What Is Social-Emotional Learning?
According to Woolf (2023), “Social-emotional learning is a process that enables individuals to develop and use social and emotional skills 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” (para. 2).
Social-emotional learning is based on the premise that success in academia depends not only on the learner’s aptitude and prior performance but also on social-emotional competencies. Some students might be having difficulties getting used to a new learning environment; others might be struggling with personal or family-related issues. There are five key social-emotional competencies that the instructor can help students gain:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Responsible decision-making
- Social awareness
- Relationship skills (Bennett, 2019, para. 5)
Benefits of Social-Emotional Learning to Students
When social-emotional learning has been integrated into teaching, students benefit in different ways, including the following:
- Improved academic performance
- Enhanced well-being
- Increased social and cultural competence
- Improved job readiness (Woolf, 2023., para. 4)
Based on such benefits, instructors at all levels of education should pay attention to the social and emotional well-being of their students. According to Gallagher and Socker (2018) “…a student’s anxiety (either situational or dispositional) has the potential to reduce their working memory capacity, impairing their ability to perform complex cognitive tasks such as attention, comprehension, learning and reasoning – all necessary for a productive educational experience” (p. 9)
Relevance to Higher Education Students
Social-emotional learning has been discussed more frequently in K-12 school settings than in higher education. However, Caballero (2022), an affiliate of the Word Bank, suggests four key points that support further implementation of the concept in college learning environments.
- Firstly, although these skills should be nurtured at an early age, universities cannot assume that this has happened or, if it has, that such learning is sufficient. The skills need to be integrated into higher education too.
- Secondly, it is important to measure these skills throughout the student journey, from admissions to student enrolment and graduation.
- Thirdly, educators should remain mindful of how closely related the issue is to student employability, especially in an age when more and more jobs are being done remotely and digitally, requiring high levels of emotional resilience and a sharpening of cross-cutting skills such as digital skills, teamwork, resilience and time management.
- Fourthly, recruiters are increasingly looking for these skills too and they claim that they will tip the balance among candidates in young talent selection processes (para. 9).
How Can Social-Emotional Learning Be Integrated into Teaching?
Research conducted at James Madison University reported that faculty members could promote social-emotional well-being among their students by integrating six key factors in their teaching. They include; “A positive attitude, a proactive approach to life, a tendency to set goals, perseverance, effective support system, and empathy” (Elmi, 2020, para. 39, Conclusions). For example, faculty can build a positive attitude in each student by recognizing related character traits and praising students in ways that reinforce and promote such character traits. Another example would be to engage in activities such as group problem-solving, discussion on diversity (e.g., communicating with a diverse audience), creative writing, and reflection on end-of-the-day successes or challenges (FutureLearn, 2017, para. 39-44).
References
Bennett, C. (2019, October 23). 5 Social Emotional Competencies All Students Need. ThoughtCo.
https://www.thoughtco.com/competencies-all-students-need-3571793
Caballero, A. (2022, April 16). Higher Education Cannot Neglect Social-Emotional Learning.
University World News. Higher education cannot neglect social-emotional learning (universityworldnews.com)
Elmi, C. (2020, August 26). Integrating Social-Emotional Learning Strategies in Higher Education.
European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education, 10(3), 848-858.
https://www.mdpi.com/2254-9625/10/3/61
Ghallagher, K. M.& Stocker, S. L. (2018). A guide to incorporating social-emotional learning in the
college classroom: Busting anxiety, boosting ability. Society for the Teaching of Psychology
What is social-emotional learning and how can you implement it? (2021, November 17). FutureLearn.
https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/what-is-social-emotional-learning
Woolf, N. (2023, March 8). SEL in Higher Education – An Overview. InsideSEL.
HTTPS://INSIDESEL.COM/2023/03/08/SEL-IN-HIGHER-EDUCATION-AN-OVERVIEW/