1. Social & Emotional Learning:
What is it,
Why is it important, & How do we improve it
Empowering Children through Social Emotional Learning Wyoming Afterschool Association Conference October 17, 2016
Presented by Dale A. Blyth, PhD
Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota
Former Howland Endowed Chair in Youth Development Leadership

2. What is Social and Emotional Learning?

3. to achieve important life tasks.
6/10/2018
Social emotional learning is a process through which young people enhance their ability to integrate
Thinking
Feeling
Behaving
to achieve important life tasks.
3 minutes
Over the past decade, much attention has been paid to the idea of focusing on social and emotional learning as a way to reduce a wide array of risky behaviors while also providing young people with the means to develop skills that will help them reach graduation and be prepared for future success. Strong empirical evidence indicates the importance of SEL for academic achievement, healthy development, and college and career success.
There are a lot of different frameworks, and they vary in emphasis, scope and terminology. But what unites them is a recognition that there is a broad set of skills young people need for success, and that these skills go beyond academic content. They include skills related to managing one’s own emotions and behaviors, developing healthy relationships, and making good decisions. You may think of skills like emotion management, perseverance, empathy, teamwork or problem solving.
CASEL defines SEL as “a process through which young people enhance their ability to integrate thinking, feeling, and behaving to achieve important life tasks.”
Source: CASEL- Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning

4. SEL is the process by which we learn their own Ways of Being
Ways of dealing with our feelings (WAYS OF FEELING)
Ways of dealing with other people (WAYS OF RELATING)
Ways of getting things done (WAYS OF DOING)

5. Some of these Ways of Being . . .
Become part of who we are – WAYS I AM (our identity)
Others increase our awareness – WAYS I AM AWARE
Still other help us get through life – WAYS I NAVIGATE

6. Full Brief AVAILABLE HERE
6/10/2018
SEL doesn’t have to be a new curriculum. It can be embedded into daily practice, regardless of your content.
Use blank model to map the skills you are targeting in your program, and where you could do more.
Ways of Feeling. This includes all the skills, experiences, and capacity a person has to identify and make sense of their own emotions. Researchers use terms like self-awareness, self-management, intrapersonal skills, emotional competence, and self-regulation. Practitioners might also include concepts and skills like being reflective, confidence, emotional maturity, or self-control.
Ways of Relating. This includes the skills youth need to understand and navigate their interactions with others and develop relationships. Social awareness, relationship skills, interpersonal skills, or social skills all fit easily into this area. Practitioners might also include empathy, connectedness, belonging, and caring.
Ways of Doing. This includes skills to approach tasks and achieve goals. This area has drawn significant attention from researchers and leaders in the field. Think of terms like growth mindset, mastery orientation, and responsible decision-making. Practitioners work to support the development of grit and perseverance, along with the skills of goal-setting, critical thinking, planning for success, and resilience.
And All
These Ways Of Being Are Cognitive!
Full Brief AVAILABLE HERE

7. Our Ways of Being are made up of specific …
Knowledge we have
Skills we use
Beliefs or attitudes we hold
What we will simply call social emotional skills and beliefs

8. Builds Our Set of Social & Emotional SKILLS & BELIEFS
Social and Emotional Learning is the process that…
Builds Our Set of Social & Emotional SKILLS & BELIEFS

9. How are Social Emotional Skills & Beliefs Learned?

10. Social & Emotional Skills & Beliefs Are Both
TAUGHT & CAUGHT

11. Think about a way of being you were taught by your family?
Reflection Activity
Think about a way of being you were taught by your family?
Think about one you caught from others you were around in school or in sports?

12. Social Emotional Skills & Beliefs are also learned in CONTEXT!
The context of the FAMILY
The context of CULTURE & SOCIETY
The context SCHOOL
The context of PEERS and
The context of your afterschool program!

13. We also know SE Skills and Beliefs come in lots of forms & frameworks
There are many different frameworks out there that try to make sense of all these skills and beliefs
There also many different words & measures used to capture different skills – and sometime the same word is used in different ways
It can all be pretty confusing!

14. Breaking Down 21st Century Skills
Social & Emotional
Skills
From National Academy of Science report on 21st Century Skills

15. SEL is a Process of Acquiring and Applying the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes Related to Five Core Competencies
Recognize one’s emotions, values, strengths, and limitations
Manage emotions and behaviors to achieve one’s goals
Self-awareness
Make ethical, constructive choices about personal and social behavior
Responsible decision making
Self-management
SEL
Social awareness
Relationship
skills
Show understanding and empathy for others
Form positive relationships, work in teams, deal effectively with conflict
Source: CASEL - Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning

16. U of Chicago CSRC Report
FOUNDATIONS FOR
YOUNG ADULT SUCCESS
U of Chicago CSRC Report
(Access report HERE)

21. U of Chicago CSRC Report
FOUNDATIONS FOR
YOUNG ADULT SUCCESS
U of Chicago CSRC Report
(Access report HERE)

22. In Addition to Different Frameworks
There are different words that mean the same thing & the same words are used differently

23. Same Word but Multiple Interconnected Meanings

24. Why is Social & Emotional Learning Important?

25. First, Because These Skills and Beliefs Shape …
Whether youth see point to learning (HOPE)
What youth bring to learning (MINDSET)
What youth do while learning (SELF-CONTROL)
How youth deal with others while learning (TEAM WORK, SOCIAL SKILLS)
Whether youth persist in learning and stay on path toward their goals (GRIT, PERSERVERANCE)

