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Social-Emotional Learning

How schools can help children learn to understand and manage their emotions, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions

See also: Life Skills

Explainer

Social-Emotional Learning, Explained
What is social-emotional learning?
Image of positive movement when attending to a student's well-being is a component.
Dmitrii_Guzhanin/iStock/Getty and Laura Baker/Education Week
Student Well-Being SEL Has Become Politicized. 69´«Ã½ Are Embracing It Anyway
Eighty-three percent of principals report that their schools use an SEL curriculum or program.
Arianna Prothero, October 29, 2024
5 min read
Concept art, idea of brain and psychology, surreal painting, conceptual illustration. Distracted mind, emotional regulation.
Jorm Sangsorn/iStock
Teaching Opinion The Hidden Benefits of Distraction in the Classroom
Distraction can support healthy emotional regulation—but only when properly understood. Here’s what teachers need to know.
Eliya Ahmad & Zi Jia Ng, October 23, 2024
4 min read
The elephant in the classroom.
iStock/Getty Images
Teaching Opinion Struggling to Discuss the Election in Class? These 5 Steps Can Help
For many teachers, political anxiety is the elephant in the classroom. The science of emotional intelligence can offer clarity.
Marc A. Brackett & Robin S. Stern, October 18, 2024
5 min read
Teaching Opinion ‘People Can Only Hear When They’re Heard': Navigating Divisive Conversations
Mónica Guzmán offers advice to educators on teaching themselves and their students how to use curiosity to navigate divisive conversations.
Jaclyn Borowski & Elizabeth Rich, September 19, 2024
1 min read
Two head icons face off-Empathy-Emotional Intelligence-Icon
Shivendu Jauhari/iStock
Teaching Q&A How Teachers Can Build Civility as a Classroom Norm
Teachers can model how to deal with the discomfort that can accompany facing challenging ideas and texts.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 28, 2024
4 min read
Photograph of an educator holding a pen and clipboard while consulting with  teenage girl inside educational building in office. The teenage girl is not making eye contact while talking to the educator.
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being From Our Research Center Kids Are Getting Worse at Making Eye Contact. Here's Why
Educators express serious concerns about the decline of this social skill.
Arianna Prothero, August 16, 2024
4 min read
Illustration concept of emotional intelligence, showing a woman balancing emotion control using her hand to balance smile and sad face icons.
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being Q&A How to Address Parents' Concerns That SEL Goes Against Their Values
A Texas instructional coach shares insights she has learned from talking with hesitant parents.
Arianna Prothero, July 18, 2024
3 min read
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Strategies for Incorporating SEL into Curriculum
Empower students to thrive. Learn how to integrate powerful social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies into the classroom.
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Young girl using scissors in classroom.
E+ / Getty
Early Childhood The State of Teaching Young Kids Are Struggling With Skills Like Listening, Sharing, and Using Scissors
Teachers say basic skills and tasks are more challenging for young students now than they were five years ago.
Madeline Will, June 3, 2024
5 min read
Four high school students work together on an experiment in an AP chemistry class at a high school in Los Angeles, Calif. on Wednesday, January 22, 2020.
Four high school students work together on an experiment in an AP chemistry class at a high school in Los Angeles, Calif. on Wednesday, January 22, 2020.
Allison Shelley/EDUimages
School Climate & Safety Video 3 Steps for 69´«Ã½ to Use Relationships as a 'Prevention Strategy'
Research has shown that strong school relationships can be a prevention strategy for chronic absenteeism, misbehavior, and other challenges.
Libby Stanford, May 29, 2024
7 min read
Vector of a professional dressed in a suit and tie and running in a hurry while multitasking with a laptop, a calendar, a briefcase, a clipboard, a cellphone, and a wrench in each of his six hands.
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being What’s Really Holding 69´«Ã½ Back From Implementing SEL?
Principals see their schools as places that promote students' social-emotional growth.
Arianna Prothero, April 16, 2024
4 min read
Carrie White, a second-grade teacher, makes a heart with her hands for her student, Tyrell King-Harrell, left, during an SEL exercise at Yates Magnet Elementary School in Schenectady, N.Y., on March 28, 2024.
Carrie White, a 2nd grade teacher, makes a heart with her hands for her student, Tyrell King-Harrell, left, during an SEL exercise at Yates Magnet Elementary School in Schenectady, N.Y., on March 28, 2024.
Scott Rossi for Education Week
Student Well-Being What This School Used as the Main Ingredient for a Positive Climate
When systemic and fully integrated, the practice has the power to reduce bad behavior and boost teacher morale, experts say.
Libby Stanford, April 14, 2024
10 min read
A middle school football team practices Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
A middle school football team practices in Oklahoma City in 2022.
Sue Ogrocki/AP
Student Well-Being SEL Could Move Into School Sports. What That Might Look Like
Massachusetts is considering a bill to establish guidelines on how school athletics incorporate SEL.
Lauraine Langreo, April 12, 2024
5 min read
Close up of elementary or middle school white girl using a mobile phone in the classroom.
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Student Well-Being Can SEL Help 69´«Ã½ Curb Their Own Cellphone Use?
Experts say that a combination of SEL skills and better school policies would help curb student cellphone use.
7 min read