Why We Need to Teach Emotional and Social Life Skills in Schools
Luc teaches special needs kids in a public school. ‘I believe these kids should lead the least restrictive life possible. In the traditional sense, you think kids go to school to learn, to read, to write, to do math but, all kids need to learn how to be. Because you can learn more when you feel good and you also learn more when you are calm’, explains Luc. This is why Luc decided to teach Social and Emotional skills to his students.
What is Social and Emotional Learning?
According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning Organization, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
‘For me, it’s teaching life skills to students in order to have a positive impact on society and oneself’, explains Karl Mercuri.
Karl Mercuri is a consultant and teacher in Social and Emotional Learning. He successfully opened the door to this practice in seven schools in Montreal, Canada. Karl was the official facilitator of the mental health framework across Australia. In Australia, the framework focused on creating a positive school community, explaining what is mental health to students and who to go to when you have a problem.
When facing worried teachers who already feel that they have much too much to handle, Karl explains to them how SEL can be integrated as part of another class, like ethics and religion. ‘It takes the anxiety away from the teacher’, explains Karl.
Why Should Schools Teach SEL to their Students?
‘Nowadays, we have a lack and even a decrease in face-to-face and one-on-one interactions and we have a lack or decrease in community involvement. We now more than ever to teach kids these skills explicitly’, adds Karl.
SEL allows kids to become comfortable speaking about and understanding their emotions and gives them a platform to know what to do if they feel a certain way’, explains Karl.
‘We now have a problem with teacher retention. With SEL, teachers feel safer. It creates an accepting climate in class’, adds Karl.
One of the greatest benefits Luc has noticed in his teaching is being relieved of the need to be right all the time and to have all the answers. ‘An important aspect of Social and Emotional Learning is understanding that as an adult, you are a model for the kids. So you have to practice what you teach’ adds Luc.
‘As an adult in the room, you lose every time you set up that power struggle. It’s really about creating an environment in my class where students can make choices by themselves and I am there to support them, to guide them, but in the end, if they make a certain choice, then we need to work through it together’, explains Luc.
‘The impact is profound, not only the emotional impact but also academically, the results go up, explains Karl. ‘Teaching SEL changes the climate of the classroom and the school pretty quickly. We can see a positive impact within three months’, adds Karl.
The statistics clearly show that when a class or a school starts teaching SEL, bullying goes down. ‘If you teach empathy, they know the impact they will have on somebody else, explains Karl. Not only are kids less likely to bully, but also to be bullied’, explains Karl.
‘You learn more when you are motivated when you are happy when you are calm and excited, rather than frustrated and angry. We try to keep them in the zone where their energy levels are good’, explains Luc. ‘There is an enthusiasm in the class. We also get them to understand that every day we are naturally going up and down and that we are going to meet them where they are at. You don’t have to be right all the time time. There are rules. You can’t hurt other people but if it does happen, we are going to help you get through it and there will be consequences that naturally would come’, explains Luc.
The Impact for Special Needs Kids
‘For Special needs kids children with autism, there is generally no grey area. With SEL, there is a form of perspective on learning why they are feeling a certain way if they are dysregulated because of a certain situation, by teaching why their body feels a certain way,’ explains Karl. ‘It also allows regular students to show empathy towards kids with autism’, adds Karl.
Luc starts at the very basics when he teaches SEL to his primary school students. They first learn to identify emotions in others and then within themselves; even while teaching a math lesson, Luc helps his students learn how to participate in a way that they can get something out of it and respect the group at the same time.
‘We take for granted that kids need to learn these skills without being taught. Especially with kids with special needs, you need to have that rapport. Ultimately, I want them to learn by themselves but they also need this rapport to be motivated by something extrinsic like a teacher or another adult’, adds Luc with enthusiasm.
The Consequences of not Teaching SEL in a Class
‘If you are not aware of SEL and you are not teaching it in your class, I think there’s a lot of unintended outcomes for these kids. For example, the teacher who wants to be the authority on everything. These children are not learning how to be managed by an adult. They are not learning discipline, they are not learning how to make choices for themselves and owning those choices, to go through hardships, to become more resilient. Kids have to learn their own understanding of these concepts and you have to follow their lead on that’, explains Luc.
SEL is Already being Taught
‘Teaching isn’t only about imparting knowledge. You have to believe in what you are doing, explains Luc.
‘It’s giving me more confidence in what I do. I feel like I am learning alongside the students which I think they feel. I feel like I have a lot of less stress about teaching’, explains Luc.
Luc thinks teachers are already teaching SEL in their classes without realizing it. ‘Every teacher is doing it already. Teachers say often to calm down but do they know how to calm down? Rather than trying to manage behavior and appear that everything is ok, you can accept that it can be chaotic and it’s still ok’ says Luc. For him, it’s an injustice that there’s no more place for this.
‘You have to reflect on what you are doing when you are teaching. Is it about reading and writing? Or is it about learning how to be so that you can learn and write in a way that you feel good about and that helps you in your life?’
