spend a significant portion of their time in school, and previous research has successfully established a link between well-implemented SEL programming in schools and positive social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Sklad, Diekstra, Ritter, Ben, & Gravesteijn, 2012).

Recent discussions among scholars in the field of SEL promotion in schools have stressed that, in addition to classroom-based programming, school-wide SEL strategies are also needed (Jones & Bouffard, 2012; Meyers et al., 2015; Weare, 2000; Weissberg et al., 2015). A school-wide approach – also known as ‘whole-school approach’ – defines the entire school community as the unit of change and aims to integrate SEL into daily interactions and practices at multiple setting levels in the school using collaborative efforts that include all staff, teachers, families and children (Jones & Bouffard, 2012; Meyers et al., 2015). This systemic approach helps create a supportive context for introducing and maintaining effective SEL programming for all students and moves schools away from piecemeal and fragmented approaches of SEL to one that is comprehensive and coordinated in both planning and implementation (Greenberg et al., 2003).

Putting school-wide SEL into action requires a supportive educational system that prioritises students’ social and emotional competence and allocates the necessary resources to develop the structures needed to conduct and sustain high-quality SEL programming (Mart, Weissberg, & Kendziora, 2015). Systemic support at higher organisational levels (e.g. national, state/province, district¹) enables administrators at the building level (i.e. school, classroom) to provide the supports that are needed for the implementation and sustainability of effective SEL practices and educational practices (CASEL, 2015; Meyers et al., 2015).

There is growing international interest in school-based SEL (Torrente, Alimchandani, & Aber, 2015). For example, several countries such as the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia have launched national initiatives for school-wide SEL programming in the past decade. For instance, English government provides annual funds for implementing ‘Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning’ (SEAL) as a national strategy to enhance social-emotional well-being, mental health, and behavioural skills in schools (Humphrey, Lendrum, & Wigelsworth, 2013). SEAL is a whole-school approach to SEL that is free of cost for schools and is supported by schools’ Local Authorities (e.g. through training opportunities) (Department for Children, Schools, & Families, 2009). In 2010, SEAL was being implemented in approximately two-thirds of primary schools and 15% of secondary schools (Humphrey, Lendrum, & Wigelsworth, 2010; Weare, 2010). In Australia, a nationally overarching strategy of KidsMatter (Slee et al., 2009, 2012) has been established under support of the Australian government and beyondblue (http://www.beyondblue.org.au; a national non-for-profit organisation in Australia). The KidsMatter (http://www.kidsmatter.edu.au) framework for primary schools functions as a broad enabling framework that supports schools in implementing SEL school-wide. By 2014, the Australian government had funded a national roll-out of the initiative in up to 2000 primary schools.

Successful integration of SEL into the school context has become a vital topic in education over the past years. Scholars, policy-makers, practitioners and stakeholders are eager to provide children with opportunities to develop, learn and practise social-emotional skills in educational settings (Humphrey, Kalambouka, Bolton, et al., 2008; Weare, 2000; Zins, Weissberg, Wang, & Walberg, 2004). Many teachers express a strong interest in integrating SEL into their practices with children, but they need the support and resources to do so (Bridgeland, Bruce, & Hariharan, 2013; Buchanan, Gueldner, Tran, & Merrell, 2009). Hence, this special issue on social and emotional learning in schools is appearing in a timely manner to reflect on the theoretical, empirical and practical status quo for successful SEL in education, and to identify the next steps for moving the science and practice of SEL further forward.

In this opening article for the special issue, we summarise the current state of SEL programming in education and provide rationales for a school-wide approach to SEL implementation. We further introduce guidelines developed in the educational context of the United States for implementing SEL systemically. We begin by defining SEL and sharing perspectives for why it is an essential component of education. Next, we propose a conceptual framework for systemic SEL that illustrates how students’ social-emotional competences can be best enhanced through coordinated school-wide strategies that extend to family and community programming, and are sustained by a larger system of support at administrative and educational policy levels. Last, we describe the Theory of Action (ToA) as a practical blueprint for achieving school-wide SEL. The ToA was developed at the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), and guides schools in implementing SEL systemically (Meyers et al., 2015). We introduce core guidelines and activities outlined in the ToA, and describe a randomised controlled trial currently under way to evaluate the effectiveness of systemic support as outlined in the ToA.

What is SEL and why is it so important?

SEL is the process of providing all children and adolescents with the opportunities to learn, acquire and practise the social-emotional competences needed to succeed in life (Greenberg et al., 2003; Osher, Sprague, Weissberg, Keenan, & Zins, 2008; Payton et al., 2000; Zins et al., 2004). Parents, educators and society at large have long agreed that by the time young people graduate from high school they should have developed core academic competences and, most notably, have become independent, socially skilled, well-rounded young citizens who are ready to responsibly navigate their own personal and professional pathways into early adulthood (Greenberg et al., 2003). Despite this shared notion, SEL often does not receive the necessary amount of time and resources it requires in schools and classrooms (Jones & Bouffard, 2012). Even though many teachers are eager to incorporate SEL in their educational practices, the lack of a supportive system that facilitates teaching core SEL competences often presents a barrier difficult to cross (Bridgeland et al., 2013).

Defining core SEL competences

In 1994, CASEL was founded as an international organisation with the mission to establish evidence-based SEL as an essential part of preschool through to high school education. In 1997, a core group of scholars at CASEL published Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators, presenting a list of 39 guidelines that inform educational practices by supporting educators in implementing SEL (Elias et al., 1997). Broadly speaking, the goals of CASEL are to advance the science of SEL, expand effective SEL practice, and improve federal and state policies that support the implementation of SEL programming. In defining what SEL entails, CASEL has identified five core intrapersonal, interpersonal and cognitive competences (see Figure 1) that are interrelated and reflect the cognitive, affective and behavioural domains of SEL (CASEL, 2013; Payton et al., 2000; Zins, Bloodworth, Weissberg & Walberg, 2007; El...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction
• 1. Establishing systemic social and emotional learning approaches in schools: a framework for schoolwide implementation
• 2. Key considerations in assessing young children’s emotional competence
• 3. Social skills assessment and intervention for children and youth
• 4. Programme implementation in social and emotional learning: basic issues and research findings
• 5. The impact of trial stage, developer involvement and international transferability on universal social and emotional learning programme outcomes: a meta-analysis
• 6. Reinforcing the ‘diminished’ subject? The implications of the ‘vulnerability zeitgeist’ for well-being in educational settings
• Index