As teachers, we’ve known for a long time that the most effective way to impact student growth is through relationships. Helping students develop their own emotional intelligence and the skills to manage their emotions can be just as important as helping them master content. You likely feel pretty confident in your ability to support your students’ social and emotional development. You do all the right things, nurturing a supportive learning environment and taking time to listen to and empathize with students.
But teaching students how to be emotionally intelligent doesn’t happen by accident. It takes work, a plan, and training — and it also takes a specific type of educator who specializes in teaching social-emotional learning skills.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) empowers students to succeed
When most people think about education, they assume that academic skills are the only thing that matters when it comes to student success. But studies have shown that solving complex problems, making good decisions, managing emotions and stress, building healthy relationships, and communicating are equally important. These “soft skills” are called social-emotional learning (SEL) skills — and without them, no amount of academic knowledge will help students succeed in school or life.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a growing trend in education, and for good reason. It helps kids learn how to manage their emotions and develop positive social skills, making them more resilient in the face of challenges. SEL specialists help teachers incorporate these interpersonal skills into their classrooms by guiding them through lesson plans and providing resources.
SEL programs are the key to creating a positive learning environment and improving student outcomes. Educating students in SEL helps them develop a set of skills that underpin their ability to understand and manage emotions, effectively handle relationships, make positive and healthy decisions, and deal with the challenges of everyday life. It isn’t an academic subject like math or reading. It’s about supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing, helping them identify their strengths and weaknesses, and giving them the tools they need for conflict resolution and problem solving.
Students who receive instruction in SEL have been shown to have higher academic achievement, improved social skills, and fewer behavioral problems. That’s because teaching these skills supports the development of their ability to:
- Communicate and collaborate effectively with others
- Develop self-awareness and self-management skills
- Solve problems effectively
- Understand and regulate their emotions
What is a social-emotional learning (SEL) specialist?
A social-emotional learning specialist understands the fundamentals of social-emotional learning and knows how to use these principles in classroom settings. In addition, they have a deep knowledge of the research behind SEL techniques and know which techniques work best with different types of students. An SEL specialist will typically work with a group of students throughout the school year, helping them develop social skills and self-confidence while giving them strategies for dealing with conflict.
As an SEL specialist, you will be responsible for helping students develop the social, emotional, and behavioral skills they need to become productive members of society. You will do this by teaching them how to understand and manage their feelings while also working with teachers on creating a more effective learning environment. Here are some SEL specialist responsibilities:
- Developing SEL curriculum
- Designing SEL-focused activities
- Assessing students’ progress in developing core competencies
- Collaborating with teachers on new strategies for enhancing classroom learning environments
- Supporting students in developing SEL competencies
Why should I become a social-emotional learning (SEL) specialist?
We all know that students need to learn academics if they want to succeed in the future. But what about learning how to deal with your emotions and build relationships with others? It turns out that this is also an essential part of success. In fact, according to a study conducted by the World Economic Forum, social and emotional competencies rank among the skills that will be needed in the workplace in the future. These skills include resilience, flexibility, and active learning strategies.
Emotional intelligence is another critical competency. Emotional intelligence refers to one’s ability to understand and control their own emotions and empathize with others. While this seems like something we should all already know how to do, it’s not always easy for children or even adults. For example, they might think they’re expressing anger when they’re actually feeling frustrated; they might assume their friend isn’t having a good day just because she didn’t smile at them; they might believe they can’t improve their self-control if they’ve been impulsive for most of their life. To help students with these kinds of challenges and give them tools for academic, social, and emotional success, schools need SEL specialists.
A social emotional learning specialist helps school staff — including teachers and administrators — understand SEL and how to implement it in the classroom. The SEL specialist usually has a background in education or psychology. They may also be someone who has been trained in SEL themselves and helps others learn how to become an SEL specialist.
To become an SEL specialist, you need to understand the fundamentals of social-emotional learning. This means understanding what it is, what its goals are, how it can help students succeed, how to tailor lessons for specific groups of students or situations, how to measure progress, and more. Most schools have been focusing almost exclusively on academic instruction and test preparation for over a century, but we are evolving our understanding of student needs. In recent years, there’s been an increasing trend in helping students learn how to think about themselves, relate to others, and express their emotions so they can develop strong social skills that will help them succeed socially once they enter the workforce.
The job of the SEL specialist is to ensure that all students are developing skills like self-awareness and self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision-making skills.
The need for social-emotional learning (SEL) specialists goes beyond the classroom
Social-emotional learning specialists focus on helping students develop academic and social-emotional skills that increase readiness to learn, improve mental health, boost confidence, and decrease behavioral challenges. They are on the front lines of creating safe and supportive learning environments for all students.
As you’ve learned, the need for SEL specialists is far-reaching. In addition to the classroom, SEL specialists are needed in all areas of life, including the workplace, military, and community.
- Workplace – A survey by CareerBuilder found that 71 percent of employers valued emotional intelligence over technical expertise. This is likely because employees with strong social-emotional skills can better balance work and life demands, directly impacting productivity and overall job satisfaction. Not only do employees need help managing their own emotions, but they also need help navigating interpersonal relationships at work.
- Military – A US Air Force commissioned report by the Rand Corporation discussed the impacts of stress on soldiers’ decision-making ability and how fostering SEL competencies such as resilience improved their ability to lead effectively during high-stress situations. In addition to leadership development for senior leaders, applied SEL training has been shown to reduce post-traumatic stress disorder by educating service members on how best to manage their emotions after high-stakes situations have ended (see below).
- Community – Cary Cherniss, Ph.D., president of Div. 27 (Society for Community Research and Action), points to a key characteristic that the most influential community leaders and activists shared. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a keen sense of empathy and the resilience to continue pushing for justice and equity in the face of overwhelming obstacles. When we foster students’ social and emotional development, we equip them with the emotional intelligence needed to guide their interactions and relationships with others, both in the classroom and in their communities.
Conclusion
Social-emotional learning specialists help people learn how to do all of these things and more. They’re there to help us understand and manage our emotions, achieve our goals, feel and show empathy for others, build and maintain relationships, and exercise responsible decision-making, all while maintaining a well-regulated sense of self-control.
If you’re working in the education field and want to strengthen your SEL competencies so that you can support others, you can take steps toward becoming an SEL specialist in your workplace. As an SEL specialist, you’ll be able to help students recognize and develop their social and emotional skills in a safe environment. Then, when they’re done with your class, they’ll have the tools to manage their feelings, build healthy relationships with others, and make responsible decisions that will benefit them in school and for the rest of their lives.
What could be more rewarding than that?
Photo Credit: Google Education
Social Emotional Learning