"So, what do you do?" . . . "And...what's that?"
My job is a relatively new phenomenon. Almost everyone who asks what I do follows it up with “what’s that?” I’m a social-emotional learning (SEL) coach for a Texas public school district (Keller ISD). The term social-emotional is what most people are not familiar with, but everyone is familiar with (and usually excited about) what it IS. Simply put, SEL is the process through which kids develop strong character, relationships, and work ethic. It’s what we all want for our own kids…and what this country needs in its schools. In my opinion, it is the antidote to the violence, racism, and narcissism that plague our society.
In my job as an SEL coach, I work with multiple campuses to train and coach staff on how to embed SEL as seamlessly as possible into their classrooms. In a nutshell, I empower teachers to embrace what they probably love most about their jobs - building relationships with kids and guiding them to be kind, gracious, and responsible humans. In MANY cases, my job is simply pointing out how amazing teachers are already utilizing SEL and may not know it. The key is to not make SEL “one more thing” to pile on a teacher’s plate…it’s simply a mind shift to make SEL the plate on which everything else is placed.
Those who occasionally balk at the idea of schools spending time on SEL often believe this is the parents’ job, and that schools should just focus on academics. Well, the brilliant people at an organization called CASEL (collaborative of academic, social, and emotional learning) have been painstakingly researching SEL for years. And guess what MULTIPLE research studies say? Kids will perform BETTER (11+ points better) in academics when SEL is embedded in the classroom culture and content. If anyone needs more convincing, just think of how many hours kids spend at school in a week (30+ hours). Is it really best for schools to leave out SEL when so much of their life is spent at school? I don’t think so. ;)
So, what does SEL look like in a classroom? CASEL has developed 5 social-emotional learning competencies that we use in our SEL trainings: self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationships skills, and responsible decision-making. Part of my job is to equip teachers on how these competencies look in their day-to-day teaching.
Retrieved from CASEL.org
Self-awareness might be as simple as Kindergarten students learning to call their emotions by name or high school students learning to recognize their own biases toward others. Awareness is the first step to improvement!
Self-management might be a second grade class learning a quick breathing technique to transition from the chaos of recess to the calm focus needed for math class. Or it could be a middle school advisory class where students learn specific strategies to manage their busy schedules.
Social-awareness might be a 7th grade English class learning to empathize with the characters in The Outsiders. Or it could be a high school history class having a Socratic seminar discussion on civil rights and how the next generation can repair past hurts.
Relationships skills can be anything from teaching 3rd graders how to resolve conflict on the playground…to a teacher of any grade putting in the time to build a trusting community of learners in his or her classroom.
Responsible decision-making covers everything from following through with goals and expectations…to equipping students to effectively and equitably work in in cooperative groups…to providing opportunities for service learning in the community.
SEL is all of this and so much more. It’s a journey. It’s work of the heart. It’s empowering our students to take their education, their gifts and talents, and go out and make the world a better place. Isn’t that the real goal of education?
The focus may be new, but the concept isn’t. These truths have some good company…
Aristotle: “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Martin Luther King: “Intelligence plus character - that is the true goal of education.”
Ghandi: “Literary education is of no value if it is not able to build up a sound character.”
God: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22
Part of my passion behind this blog is to spread the word about this movement in education and to provide inspiration and resources. But more importantly, it’s to document this important work and give you a front row seat to the transformation of our schools…and ultimately, our society.
