Understanding the Significance of Social and Emotional Learning in School: Hind Louali
In the ever-diversifying era, the classrooms are becoming a landscape of multilingual and multicultural students who come from diverse economic backgrounds, classes of society, and beliefs. Again, when it comes to their capabilities, a variation is also fairly evident. To deal with such differences and bring together all students on an equal platform to excel in their lives- the importance of social and emotional learning is immense. According to Hind Louali French School of Austin – Ecole Jean-Jacques Rousseau the whole objective of SEL is to help students understand emotions and ideas, know each other with more self-awareness, and become more empathetic to their peers and the community surrounding them.
Objective of SEL
SEL promotes a footing for a safe, positive, collaborative, and accommodating learning space. This empowers the ability of students to become successful in their career lives and reach their life goals. The methodology of SEL helps students irrespective of their backgrounds to comprehend emotions of each other making them show empathy for others.
Studies expose that effective SEL not only helps students to achieve 11 percentile points on average but equally promotes a caring attitude (like accommodating, empathetic, and sharing) in students. This also boosts the bond between students and teachers while reducing stress, fear, and depression among learners. An effective SEL program can develop five great skills among students that are essential to thrive in the life race.
Self-awareness
Enhanced self-awareness enables students to understand their emotions, personal goals, and values. This requires each student to evaluate their individual strengths and weaknesses and analyze them with a positive mind. This helps them to come out of their limitations and have confidence in their capabilities.
Self-management
Self-management defines one’s ability to control impulsive decisions and behavioral actions. High levels of self-management ability are simply a great potential to adhere to commitments while becoming flexible to function in a changing environment.
Social awareness
Social awareness promotes one’s ability to understand the emotions, concerns, and needs of those who belong to diverse cultures, classes, and backgrounds of the society. Individuals with greater social awareness become empathic to their classmates, family members, and community people.
Relationship skills
The ability among students helps in building and maintaining healthy relationships with people who come from a variety of backgrounds. This aptitude makes an individual listen to and converse with others without any mental conflict or bias and attempting to know what kind of support they need.
Responsible decision-making
The skill can be defined as the ability to make constructive decisions on the basis of ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms. One needs to be careful about the potential consequences that are likely to happen from various choices.
Importance of SEL
As per Hind Louali French School of Austin – Ecole Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the social-emotional learning method in schools has become vital since it teaches students the most vital life skills. This includes the aptitude for self-understanding, and promoting a positive self-image while feeling responsible for their actions apart from making healthy relationships with individuals surrounding them. The methodology also helps students by boosting their self-confidence level. Through SEL, students gain special abilities to set their life goals, solve problems, aptitude to deal with adverse conditions, and battle for social justice.
Social-emotional learning environments also become beneficial for teachers. On implementation, it becomes easier for them to teach students who possess a similar viewpoint in terms of their self-awareness level, empathetic mind, and ability to intelligent decision-making with an idea of the outcome of their actions.
