Social Emotional Development

Importance of Social Emotional Learning

For learning to be personalized, the whole person must be recognized.  A student’s ability to learn not only depends on good classroom materials and a well trained teacher, but on the feeling of comfort and safety they feel while at school (Sparks, 2013).  This has led to more focus being put on school climate.  Piscatelli and Lee of the The National School Climate Center (2011) remind us that “Research confirms what teachers and parents have claimed for decades: a safe and supportive school environment, in which students have positive social relationships and are respected, engaged in their work and feel competent, matters” (p. 2).

One way to create a safe and comfortable school climate is to focus on Social Emotional Learning (SEL).  SEL is the process through which both students and teachers name and manage emotions, show and feel empathy for others, create and maintain positive relationships, make responsible choices, and set and complete positive goals (CASEL, 2017).

In this section we will examine:

• The CASEL Framework

• PBIS Framework

• Student Teacher Relationships

The CASEL Framework

The framework that has been created by Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) focuses on five core competencies as shown in the figure below.

Download the CASEL Wheel & Competencies (PDF)

Check out these videos: An overview of the CASEL framework and a webinar on schoolwide SEL.

PBIS Framework

To address the CASEL ring of school wide practices and policies you may consider using Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS).  PBIS is a three tiered framework based on research and evidence (PBIS, n.d. a).  Instead of being a curriculum or a training, it is a set of interventions that make a systematic change to student behavior (PBIS, n.d. a).

The PBIS approach is tiered and evidence based so that all students can benefit from it and improve outcomes (PBIS, n.d. b).  The three tiers start with universal prevention or all students.  These interventions are provided as I spoke about above and give most students what they need to prevent future problems and be successful (PBIS, n.d. b).  The second tier is targeted prevention or some students.  At this level the focus is put on improving specific skill deficits that some students may have (PBIS, n.d. b).  Finally, the last tier is intensive individualized prevention for individual students that need the most resources to be successful (PBIS, n.d. b).

Since these tiers cover the whole school and district there is a good amount of consistency for students anywhere in the school or district. Check out the graphic of the tiered approach below.

Student Teacher Relationships

Teachers spend around 1,000 hours with their students in a typical school year (Sparks, 2019).  This is enough time for teachers to develop a strong relationship with students and spark a lifelong love of learning.  It is also enough time to create a toxic relationship with students and derail student learning.  Decades of research have shown that the relationship between student and teacher is an important factor in student (and probably teacher) success.

Here are some links on developing good teacher student relationships.

•  3 Quick Ways to Build Relationships with Students by Tori Simmons (2017).

• Developing Positive Teacher-Student Relations by Mark Boynton and Christine Boynton (2005).

• 6 Strategies for Building Better Student Relationships by Cicely Woodard (2019).

• 6 Easy Ways to Build Relationships with Your Students by Nancy Barile (2019).

References

Barile, N. (2019, August 19). 6 Easy Ways to Build Relationships with Your Students. Retrieved from https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/article/6-easy-ways-to-build-relationships-with-your-students1908.html

Boynton, M., & Boynton, C. (2005). Chapter 1. Developing Positive Teacher-Student Relations. In Educator's Guide to Preventing and Solving Discipline Problems. ASCD. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/105124/chapters/Developing_Positive_Teacher-Student_Relations.aspx

CASEL. (2017, May 18). CASEL: Overview [video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do1R67Ek0NI&t=251s

CASEL. (2019, February 5). [Webinar] Overview of The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL [video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQc4c9xoJvo

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2017.). What is SEL? Retrieved from https://casel.org/what-is-sel/

Piscatelli, J., & Lee, C., J.D. (2011, July). State Policies on School Climate and Bully Prevention Efforts: Challenges and Opportunities for Deepening State Policy Support for Safe and Civil Schools (Rep.). Retrieved https://www.schoolclimate.org/themes/schoolclimate/assets/pdf/policy/policy_brief.pdf

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). (n.d.). Getting Started. Retrieved from https://www.pbis.org/pbis/getting-started

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). (n.d.). Tiered Framework. Retrieved from https://www.pbis.org/pbis/tiered-framework

Simmons, T. (2017, Feb. 16). 3 quick ways to build relationships with students [Blog post]. ASCD In-Service. Retrieved from http://inservice.ascd.org/3-quick-ways-to-build-relationships-with-students/

Sparks, S. D. (2013). Students’ Social, Emotional Needs Entwined With Learning, Security. Education Week, 32(16), 16. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/10/16environment.h32.html

Sparks, S. D. (2019, March 12). Why Teacher-Student Relationships Matter. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/03/13/why-teacher-student-relationships-matter.html

Woodard, C. (2019, August 7). 6 Strategies for Building Better Student Relationships. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-strategies-building-better-student-relationships

Image Attributions

Social-Emotional Development image created by Sumit Saengthong from Noun Project.