Making time for Social Emotional Learning

To enhance student success, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an important tool for a teacher’s toolbox.

SEL relates to how people “acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.” Within the classroom, teachers encourage SEL in a variety of ways, such as inclusion opportunities, brain breaks and ample time for self-reflection. 

That said, SEL is just as important outside the classroom as educators examine their own practices and approaches to pedagogy. A 2023 report from Villanova University emphasized that “teachers saw their own transformative SEL — a form of SEL committed to equity and social justice — as a key factor for their success.” This highlights the importance of a more holistic approach to teacher preparation, one that focuses on the social-emotional development of teachers themselves.

Dealing with uncertainties

The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the importance of SEL in teacher preparation.

With the various uncertainties — from teacher shortages to the shift to virtual instruction — education faced unique challenges beyond just subject-matter difficulty. And as authors Patricia Kardambikis and Vicki Donne noted in the Social Sciences journal, “changing educational environments required teacher candidates to exhibit strong social emotional skills and to develop those skills in their K–12 students.” 

One of the immediate benefits of increased SEL? Positive interdepartmental and peer collaborations. As teachers work on their own reflective skills, they find opportunities to do likewise with other educators. In a 2022 study published in Current Issues in Education, Dr. Ann Leonard and Dr. Rebecca Woodland found “strong, statistically significant relationships between frequency of teacher engagement in higher-intensity collaborative actions such as peer observation and the enactment of instructional approaches that contribute to student SEL.” This observation suggests that a collaborative teaching environment — and one practicing SEL skills like constructive peer feedback — can significantly bolster student learning outcomes.  

To that end, educators benefit from situational judgment tasks (SJTs) that highlight SEL competencies they may need to use with students. SJTs present educators with scenarios students may meet at school or in daily life as well as potential advantages and disadvantages of various response options that align with each of the five primary SEL domains: Self-awareness, Responsible Decision Making, Self-management, Relationship Skills and Social Awareness. In essence, the SJTs offer preemptive SEL practice so that educators have a more nuanced sense of what students will need before they need it.

Benefitting all student and teacher outcomes

The takeaway? SEL is not just for students. Teachers also need social and emotional support to succeed in their roles.

By incorporating SEL into teacher-preparation programs, schools and districts can better support teachers' well-being and longevity in the field so they can contribute to improved student outcomes. 

Want to learn more about how ETS Research supports fostering greater SEL for students?