What is SEL?
Social emotional learning (SEL) is the process of acquiring skills and knowledge to help us understand and manage our emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
Image credit: CASEL.org SEL is broken down into five interconnected competencies that build on each other: 1. Self-Awareness 2. Self-Management 3. Social Awareness 4. Relationship Skills 5. Responsible Decision-Making As you explore this website, you will find that resources are organized based on the competency they support. |
SD23's Social Emotional Learning Team
Who we are:
A multidisciplinary team (teachers, counsellors, psychologists) dedicated to promoting and enhancing social emotional wellness in order to provide practical support for all learners.
Why we exist:
Our goal is to align with what educators are already doing to incorporate social emotional learning in their schools and classrooms. We aim to further empower staff in this process. Research supports the vital nature of this work:
“Children who are struggling with psychological symptoms do not form a discrete group requiring unique supports; therefore, effective mental health interventions could improve outcomes for all children, not only those with clinically significant psychiatric morbidity, which underscores the potential benefits of universal interventions.” (Fazel et al., 2015)
CASEL (2017) explains that effective schools use the following to optimize SEL:
“Children who are struggling with psychological symptoms do not form a discrete group requiring unique supports; therefore, effective mental health interventions could improve outcomes for all children, not only those with clinically significant psychiatric morbidity, which underscores the potential benefits of universal interventions.” (Fazel et al., 2015)
CASEL (2017) explains that effective schools use the following to optimize SEL:
- Whole- school policies and initiatives that support SEL
- General teaching practices (and classroom environment) that support SEL
- Integration and support of SEL within academic curriculum
- Explicit, free standing SEL lessons designed to build language and start conversations that can be integrated cross curricularly
What we can do for you:
- District-wide training: Provide collaborative learning opportunities on social and emotional wellness for all staff
- Social emotional learning in the classroom: Provide and support opportunities for teachers and support staff to build social and emotional learning into their classroom
- Targeted student intervention: Support schools with resources and services to ensure success with our most vulnerable students
- Community: Expand and strengthen community wellness partnerships including parents as key partners in wellness and social emotional learning initiatives