1. What is Social and Emotional Learning?
Building Resilience in Children and Young People
What is Social and Emotional Learning?
Teacher Professional Development

2. What is Social and Emotional Learning?
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills associated with the core areas of social and emotional competency
SEL programs set out to explicitly teach a range of skills, including those necessary to:
understand and manage emotions
set and achieve positive goals
feel and show empathy for others
establish and maintain positive relationships
make responsible decisions 
These skills are dynamic and inter-related and underpin both personal resilience and healthy relationships
Durlak et al. 2011, CASEL, 2013; Frydenberg, 2010; Hromek & Roffey, 2009 

3. What works in Social and Emotional Learning?
Multi-modal programs that integrate social problem solving, social, and emotional understanding work better than traditional prevention models based on single skills )
Matthews, Zeidner & Roberts (2004)

4. Social and Emotional Competencies
CASEL 5 Key Areas
Self-Awareness:
Identifying and recognising emotions; accurate self-perception;
recognising strengths, needs, and values; self-efficacy
Self-Management:
Impulse control and stress management; self-motivation
and discipline; goal setting and organizational skills
Social Awareness:
Perspective taking; empathy; difference recognition;
respect for others
Relationship Skills:
Communication, social engagement, and relationship
building; working cooperatively; negotiation, refusal, and conflict management;
Help-seeking
Responsible Decision-making:
Problem identification and situation
analysis; problem solving; evaluation and reflection; personal, social, and
ethical responsibility

5. Social and Emotional Learning Across the AusVELS Curriculum
SEL skills are emphasised in particular in the AusVELS Personal and Social General Capabilities, but are also relevant across the Critical and Creative Thinking General Capabilities, and the Health and Physical Education (HPE) and English Learning Areas.
The following table outlines how the Building Resilience lesson materials explicitly address skills in these areas of the Curriculum*
*Note that the HPE and General Capabilities curriculum are currently aligned to the Australian Curriculum and will be updated in line with the Victorian AusVELS when it is released. For further information see:

6. Social and Emotional Learning
Lesson Materials available across all year levels:
Primary
Foundation
Level 1-2
Level 3-4
Level 5-6
Secondary
Level 7-8
Level 9-10
Year 11-12
(VCE/VCAL)

7. Social and Emotional Learning
GENERAL CAPABILITIES
LEARNING AREAS
Personal and Social
Critical and Creative Thinking
Health and Physical Education
English
Self-awareness
Self-management
Social awareness
Social management
Inquiring – identifying, exploring and clarifying information and ideas
Generating ideas, possibilities and actions
Reflecting on thinking and processes
Analysing, synthesising and evaluating reasoning and procedures
Being Healthy Safe and Active
Communicating and Interacting for health and wellbeing
Speaking and Listening
Reading and viewing

8. Social and Emotional Learning in the Post Compulsory Years
The Building Resilience SEL lesson materials designed for the post-compulsory years can be used in a variety of ways:
specific VCE study or orientation camps
programs designed to help VCE students manage exam stress and learn
relaxation techniques
daily or weekly minute home group or pastoral sessions
careers education programs
part of the school wellbeing team’s response to specific VCE/VCAL issues
or events
as source material for creative writing
as a regular or one off element of the English classroom
lunchtime or after school activities
special ‘days’ or events held for post-compulsory students
as an integral part of the VCAL curriculum

9. ?
Reflect
What does your school do to promote the general personal and social capabilities of:
self-awareness?
social awareness?
self-management?
social management?

10. Social and Emotional Learning Key Ideas
Social and emotional capabilities are teachable
All students benefit from being taught SEL
Student mental health and engagement in learning improves when they are taught SEL
Evidence-based programs work best

11. Social and Emotional Learning
Research Shows the Benefits of SEL Programs
A meta-analysis of over 200 primary and secondary SEL programs where participants participated in rigorously designed and well-taught SEL programs (as compared with students in control schools) showed :
More positive social behaviour
Less risky and disruptive behaviour
Improvements in academic performance with an average 11% gain in academic achievement
Durlak et al. 2011

