Social-emotional learning curriculum (SEL) is defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as “the process through with 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.”
National University claims that social-emotional learning curriculum is not only beneficial to children and adults, but it increases student performance in academics and attendance. It helps to increase self-awareness and behavior in and out of the classroom.
In general, what does SEL look like in schools? There are many ways to implement SEL in the classroom. Schools may adopt entire SEL curricula and set aside time in the daily schedule to teach the strategies explicitly, or teachers and staff could implement the strategies throughout the school day, modeling and influencing students. Only three states (Illinois, Kansas, and Pennsylvania) have fully developed SEL standards in place at this point, but all 50 states have implemented SEL at the preschool level (National University, 2023).
Who Benefits from Social-Emotional Learning?
The five fundamental SEL competencies identified by CASEL as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and making responsible decisions are able to be taught to and implemented by every population and demographic of students and adults. However, it may be less obvious how social and emotional learning opportunities can be made accessible to the student group of English Learners (EL). After all, communication is required to teach, learn, and implement the five competencies. Here are some ways to engage English Learners in the development of these competencies.
Ways to Engage English Learners in Social Emotional Learning Curriculum
Use Visual Aids
The use of visual aids in all subjects can be extremely helpful in removing language barriers, but especially impactful in social-emotional learning curriculum activities. When goal setting, charts and graphs can help English Language Learners (ELL) visualize the steps to success. In building relationship skills, pictures of faces showing various emotions or events break down language barriers.
Helping students learn organizational skills by labeling and marking items in the classroom, hallway, and common spaces can also help to make SEL content accessible and practical for English Learners. The use of visual aids will increase engagement of English Learners, as well as increase English fluency and vocabulary, which will in turn support the development of relationship skills with English-speaking peers.
Build Their Confidence
Learning a new language is a scary process for all students. It takes vulnerability for English learners, especially to begin to say things out loud. All English Learners risk embarrassment of mispronunciation or worse, others not knowing what the student is trying to say. It is also intimidating being unfamiliar with a new culture. SEL strategies can help build English Learners’ confidence by teaching them self and social awareness.
To begin to build student confidence, teachers can intentionally create a safe and welcoming space within their classroom. Being conscious of not asking English Learners to respond orally in front of classmates right away but inviting them into one-on-one conversations until they are more comfortable will help build students’ confidence, eventually leading them to participate socially with peers.
Build Strong Relationships
Without building strong and positive relationships with students, it is not possible to create a safe and welcoming classroom environment. Christi Bergin, Associate Dean and research professor in the Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri found that students are more likely to learn when they feel cared for and valued by their teacher (University of Missouri, 2022). For English Learners, building strong relationships is imperative.
Many English Learners have suffered chronic, acute, or event-based trauma. Having a positive adult relationship is one of the most impactful protective factors when responding to students who have experienced or are experiencing trauma. In addition, social-emotional learning lessons may trigger trauma-based responses in English Learners. Having a strong relationship with students will build trust and encourage engagement of students in social and emotional learning.
Set Goals
Setting goals will empower all students, but especially English Learners, to continue to engage in SEL curriculum lessons. At times, the amount of work assigned by teachers is overwhelming to EL students. Utilizing the strategies taught through social and emotional learning, including goal setting, will support student success and engagement. It will also encourage students to continue participating in SEL program components.
The benefits of social-emotional learning within schools are well-documented through research. Engaging English Learners in developing skills within CASEL’s five competencies will also support the development of students’ English proficiency as they learn self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decisions.
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