What is Social Emotional Learning?

According to CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a proactive and preventative process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. It supports and promotes positive mental health and has been proven to reduce anxiety, addiction, and behavioural issues while increasing student performance as well as physical and emotional well-being.

CASEL claims that they often hear that educators don’t ‘have time’ for SEL because it’s something ‘new’, or it’s an ‘add-on’. After CASEL’s twenty-two years of defining, exploring, and implementing SEL in a variety of settings, it’s become increasingly clear, that SEL is far from an add-on but rather an essential part of good teaching practices.