In the 6th Century BC, Chinese philosopher Laozi said: “He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
At the heart of social-emotional learning (SEL) lies the concept of knowing yourself first, then understanding others, building effective relationships and making better decisions.
The impact evidence for SEL in our schools has been around for decades. Despite this, it is yet to become an education mainstay.
Meanwhile, employers continue to cry out for skilled employees. The World Economic Forum (2020) identified its top 10 skills for the workplace – nine of them were social-emotional skills.
At the same time, the wellbeing and mental health crisis affecting our young people has worsened with Covid-19 (Newlove-Delgado et al, 2022).
The relationship between social-emotional skills and wellbeing is well documented (Angus et al, 2020). However, in 2021 the OECD reported that the average 10-year-old had better social-emotional skills than the average 15-year-old.
Social-emotional skills and attainment
The Guardian reported recently just how “fundamental” that emotional wellbeing is for academic attainment – 213 school-based, social, and emotional learning programmes demonstrated an average 11% boost in results (McMullen, 2021).
Historically many schools have put academic attainment first and considered wellbeing as something to be dealt with only when issues arise. There is in fact reliable evidence for treating wellbeing as a “vitamin” rather than a “sticking plaster” (GHC, 2019).
The research cited by The Guardian concluded that whole-school approaches to SEL strongly correlate with higher attainment, and there is a strong correlation between a high Ofsted PSHE grade and being rated outstanding overall.
Ultimately, investing resources in SEL will serve you and your students well.
Ten strategies to embed social-emotional skills across curricula
If this is all very new, choose one or two strategies and see how you get on. Then with greater confidence, start to add strategies to your social-emotional teaching toolkit.
For extra clarity, I have highlighted in bold the individual social-emotional skills so you can start to recognise them.
1, Setting learning intentions
We all provide lesson objectives that help students focus on the learning. Why not add a social-emotional skill?
The notion of stating intentions is associated with two key social-emotional skills: goal-setting and time management. Each time you set lesson objectives, remind your students of the skills they are about to practise.
For example, you are preparing students for an upcoming test. You could add these lesson intentions:
- Develop stress management strategies.
- Manage feelings during test periods.
During the lesson, remind students of tips they can adopt. For example, acknowledging thoughts that cause stress and understanding that you can take action to reduce it – a coping mechanism called “Thoughts, Feelings and Actions”.
2, Promoting peer-to-peer learning
We are trained as teachers to support social constructivism, encouraging dialogue between students to construct new learning. Dialogue requires social-emotional skills such as active listening, processing information and empathy. Instead of covertly supporting these skills, name them and provide strategies for improving them.
For example, you want to find out what your students have learnt so far on a topic you have been teaching. Use Kagan’s Timed, Shared, Pair cooperative learning approach (see further information) to get students moving around and talking. Ask pairs to listen to one another for 30 seconds without interruption, then have the “listener” feedback on what they heard.
And don’t forget – add to your learning intentions at the start of the lesson.
- Practise active listening
- Use processing information skills
3, Problem-solving strategies
Students often come into lessons with misconceptions. These can materialise when we check-in with their prior knowledge.
We are taught to challenge misconceptions through cognitive conflict, for example when students are sharing thoughts and opinions.
Providing a safe environment for students to solve problems, and strategies to help them test hypotheses, can help move them towards more accepted theories. Social-emotional skills involved include creative thinking, critical thinking and effective team-work, as well as communication.
To help “build” an idea, use the “Yes and…” approach in pairs or small groups.
- A student states their idea.
- Peer responds with “Yes and…” – offering a suggestion to make the idea better.
- First student responds with “Yes and...” to improve it further.
- We continue until there are no more suggestions.
4, Increasing student agency
Out of Covid’s many negatives for our young people, one positive was increased agency – the ability to take charge of your own learning.
Several social-emotional skills are important for increasing agency, including self-awareness, goal-setting and time management.
Goal-setting is critical. Many goals benefit from being broken down into smaller steps. Getting students to practise this in project or group work will support their independent learning.
- Identify steps required to achieve the goal.
- Put the steps in order.
- Estimate the time required for each.
- Decide when this goal should be achieved.
- Keep reminding yourself how you will feel when you achieve your goal.
5, Keeping them going when learning gets tough
Mental effort is required to learn. We need to arm students with the ability to recognise when learning is getting hard and resist the urge to take an easier route. Students must stay positive and persevere. Easier said than done.
We can allocate some classroom time to practise this so students appreciate the benefits of digging deep and not giving up. Psychologists sometimes call this “doing despite disliking”. Perseverance requires a positive mindset. Support your students to:
- Focus on positive consequences: state them at the start of any task.
- Regulate their emotions: stay positive by recalling happy moments.
- Check progress: reflect on what has been achieved and how much remains.
- Picture the finish line: “I’m getting there!”
It is helpful to remind students that everyone struggles at times. Even teachers. Remind them that it always helps to talk to a teacher, friend or family member – and asking for help is “strong” not “weak”.
6, Maintaining a positive teacher-student relationship
Active listening is essential in the classroom. It is a sign of respect and enables both teacher and student to process information before responding.
