SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL)

Social Emotional learning (SEL) is defined as the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) identifies an SEL Framework with five core competencies to support learning and development, as well as four key settings where SEL can be practiced, generalized, and supported. The CASEL core competencies can be taught and applied at various developmental stages from childhood to adulthood and across diverse cultural contexts to articulate what students should know and be able to do for academic success, school and civic engagement, health and wellness, and fulfilling careers. The Core Competencies are Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision-Making, Relationship Skills, and Social Awareness. The Four Key Settings are Classrooms, Schools, Families & Caregivers, and Communities.

Self-Awareness: The ability to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes the ability to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

Self-Management: The ability to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacity to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation & agency to accomplish personal/collective goals.

Responsible Decision-Making: The ability to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacity to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.

Relationship Skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacity to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

Social Awareness: The ability to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, & contexts. This includes the capacity to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and support.

In Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, students experience social emotional learning through a mix of direct instruction and through integration of social/emotional  skills learning and practice throughout the instructional day. All students complete a social emotional skills and supports screener twice annually. Results are used to guide school leaders and staff in school-wide social emotional instruction and support needs. Parents are provided with access to the screening tool and their students’ individual results. Please notify the school if you would like to opt your student out of social emotional screening.

The information provided on the SEL Framework is adapted from the CASEL website. Detailed information can be found here: https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-caselframework/