Reasons to support Social Emotional Learning

At first glance, it may be hard to see how something called “social emotional learning” could have much to do with school. After all, children come to school to learn to read, write, do math, and learn about science and history. What does being “social” have to do with that? And for sure, most of us don’t think that being “emotional” at school is a good thing.
The truth is that kids are both social and emotional all the time. Every interaction with a teacher or another kid involves something social. If a child is polite or rude in response to a teacher’s request, that is social. If a child feels proud, ashamed, or competent while talking with an adult or peer, that is emotional. The fact is, kids are doing social emotional learning all the time, whether we intend for them to or not.

The risk of not managing that part of the child’s learning experience is great. Since a student is going to have social/emotional experiences in all settings, it is important that we understand how these experiences take place, and how to make them positive for the child. If we don’t intentionally make them positive, then we are gambling on whether this very important part of the child’s development will be helpful or negative.

The purpose of this blog is to provide information on social emotional learning for parents, students, teachers, and staff. It will include data and research showing the link between SEL, character education, and improved academics. Please feel free to post questions, ideas for character education, or feedback on how the blog might be more useful. When SEL is embedded in academic instruction, the child learns both the needed academics and the necessary life skills to be successful.