12. Social and Emotional Learning Effective SEL Programs:
Address a broad range of risk and protective factors
Use strengths-based approaches
Utilise collaborative teaching strategies
Engage students in problem- solving and critical thinking
Assist students to relate their learning to real life situations
Incorporate messages which support development of healthy societal norms
Are delivered in a longitudinal fashion
Are age-appropriate and culturally attuned
Are augmented by a broad and on- going health and wellbeing curriculum
Target specific behaviours as well as general life-skills
Are located within a positive, inclusive and participatory school environment
Make effective use of games as a method to enhance peer relations
Teach critical thinking and problem-solving skills
Teach self-calming strategies

13. Social and Emotional Learning
Collaborative learning strategies are central to effective SEL programs
Collaborative learning strategies include: role-play and simulation; small group problem-solving discussions; critical-thinking tasks; skills- development exercises; themed games
These strategies help students to think about the challenges that they may encounter in their lives and develop life-skills to cope with challenges/stressors
Good programs give students an opportunity to learn and apply their skills and to rehearse for future situations

14. Social and Emotional Learning
What do teachers need to be able to deliver SEL programs well?
Use of collaborative or participatory teaching strategies is not the norm for some teachers
To deliver SEL curriculum confidently and well, teachers need to:
Understand the educational rationale for the approach
Be prepared to use collaborative learning tasks
Have good engagement with their students
Use effective and positive classroom management practices
Have adequate time to prepare for the lesson

15. Social and Emotional Learning
When are well-designed evidence-based SEL programs not effective?
When fidelity is lost in implementation
Programs are not effective or are less effective when poorly delivered sections omitted or not taught in the spirit of the program). Breakdown is most common in the loss of the interactive or participatory components of the program
When programs are not supported during implementation by
effective:
system policies
school leadership
professional training for teachers
Research shows that the fidelity breakdown is so common that we should anticipate it and plan for it by supporting teachers to use collaborative learning strategies
(Payton, J., Weissberg, R.P., Durlak, J.A., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., Schellinger, K.B., & Pachan, M. (2008)

16. Social and Emotional Learning Building Resilience Lesson Materials
The Building Resilience SEL materials are informed by a strong evidence base that highlights the elements of effective SEL curricula
These lessons use a range of collaborative learning activities such as:
paired sharing
small group problem-solving discussions
scenario-based discussions
skills-development exercises
role-plays
storytelling
games
experiential activities
class discussions

17. Social and Emotional Learning
Building Resilience SEL materials: Topics Covered
Topic 1:
Emotional literacy
Topic 2:
Personal strengths
Topic 3:
Positive coping
Topic 4:
Problem-solving
Topic 5:
Stress management
Topic 6:
Help-seeking

18. Social and Emotional Learning
Teaching SEL Improves Teacher’s SEL
Interview findings suggest that use of the SEL program had a positive influence on the teachers' overall teaching techniques and their broader social behaviour. Most of the teachers reported that they felt they had become more democratic and student-centered in their teaching more socially skilled and more aware of individuals' needs and problems

19. What practices do you use to enhance your own:?
Reflect
What practices do you use to enhance your own:
Self-awareness?
Self-management?
Social awareness?
Social management?

20. Social and Emotional Learning
Useful Links
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) leads research and innovation in the area of social and emotional learning (SEL).
Link: MindEd (UK Department of Health)
Guidance on children and young people’s mental health, wellbeing and development for adults working with children and youth to help them support the development of young healthy minds.

21. Social and Emotional Learning
References
Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82(1),
Frydenberg, E. (2010). Think positively! A course for developing coping skills in adolescents. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Hromek, R., & Roffey, S. (2009). Promoting Social and Emotional Learning With Games: ''It's Fun and We Learn Things''. Simulation & Gaming, 40,
Larsen, T. and Samdal, O. (2012) The Importance of Teachers' Feelings of Self Efficacy in Developing Their Pupils' Social and Emotional Learning: A Norwegian Study of Teachers' Reactions to the Second Step Program. School Psychology International, 33(6), p
Payton, J., Weissberg, R.P., Durlak, J.A., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., Schellinger, K.B., & Pachan, M. (2008). The positive impact of social and emotional learning for kindergarten to eighth-grade students: Findings from three scientific re- views. Chicago, IL: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning