Social and Emotional Learning: Not Just the Newest “Buzzword”
GUEST WRITERS: You might be wondering, what the heck is “Social Emotional Learning” (S.E.L. for short), and what does it have to do with me? Well, allow us to introduce ourselves and we’ll do our best to explain. Hi! Our names are Jill Petersen and Mary Frances. We are the co-founders of a company called Girls Mentorship which we founded based on the principle that our youth could use all the help they could get concerning developing life and personal development skills. In a nutshell, the tools that kids need to be resilient, to be problem solvers and to simply be good people. This information pertains to you whether you have kids, are planning on having kids, work around kids, have zero plans for anything having to do with kids but have cares and concerns about living in a community full of healthy, functioning/contributing members of society.
WHAT IS SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING (S.E.L.)?
A basic definition for SEL is this: a process for helping children (adults can ultimately benefit as well) develop fundamental skills for overall life effectiveness. SEL, at its core, is about the holistic development of our children. Though the terminology is relatively new, founded by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) in 1994, the concept itself can be traced back to ancient Greece. Plato, an Athenian philosopher and the founder of the Platonist School of Thought as well as The Academy, which was the first institution of higher learning in the Western world, proposed a holistic curriculum that required a balance between physical education, arts, math, science, character and moral judgement. He wrote, “By maintaining a sound system of education and upbringing, you produce citizens of good character.”
WHAT DOES SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING HAVE TO DO WITH YOU?
So back to our original question, what does this concept have to do with you? First off, we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to learn to his or her fullest capacity and as a parent, we’d imagine that you want that for your children as well. It is our experience that children learn best when their heart is open, when they are engaged, connected and filled with purpose. In order for that to happen, they need to know how to focus their attention on their work, keep trying, even after they’ve “failed” (we put quotes around that because we don’t necessarily believe anything is a failure, there is always a lesson to be learned), work well with other kids, take direction from adults as well as be effective communicators, critical thinkers and problem solvers. All of these skills not only help kids manage their way through school but also help propel them into their adult lives as contributing members of a society, productive employees and possibly parents one day themselves. Which is precisely why S.E.L. should be important to you even if you don’t want children of your own.
There are five areas of competence within the S.E.L framework that have been determined as the most important for students to be able to be successful:
- Self Awareness – Accurately assessing one’s feelings, interests, values, and strengths; maintaining a well-grounded sense of self-confidence
- Self Management – Regulating one’s emotions to handle stress, control impulses, and persevere in overcoming obstacles; setting and monitoring progress toward personal and academic goals; expressing emotions appropriately
- Social Awareness – Taking the perspective of and empathizing with others; recognizing and appreciating individual and group similarities and differences; recognizing and using family, school, and community resources
- Relationship Skills – Establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding cooperative relationships; resisting inappropriate social pressure; preventing, managing, and resolving interpersonal conflict; seeking help when needed
- Responsible Decision Making – Making decisions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, appropriate social norms, respect for others, and probable consequences of various actions; applying decision-making skills to academic and social situations; contributing to the well-being of one’s school and community
It’s worth noting that these five components are a basic framework and in many cultures, one or more of these categories might be exponentially more important than another. And the good news is, research tells us that you aren’t necessarily born with or without these skills but that they can be taught and they can be taught by normal classroom teachers in any type of school or learning environment to students of every background. And this is exactly why we created Girls Mentorship, so we could link arms with our parents, coaches, counselors, teachers, recruiters and more for the greater good of our youth. Learning truly is magical and through S.E.L., we are able to create conditions that allow all kids to access that magic.
About the authorS
Mary Frances is an avid community supporter, adult cheerleader and experienced coach. She is a H-O-T leader: Humble, Open, and Transparent sharing about her tumultuous past; dealing with family trauma, abuse, CPS and a broken home all of which has led to a strong desire to want to break the mold and assist others in doing the same.
Jill Petersen is an experienced coach and former leader at lululemon for nearly a decade. Jill experienced firsthand the importance of a mind, body and soul approach to both every day wellness and the achievement of accomplishing goals. She believes “Uncommon results begin with an uncommon mindset.” She gets excited about the opportunity to make an impact with girls and help them make their feelings work for them, not against them.
