How SEL Upped My Game in School Social Work and Leadership

Key Points

• As a school social worker, Catherine Murray often felt stretched too thin—responding to fires rather than preventing them. She knew there had to be another way, and this set her on a journey of using social and emotional learning (SEL) to support the health and thriving of all students.
• Now leading SEL in an administrative role, Catherine continues to reflect on how social workers can use SEL to support both individual student needs and systemic change.
• Hear from Catherine about her journey and how social workers can embed SEL at the micro and macro level to promote personal growth, belonging, and agency, while advocating for policies that prioritize SEL in schools.

It was one of those days every school social worker knows too well—one crisis after another, barely a moment to breathe. That morning, I had spent nearly an hour de-escalating a student in crisis, only to be pulled immediately into a meeting about a different child facing failing grades and difficulties connecting with others—and paged on the walkie talkie to respond to a threat assessment. Before I could even process those moments, a teacher stopped me in the hallway, desperate for strategies to support a student struggling with emotional regulation. I wanted to help, but I felt stretched too thin—constantly responding to fires rather than preventing them. There had to be another way.

This moment set me on a journey that would take me from my original work as a social worker to one that seeks to expand my influence through school leadership. Along the way, I’ve had the chance to explore the interconnection between social work and SEL. Not only are these two areas of endeavor mutually supportive; when intertwined, they offer powerful ways to pursue the goal of all educators: the health and thriving of children and young people.

My Journey Through Social Work to SEL

In 2012 I graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Social work with my master’s in social work with a school concentration. My first stop was West Chicago 33, a K-8 school district, servicing a primarily Latino population, with a high percentage of low-income, transient families. As I got past the “I don’t know what I’m doing” phase of the job, I found myself seeking deeper connections with staff, students, and families. My position was split between two buildings, and I wondered how to best support students beyond the four walls of my office.

In 2015, I transitioned to Park Ridge D64 at a K-5 building of 600 students. In a different community with fewer crises, I found myself with less burnout but more drive to do something different. During my three years there, I completed my master’s degree in educational leadership and landed my first administrative position as the assistant principal of student services at the middle school in Batavia Public School District 101. That was when COVID struck. The landscape for mental health, equity, racial justice, and education was forever changed. How could I support my students and staff during this unprecedented time?

That’s when a lightbulb went on for me about the kind of work I wanted to do. In the spring of 2021, I applied for and was selected to be part of CASEL’s inaugural cohort of the SEL Fellows Academy—a group of folks across the nation, dedicated to learning and designing systemic SEL in their context. 

It was clear that SEL had implications for me as an administrator, but what about for social workers? I couldn’t help but reflect on how SEL and social work could be productively intertwined.

SEL and Social Work: Aligned and Complementary

According to the National Association of Social Workers, the purpose of the social work profession is to “enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people.” Social workers empower populations or individuals who are vulnerable and oppressed, and who live in poverty—those whose voice is sometimes quieted by systemic barriers. Rooted in values like integrity, social justice, and human relationships, social workers operate across micro and macro levels—supporting individuals while also shaping broader systems to foster equity and access.

SEL offers a powerful way to approach both the macro and micro levels of social work. It can be personal (introspective), participatory (shared with others), and transformative. Within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), social work often focuses on responding to the needs that arise at the Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels, where students require additional direct interventions—not separate from, but in addition to Tier 1, the foundational strategies that support all students in a school. SEL operates at all tiers, offering a proactive, evidence-based approach to ensuring all students can thrive. Together, SEL and social work form an interconnected system that supports students holistically.

To me, transformative SEL (tSEL) is where the worlds of social work, leadership and SEL meet. TSEL is a form of SEL implementation where young people and adults build strong, respectful, and lasting relationships to engage in co-learning. With tSEL, the words “we,” and “learning,” come to mind. Not the we, you and I, but the greater WE. Who are we as a community? Who shares space with us?

The five focal constructs of tSEL—identity, belonging, curiosity, agency, and collaborative problem-solving—take our personal social-emotional skills and expand influence to society. They aid in dismantling systemic barriers that harm vulnerable populations. There is a sense of self within tSEL but also a sense of our surroundings. Transformative SEL propels society forward toward healing.

How Social Workers Can Integrate SEL Into Their Work

Social workers are uniquely positioned to embed SEL into their practice, strengthening both interventions and broader systemic support. By intentionally integrating tSEL focal constructs into their work, social workers can help students explore and affirm their identities, create spaces where students feel a sense of belonging, empower students and adults to advocate for themselves while navigating challenges, and encourage staff and students to embrace curiosity over a fixed mindset.

At the micro level, this could mean using SEL strategies to guide restorative conversations with staff and students, modeling co-regulation during crisis response, or coaching teachers on how to embed best practices into their classroom communities.

At the macro level, social workers can advocate for policies and practices that prioritize SEL in schoolwide systems, ensuring that proactive supports are in place to foster equitable opportunities for all.

By weaving SEL into every layer of their work, social workers not only support student needs, but also contribute to creating a school culture that fosters well-being for all.

The views in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CASEL.

Catherine Murray serves as the Social Emotional Learning/Behavior Manager in Batavia Public School District 101, an EC-12 public school district located in Batavia, Illinois. A licensed clinical social worker with a wealth of expertise, Catherine is dedicated to constructing robust systems of support, refining tier 1 social-emotional learning frameworks, delivering impactful professional development, and employing her clinical acumen to foster genuine connections with students, families, and staff members alike. Recognized as a CASEL Fellow in 2021, Catherine draws upon her extensive background as a school social worker, building-level administrator, and now district-office leader to amplify student voices and facilitate holistic learning experiences for all members of her current educational community.

Related Posts:

• A Relationship-Fueled Learning Community: Teachers and Students in California Share the Impact of SEL
• My Commitment to Building a Connected Community in Middle School
• Community Schools: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

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