Sometimes conflict can occur. Learning to manage conflict and being willing to change are critical social-emotional skills for maintaining a positive relationship.
Conflict can result in a positive change where relationships are strengthened – but only when managed properly. As teachers we are constantly acting as role-models and the way we respond to a conflict tends to be a controlling factor. Proactively teach and model these tips for managing conflict.
- Remain calm. Take a few minutes and breathe.
- Be present. Treat the other person as you wish to be treated.
- Be specific. Describe your concerns or needs.
- Use “I” statements, e.g. “I feel disrespected” rather than “You are being disrespectful”.
- Stick to the facts. Be honest and clear.
- Use positive body language. Show you are actively listening.
7, Improving student presentations
A presentation is successful when the audience is engaged and learns something new. It requires speaking formally. It also requires being adaptable, so you meet your audience’s needs as well as your own.
Being adaptable is commonly mentioned as a highly desirable skill by employers (Marr, 2022). In a presentation situation, how much you adapt shows whether you are aiming to achieve a positive outcome both for yourself and for your audience.
These tips can help improve adaptability in preparation for a presentation.
- Practise your presentation and ask for feedback.
- Before you start, check what the audience expects.
- Clearly state your objectives and don’t get side-tracked.
- Add a Q&A at the end to check you met your audience’s needs.
- Reflect on feedback ready for next time.
8, Preparing for tests
Most students feel anxious about exams because they care about the outcome. Learning to manage such emotions is important if students are to do their best.
The social-emotional skills required to prepare for tests are wide-ranging and include stress management, goal-setting, time management and perseverance.
Finding lesson time to focus on these will pay off, as you equip students with the necessary toolkit to perform well. Remind them of some key preparation tips.
- Create a revision schedule to help with time management and stress management.
- Be realistic about what you can learn in a set time (see strategy 4).
- Seek help instead of giving up (see strategy 5).
- Try different approaches to revision, e.g. creative thinking.
Ask students which tips they find most challenging, then focus your support on those areas.
9, Developing a growth mindset
For decades the business world has recognised the importance of employees having a growth mindset. A fixed mindset means you believe intelligence, talent, and other qualities cannot be changed. By contrast, a growth mindset means you believe these attributes can be developed with practice and effort.
Mindset plays a major role in motivation to learn and feelings of achievement. Social-emotional skills such as staying positive, perseverance and self-confidence are key.
Many students need constant support to build self-confidence. Tips that you refer to often, or even post on your classroom wall, will help:
- Say kind things to yourself.
- Acknowledge your achievements.
- Seek positive alternatives to negative thoughts.
- Avoid comparing yourself with others.
- Change “I can’t do this” to “I’ve got this”.
10, Modelling behaviour
All teachers can benefit from developing their own social-emotional skills. Similar to the impact these skills have on our students, they also improve teacher wellbeing and performance.
So let’s raise our own self-awareness and start to walk the talk. Mindfulness is about being aware of your thoughts, emotions and actions. Benefits include self-control, tolerance, flexibility and the ability to relate to others with kindness and compassion.
Be mindful of when you are demonstrating a social-emotional skill and call it out! For example, when moving around the class listening to groups working on a task, tell the students you are actively listening and processing information to share with them later.
Diagram 1: A social-emotional skills framework featuring 22 social-emotional life-skills across six skillsets (source: Persona Education)
Every classroom plays a part
Social-emotional skills are fundamental to positive relationships in school and to making learning effective.
Schools are places of constant interaction: in classrooms, offices, corridors, canteens, and at the school gate. These interactions involve the entire community: students, teachers, leaders, other staff, visitors and parents.
Schools which invest resources in SEL reap the rewards in terms of community cohesion, developing young citizens with agency and life-skills, improved academic attainment, and better future prospects.
We must all play our part in this. The cumulative impact of a whole school approach, where every classroom overtly supports social-emotional skills, is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Dr Leila Khouja Walker has more than 25 years’ experience in the education sector as a practitioner, policy advisor, and learning technologist consultant. Leila is co-founder of Persona Education. She is also a senior lecturer in education and childhood at the University of the West of England. Leila has worked with hundreds of schools worldwide to support their effective delivery of social-emotional learning. Follow her @walker_leila
Further information & resources
- Angus et al: How do essential skills influence life outcomes? The Centre for Education and Youth, October 2020: https://bit.ly/3WpFWYo
- GHC (Global Happiness Council): Global happiness and wellbeing policy report, 2019: https://bit.ly/3FVjS2C
- Kagan: Pair Share resource (pdf download): https://bit.ly/3UWQvkI
- Marr: Top 16 essential soft skills for the future of work, Forbes, September 2022: https://bit.ly/3FXkKUf
- McMullen: Giving kids a break is the best way for them to 'catch up' after a year of disruption, The Guardian, 2021: https://bit.ly/3WoMh6E
- Newlove-Delgado et al: Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2022, NHS Digital, November 2022: http://bit.ly/3AX0zTC
- OECD: Beyond academic learning: First results from the Survey of Social and Economic Skills, 2021: https://bit.ly/3uWpALq
- World Economic Forum: The Future of Jobs Report, October 2020: https://bit.ly/3FZJ4VO