Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has increasingly assumed a central role over the past three decades and is now considered essential for learners’ development. It equips students with key competencies such as self-awareness and social awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, relationship-building, responsible decision-making, and conflict resolution. The integration of SEL within education contributes to the creation of safe and supportive learning environments that encourage engagement and promote the development of students’ social and emotional competencies. At the same time, the implementation of social and emotional learning within school systems is not straightforward. Among the central challenges are the integration of social-emotional emphases within the teaching of academic content, the need for appropriate professional development for teachers, and addressing resistance from families and communities that believe education should focus exclusively on academic studies.
References
- Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2020). What is SEL? Retrieved from https://casel.org/
- Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
- Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Books.
- Lantieri, L., & Patti, J. (1998). Waging peace in our schools. Beacon press.
- OECD (2021), Beyond Academic Learning: First Results from the Survey of Social and Emotional Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/92a11084-en.
- Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Wang, M. C., & Walberg, H. J. (2004). Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say? Teachers College Press.
