This report is for educators, program providers, and researchers looking to continue to move the conversation forward, advance the work on adult
SEL, integrate new strategies into their programs or practices, and expand their research agendas.
Educators—and all adults in the school—are critical for fostering students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Educators can teach and model SEL in lessons; for example, promoting critical thinking in a math lesson and encouraging students to engage with challenging content. And teachers, school leaders, and school staff set the tone of the learning environment through their interactions with students and with each other. For adults to most effectively deliver, model, and embed SEL in academic settings, they need support in developing their own social and emotional competencies as well as supportive school, district, and community-wide structures.
In this report, we delineate findings from a field scan of adult SEL approaches in education settings (e.g., schools, pre-service training). In doing so, we: (1) established a common definition of adult SEL in education with a logic model that illustrates pathways to influencing student outcomes, (2) reviewed literature on adult SEL approaches and outcomes, and (3) extracted patterns of commonality and differences across a sample of adult SEL approaches along a set of research and design characteristics. We conclude with a set of questions to advance research and practice in the field. We hope that this report catalyzes increased understanding of adult SEL and its relationship to student success.
Related blog post: What About the Adults? A Sneak Peek at CASEL’s New Report on Adult SEL Approaches
