Building Social- Emotional Skills to Aid Learning and Development

Social Emotional Teaching & Learning in the Early Years: Foundations for Child Success & Teacher Well-being The Ounce of Prevention March 25 th, 2016 Kate Zinsser, PhD. University of Illinois at Chicago

Muddled terminology setl.psch.uic.edu Research shows that these skills can be learned and therefore can be taught.

But what are social-emotional competencies? Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2012)

Objectives How does SEL contribute to children’s school-readiness and early success? What do teachers do to support SEL? What can administrators do to support social-emotional teaching and learning? setl.psch.uic.edu

….report being best able to support children’s academic skills and knowledge when: ‘children can interact meaningfully with each other and adults, follow simple rules and directions, and demonstrate… independence in the classroom” (Wesley & Buysse, 2003, p.357) ….rate social and emotional skills as more critical for school readiness than “knowing the alphabet” and “being able to properly hold a pencil” (Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta & Cox, 2000) Early Childhood teachers…

Relationship Skills Kindergarten Academic Readiness Kindergarten Classroom Adjustment Self- Regulation Self/Social Awareness Responsible Decision Making FOUNDATIONAL SKILLSAPPLIED SKILLS PRESCHOOL TEACHER OBSERVATION (T1) KINDERGARTEN TEACHER OBSERVATIONS (T2) Risk PreK SEL  Kindergarten Readiness Denham, Bassett, Wyatt & Zinsser (2014) Infant & Child Development Preschool Classroom Adjustment

SEL is critical for social and academic success Children without age appropriate emotional/social skills: Participate less in class Less accepted by classmates/teachers Get fewer instructions & less positive feedback from elementary teachers Like school less and less Social-emotional competence predicts academic success in 1st grade, even after controlling for IQ and economic risk. setl.psch.uic.edu

SEL & Education Policy Long history of “whole child” education in early childhood. SEL is prominent part of the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework Underlies many of the NAEYC Accreditation Standards Social and emotional skills now included in preschool learning standards in all 50 states. (Dusenbury et al., 2012) Only more recently taken up in elementary and secondary education policy. Often misaligned preschool and K-12 SEL standards (Zinsser, et al., 2013) Little to no training for pre-service teachers on how to support SEL and inconsistent in-service training access & quality (Schonert-Richel et al., 2015) But teachers are contributing to children’s SEL even if they don’t know it. setl.psch.uic.edu

SEL Curriculum Classroom Emotional Climate Teacher Emotional Competence Emotion Coaching SEL Social-Emotional Teaching SET describes the intentional and naturally occurring adult behaviors that support SEL in the classroom. Through daily interactions Intentional instruction using evidence-based curricula Within the context of an emotionally rich environment Dependent on teachers’ own competencies setl.psch.uic.edu Zinsser Denham, & Curby, (in press) Young Children

Evidence Based Curriculum It is important to choose a program that will meet your needs and that you can carry out effectively and with high fidelity. Check out to access the Guide

Teacher Emotional Competence A teacher’s own emotional competence is a building block of Social-Emotional Teaching Classrooms are emotional places! 12 Picturesque Occasional Reality Under-acknowledged Teacher Emotions … Not just for children, but teachers too!

Teacher Emotional Competence In order to teach about SEL, teachers have to be emotionally competent too: Express and identify emotions accurately – quality instruction Be aware of and sensitive to others’ emotions Manage their own emotions Workforce SET capacity uncertain, especially in early childhood, especially with at-risk populations 25% of Head Start teachers showing signs of clinically significant depression (Whitaker et al, 2014) 13

Consistency drives quality Predictability and consistency critical to learning Teachers’ poor emotional health  inconsistent SET Stressed teachers observed to be more variable on CLASS observations Stress + inconsistency  poorer SEL over the year Children observed to be more aggressive, less positive and less productively engaged setl.psch.uic.edu

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT FOR SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL TEACHING & LEARNING A World-Class Education, A World-Class City

Building-Level SET & SEL Schools are more than a series of contiguous classrooms. They are rich emotional ecologies % of the quality of teachers’ emotional interactions with children explained by where (and for whom) he/she works (Zinsser & Curby, 2015) Teachers in in schools with more supports for children’s SEL report lower rates of depression and greater job satisfaction (Zinsser, Christensen & Torres, 2016) Administrators set the tone for SET and SEL in their schools (Zinsser & Zinsser, 2016; Zinsser et al., 2015) A World-Class Education, A World-Class City

Types of Supports Selecting and supporting the adoption of an SEL curriculum that is evidence based Sufficient training, prep time, refreshers, etc. Tools and resources that enable daily interactions about emotions and relationships Selecting an appropriate formative SEL assessment. Help teachers to know when, how, and for whom they’re having a positive impact on children’s SEL setl.psch.uic.edu

Types of Supports Communicating the prioritization of SEL through administrative action and attention Collaborative problem solving for challenging situations and behavioral concerns. Professional development, coaching, and observing master teachers. Provide time to focus on SET setl.psch.uic.edu

Lastly Support teachers’ emotions too! Build supportive relationships and a positive workplace climate that promotes psychosocial safety. Demonstrate to teachers that their emotions are valued. Foster teachers’ well-being to enable high- quality stable SET setl.psch.uic.edu

Resources setl.psch.uic.edu

engaging adults, changing practice Mary Hurley Coordinator, Social and Emotional Learning Oakland Unified School District Oakland, California

how do you engage with adults to change their practice?

critical reflection social and emotional learning skills influence

4 levels mindset getting started leadership and infrastructure the classroom

mindset collaborative stance nurturing & sustaining relationships

getting started catalyst partnerships a.l.l. campaign

Theory of Action ~ SEL as a Key Lever to Shifting Our Organizational Culture Shifts in our organizational practices and culture will change as adults across the system strengthen their SEL skills and competencies. If we… Our students will graduate and be successful in college, career, and community. Increase our ability to effectively build relationships and social awareness, thereby creating a more inclusive, caring environment, decreasing disproportionality, and preparing our students with 21 st Century skills, then…

leadership & infrastructure equity definition board policy sel standards performance frameworks core waiver leadership sel team

the classroom programmatic instruction facilitated inquiry meaningful data

ongoing challenges universal sel instruction integration into academic pedagogy

opportunities professional learning aligned to sel standards synergy of adults focused on sel practice

Q & A

Thank You!