Can Social Emotional Learning Influence Academic Learning?
My little niece is 12 years old. She has been attending her online classes since the schools have been shut. It is intriguing to see how she reluctantly opens the laptop and logs in to attend an online class. I must say for the first 10 minutes she genuinely shows interest to understand the class. Then she starts to wander, mutes her call and shuts the video. She slowly picks the laptop and sneaks it into the room. She sits on the bed and looks for any sign of trouble. As soon as she confirms no one is spying she opens the video player, plugs in the ear phones and starts playing cartoons. Not to mention she is still attending the online class in another tab opened on the screen. The kid could not pull this off for a very long time. My sister found out! Well that day is to remember! She was concerned. She was worried that the kid’s academic performance was deteriorating continuously. She realized that the kid is not showing any interest in learning lessons online. To understand it better she gave a ring to the teacher. The teacher had a list of complaints ready — Teacher said the kid never switched the video on, never responded in the class and dropped off from the class very frequently. The cause for decline in academic progress was established to be the kid’s deviant behaviour. The immediate solution that was suggested from the school was parental supervision during the classes.
Now let us think about the situation this kid is going through. It is easy to blame the child and consider her actions as inappropriate or deviant. But by imposing parental supervision aren’t we taking away the little freedom this kid has? Without placing harsh measures is there a way we can motivate this kid to enjoy learning and develop a sense of responsibility? Also how often do we try to understand the reasons behind a child’s action in their perspective? It is certainly not a one child case or one off situation. Many parents, teachers and children are facing similar challenges and are reporting issues of conducting and attending online classes.
What can be done?
It is evident that the schooling system is going through a drastic shift in its structure, functioning, teaching — learning and assessment processes as an impact of the pandemic. It is an unexpected surprise for everyone. All of us are expected to adapt to the changes. For children it’s been tougher as they are spending more time at home and not able to meet their friends. In many cases they are witnessing their parents losing jobs, battling the COVID and amidst this they are not being able to share their concerns with anyone. In this situation it is tempting for schools to just narrow their focus on core subjects and do away with any kind of social emotional engagement with children. By doing that are we not compromising with children’s well being? It’s not just about well being but also the ability to focus on academic learning that is being compromised. If the child is in emotional stress or is occupied with disturbing thoughts it is not possible for her/him to focus on learning. A way to address all these concerns is to engage children in social emotional learning.
Research shows that active involvement of children in systemic social emotional learning programs not only caters to a child’s social emotional well being but improves academic learning too. A meta-analysis conducted by Joseph A Durlak and team with 2,70,034 students from Kindergarten to high school reveals that there is significant difference in academic achievements of children who attend social emotional programs. The SEL students reflected improved “social-emotional skills, attitudes, behavior and academic performance”. A 11‐percentile gain in academic achievement among students who attended SEL classes was reported by the study. After establishing the positive relation between SEL and academic learning, the next question that needs some pondering is ‘in what ways does SEL influence academic learning?’
Here is a flowchart that presents 3 paths through which SEL influences academic learning.
After having a look at the flowchart now let us try to reason how each path contributes to academic improvement? See if your thoughts are similar to the one’s shared below -
Path 1: SEL strengthens competencies like Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness, Relationship skills and Decision making skills. These competencies equip the child to initiate, sustain, self motivate and direct one’s interests towards a set goal.
Path 2: SEL helps to build a positive classroom climate. A healthy and supportive classroom helps the child to situate themselves in a group or feel connected to a social setting. It creates a secure environment for the child to explore interests, share views and seek help without fear.
Path 3: Emotional and behavioral challenges in early years negatively impact academic achievements of children and diminishes quality of life. It disrupts the child’s ability to maintain healthy relationships with others and deviates their focus from active learning. However mediation through social emotional support has shown beneficial for children at risk. Strengthening social emotional competencies acts as a deterrent to development of mental and emotional distress, which further motivates the child to direct their efforts towards productive outcome.
After understanding the 3 paths, consider visiting the scenario narrated in the beginning. The child in the scenario was uninterested in attending classes, her source of motivation to learn was external and the atmosphere in her classroom was not secure for her to reach out for help. These challenges are not exclusive to this particular child but are common to many Indian children. By mediating children’s learning process through a systemic SEL program we create a foundation for positive and safe learning. We protect children by making them in charge of managing their emotions, behavior, actions and responsibilities that come their way. We make them independent and confident about their own self.
Now, if you are a parent, a teacher, a school administrator or a student looking forward to understanding and developing your own SEL competencies or want to support your students or children, we have resources to support you in your journey.
Do visit us here: http://www.learning-curve-foundation.org/
References
Guerra, N. G., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2018). Linking the prevention of problem behaviors and positive youth development: Core competencies for positive youth development and risk prevention. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development (122), 1–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.225
Izard, C., Fine, S., Schultz, D., Mostow, A., Ackerman, B., & Youngstrom, E. (2001). Emotion Knowledge as a Predictor of Social Behavior and Academic Competence in Children at Risk. Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1111/1467–9280.00304
Panayiotou , M., Humphrey , N., & Wigelsworth, M. (2019). An empirical basis for linking social and emotional learning to academic performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology , 193–204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.01.009
Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak , J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting Positive Youth Development Through School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of Follow-Up Effects. Child Development , 88, 1156–1171. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12864
