Social Emotional Learning
Linking Emotions and Formal Education
In both education and in social science, a guiding principle for assessing human motivation and behavior has always been that one could be either intellectual or emotional -- a binary choice. However, contemporary cognitive research informs us that understanding and managing one’s emotions can significantly impact his/her classroom learning, goal-setting, perseverance, decision-making, empathetic and productive social interactions, conflict resolutions, as well as normal human development, which are all factors contributing to academic success. Some would say that they are determining factors, not just contributors. Today, we refer to them collectively as the components of social and emotional learning (SEL). While the social aspect of learning has been undeniable for decades, we are now also acknowledging that the emotional element of learning governs if, why, how, and when student achievement flourishes or remains elusive for many youngsters.
One of the guiding principles in educational psychology tells us that maximizing student learning and engagement, hinges on a student’s perception of whether or not he/she is able to navigate safely within a positive and supportive school climate that is committed to his/her well-being. Cognitive development can be stunted when fear, stress and anxiety describe a school’s general climate. Similarly, cases of extreme emotional deprivation or stress can result in psychogenic dwarfism in children ages of 2 and 15, where physical growth is severely curtailed due to emotional neglect and long-term stressful living conditions.
Recent research has shown that there is consistently a correlation between academic performance and SEL learning spaces with physically and emotionally safe environments for students. Teachers benefit, students benefit, and student achievement improves. For the past two decades, several of us have proposed the formula that “emotions drive attention, attention drives learning, and learning determines memory.” It is worth noting that in every classroom (1) all learning is a social experience (transpiring between students and teachers, as well as between and among students) and, (2) all memory formation is initiated by emotions. Lectures do not necessarily precede learning – – it is one’s emotional connections to the lecture that lead to learning.
Most importantly to all stakeholders in American education, SEL addresses the competencies and skills that we will need to cultivate in our students, if we want them to be successful as global citizens and adults in a 21st-century interconnected world. Parents, educators, administrators, staff members, and community partners must work collectively to elevate SEL into the daily school experience of every child with as much importance as we have granted the “3 R’s,” since the latter explicitly depend upon the former.