Key Points
Back to top- Social and emotional learning (SEL) equips children and youth with the skills needed to succeed in work, life, and personal happiness, fostering strong relationships, emotional intelligence, and civic responsibility.
- Employers, educators, and democratic societies emphasize SEL to nurture collaboration, creativity, and informed citizenship, which are essential for building thriving communities and ensuring social justice.
- SEL ensures that all children, regardless of background, have access to the supportive, culturally responsive environments necessary to develop the emotional, academic, and social skills needed to thrive in society.
Parents want their children and youth to learn the skills to pursue successful work, life, liberty, and happiness. This is social and emotional learning (SEL).
Employers and post-secondary education want youth to be able to work collaboratively in groups and be curious and creative in problem-solving in order to form a more perfect union. This is social and emotional learning.
A democracy requires informed and engaged citizens. To do that we need to learn to listen to others, understand diverse opinions and cultures, build healthy relationships with peers and families, and care about others, promoting our general welfare. This is social and emotional learning.
Every child deserves to have rich instructional opportunities that promote social, emotional, and academic skills and learning environments that are supportive, culturally responsive, and focused on building relationships and community. This is social and emotional learning.
The most important needs children have are to belong to a healthy, caring family and have friends whom they have fun with and who care about them. This is social and emotional learning.
We imagine communities in which all young people—across race, ethnicity, family income levels, learning abilities, home language, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other factors—have the skills, relationships, and environments to thrive.
This is social and emotional learning.
We want a society that reduces inequities, ensures domestic tranquility, and establishes justice where every member is secure in the blessings of liberty.
We want these conditions for ourselves and our posterity.
If we are all indeed created equal and endowed with unalienable rights, our self- and social awareness, or self-management and relationship skills, and the responsibilities embedded in our decisions reflect our ongoing enterprise to achieve the civic society promised in the founding of the nation. This is social and emotional learning.
Related posts
- SEL Week 2025: 5 Stories About How SEL Builds a Foundation for the Future
- Emotions Are Central to Learning
- Let’s Make Schools Places Where Students Want to Be
Write for Us
Back to topAre you interested in writing for CASEL’s blog, Constellations? Learn more about what we’re looking for and how to pitch your idea!