Why SEL?
- Reimy Kuroda
- October 5, 2019
- No Comments
Some of you reading this may be thinking, “SEL is just one more thing being added to my plate” or “SEL is great but that sounds like something the counselors can do”. So, let’s start with the “WHY”…. why is SEL important and why should a teacher value it and make time to incorporate it into their classrooms?
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has been around for over two decades and all the research that has been done provides very compelling evidence about the many benefits of SEL.
In 2011, a landmark meta-analysis of 213 studies involving school-based, universal SEL programs including over 270,000 students in K-12 revealed the following compelling evidence about the multiple benefits of SEL:
Science links SEL to an INCREASE in student gains in the following:
- Social-emotional skills
- Improved attitudes about self, others and school
- Positive classroom behavior
- 11 percentile-point gain on standardized achievement tests
SEL lowers the risks of failure by doing the following
- Fewer conduct problems
- Less emotional distress
- Lower drug use
And a BONUS is that SEL also has a positive impact on teachers. Teachers who possess social and emotional competencies are more likely to stay in the classroom longer. Teachers with high levels of social competence are better able to protect themselves from burnout by:
- Developing and managing nurturing relationships with their students
- Managing behavior in their classrooms
- Serving as behavioral role models for children
- Regulating their own emotions
SEL IN ACTION
Sharing how our very own Tisha Yukihiro uses technology for the Second Step lessons. She creates a google document that her students complete for their reflections after each lesson. This eliminates the paper trail and also allows her to provide comments to students through google.