26. Second, Because These Skills & Beliefs predict …
SUCCESS
In School
In College
In Careers
In Work
In Life!

27. Social and Emotional Skills
9%ile
Pro-Social Behavior
Conduct Problems
11%ile
Academic Achievement
10%ile
Emotional Distress
22% ile
Social and Emotional Skills
Learning Environment
SE Skills Development
9%ile
Positive attitudes
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011).
Enhancing students’ social and emotional development promotes success in school: Results of a meta-analysis. Child Development, 82,
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011).
Enhancing students’ social and emotional development promotes success in school: Results of a meta-analysis. Child Development, 82,

28. Research is telling us that SE Skills & Beliefs
MATTER
Are MEANINGFUL
Are MALLEABLE
Are MEASUREABLE

29. 3 Basic Conclusions
There is no perfect framework out there – you need to look for one that aligns well with your goals
There is no single set of SE skills that will work for every youth – but there are several that are very important in our multicultural society that help predict success (e.g., growth mindset, sense of agency/self efficacy, sense of belonging)
There is no one measure that is best – it depends on your program, your goals, your intended use

30. Terms To Know But Discourage
“Non-cognitive” – only dead people possess non-cognitive skills because all skills involve thinking / cognition. Cognitive, social and emotional skills are all intertwined – as in a braided rope.
“Soft Skills” – a term often used with social and emotional skills. Tends to imply that these skills are “less” than “hard” skills – less measurable, less important, less teachable – none of which is accurate.
© 2010 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

31. Why should Afterschool Programs Become More Intentional about Social & Emotional Learning?

32. Top Ten Reasons to Become More Intentional
10. We have always cared about the whole child 9. SEL and quality youth development processes are very similar & compatible 8. We need viable and valued outcomes we can show we impact 7. We create exciting developmental experiences where SE skills & beliefs are practiced 6. We create strong relationships with youth that can support SE skills & beliefs
© 2010 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

33. Top Ten Reasons (cont.)
5. Participation keeps youth engaged & connected to positive role models
4. Program quality is critical but not enough by itself to optimize positive SE skills & beliefs
3. Programs can and already do impact SEL skills & beliefs (positively & negatively)
2. Youth experience higher motivation and concentration in quality afterschool programming than in school or with friends
1. We provide the healthy contexts for SEL that all youth need!

34. Understanding Our Place in the Three Tiers of Support Model
INTERVENTION
TIER 2
PREVENTION
TIER 1
PROMOTION
Primary Spaces for Most Afterschool Programs

35. How Do We Improve Social & Emotional Learning?

36. Improve Intentionality
Overview of
What, Where, & How to Work on Improvement
SCHOOL EFFORTS
OUT OF SCHOOL EFFORTS
SEL IS TAUGHT
Improve Integration
Improve Intentionality
SEL IS CAUGHT
Improve Quality

37. Using What We Know to Get Better at Doing What is Needed
ASSESS READINESS
NAME & CLAIM SEL
ENHANCE INTENTIONALITY
IMPROVE SUPPORTS

38. Check Your Organization’s SEL Readiness

39. Name and Claim SEL
Name Social Emotional Learning as central to your program
Claim specific social emotional skills and beliefs as things your program will work to impact

40. 4 Intentional Strategies
Equip and support staff
Create everyday learning environments
Design impactful learning experiences
Practitioners like you play an influential role in the social and emotional learning of the young people you work with – you model it, you design spaces and activities to support it – but it doesn’t happen by accident. There are things you can do increase the chance that SEL will be caught and taught in your program. Today we will dig into four strategies that you can use to be more intentional around infusing SEL into your programs.
We will go through each of these. We’ve built in time for discussion and questions around each strategy because our goal is really to create space for you to reflect and share how you might be more intentional about SEL in your program.
But first we offer a brief overview of SEL.
Use data for improvement
To learn more see brief HERE
© 2010 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

41. EQUIP AND SUPPORT STAFF
Critical to any efforts to improve youth’s social emotional skills & beliefs is the training and support of staff and volunteers who work with youth
This includes creating ways for staff to express, learn, practice, and assess their own social emotional skills & beliefs

42. CREATE EVERYDAY LEARNING
Build in regular routines and ways of dealing with emotions, people, and getting things done
Create environments where positive SE skills and beliefs are model so they can be “caught” by youth

43. DESIGN IMPACTFUL PROGRAMS
Be explicit about social emotional skills you wish to teach in selecting and designing your program
Enhance the ways in which action and reflection are used in your program to create rich “developmental experiences”

44. Getting More Intentional About How We Do Developmental Experiences
From University of Chicago’s Foundations for Young Adult Success

45. USE DATA FOR IMPROVEMENT
SHIFT FROM
TOWARD
PROVE IT OR LOSE IT APPROACH
IMPROVE IT TO MOVE IT APPROACH
There is little evidence that high stakes
accountability works in fields like ours

46. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER …

47. Relationships are the foundation for learning
Caprara, G.V., Barbanelli, C., Pastorelli, C., Bandura, A., & Zimbardo, P.G. (2000). Prosocial foundations of children’s academic achievement.
Psychological Science, 11,
Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2006). Student-teacher relationships. In G. G. Bear & K. M. Minke (Eds.), Children’s
needs III: Development, prevention, and intervention (pp. 59–71). Bethesda,
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wentzel, K. R. (1998). Social relationships and motivation in middle school: The role of parents, teachers and peers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90,

48. Emotions affect how and what we learn.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam.
LeDoux, J.E. (1996). The emotional brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. R. (2007). We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain and Education,1(1), 3-10.

49. Social and emotional skills
can be taught.

50. Photo by Ed Yourdon - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License
Created with Haiku Deck

51. AND EACH OF US CAN BECOME BETTER AT SUPPORTING SEL – WHATEVER OUR ROLES!!

52. http://www1.extension.umn.edu/youth /research/sel.html
To Learn More
Visit the web site for resources and events
/research/sel.html
Contact Dale Blyth