Social and emotional learning (SEL) is part of a high-quality education for all students that supports academic performance, school climate, graduation rates, and other important developmental outcomes and life goals.
Schools, in partnership with families and communities, also navigate and set other priorities based on their local strengths, needs, and culture. SEL can provide a foundation that supports and connects those various priorities and goals.
In order to make the critical connections between SEL and relevant areas, we offer this page to help you explore how SEL can support some of the other priorities in your local communities.
School Safety
Back to topAcross the country, schools and communities are having conversations about how to ensure the safety and wellbeing of every child. While there is no single solution, we know that SEL plays a critical role. Evidence-based practices that build supportive relationships and promote social and emotional skills can help reduce bullying and isolation, promote belonging, boost engagement, and curb future violence.
Mental Health
Back to topStates, districts, and schools looking to support the mental health and well-being of their young people and adults often turn to SEL. SEL can promote positive mental health in many ways. SEL should be implemented as part of a system of mental wellness supports and resources that include promotion, prevention, early-intervention, and treatment strategies and programs.
Civic Learning
Back to topToday’s increasingly dynamic and multicultural society will call on the next generation of civic leaders to use a wide range of social and emotional skills—including deep levels of self-awareness, collaborative problem-solving, and cultural competence. By integrating SEL into civic learning, students have opportunities to develop the skills and relationships needed to participate as caring and engaged members of their local community and the broader society.
Workforce Preparation
Back to topLike academic skills, social and emotional competencies create a foundation for students to pursue their career and life goals. By aligning and integrating SEL and workforce preparation efforts through an equity lens, states and districts can more intentionally promote the competencies and environments that will prepare youth to thrive and succeed in the workplace.
Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Back to topSEL offers a powerful means to support one another as our school communities work to address the impact of the pandemic on students’ learning and development. Now, more than ever, we understand how important it is to demonstrate empathy and resilience, build relationships across distance, and call upon our collective resolve to strengthen our schools and our communities.