Education through compassion and emotional understanding

By: Alyssa Simmons, Ph.D., SEL Specialist

One of the programs which sets PoP apart from other global education organizations is our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) intervention. As an organization, we’re dedicated to the premise that all children have a right to the opportunity to change their life circumstances for the better through a quality education, and we have always prioritized innovative strategies as a means to provide our students with a world-class education experience.

PoP’s SEL program began as a pilot in 2016 with four schools in Ghana. An initial partnership with Responsive Classroom, one of the foremost US SEL organizations, led to its development. Known as “Morning Meeting”, the program consists of four components: Greetings, Sharing, Energizers and Morning Message. The team in Ghana took the essential elements of Morning Meeting and, led by our incredible Programs Manager in Ghana, Emma, worked with our teachers to develop a version of Morning Meeting, which reflected the incredible joy and warmth of Ghanaian culture, and produced dramatic results for students.

Teachers were surveyed about the program and commented that students “carry the joy from Morning Meeting for the rest of the day”, and “Morning Meeting opens their minds and helps them contribute during the lesson”. Teachers also mentioned that students organized themselves for Morning Meeting and sang songs associated with Energizers even when teachers were not present. All teachers surveyed felt that Morning Meeting positively affected the classroom environment, as well as the way that students interacted with them and with each other. One teacher commented that “students can now walk to me, hold my hand and start chatting with me. The shy students in my class are no longer the same”. Moreover, several teachers suggested that Morning Meeting was helping students learn how to speak English and pointed to the fact that Morning Meeting had improved students’ ability to interact, express themselves and relate well to each other; with the introduction of Morning Meeting, “students talk to each other freely”.

Teachers’ average ratings of the students’ enjoyment of the program were 9.8 out of 10, with all teachers surveyed reporting on specific behavioral changes following the intervention, including:

• Pupils beginning to show leadership qualities.
• Students who did not previously speak in class are now raising their hands to answer.
• Students do not come to school late because they don’t want to miss Morning Meeting.

“What makes me happy is that teachers now understand the impact of SEL and are advocating for its expansion to other classrooms and other schools. What came out loud and clear is that the relationships between teachers and students, and students with other students, have improved… Students are now more confident than they used to be, and they feel comfortable making mistakes, often laughing at themselves in the process. The rate at which students are willing to answer and ask questions in class and generally participate in lessons has tremendously increased. It can only get better!”

- Courage, Teacher Support coach

SEL has impressive, rigorous and comprehensive research behind it, and that rock-solid proof of concept formed the basis for the argument that SEL would be a worthwhile investment of PoP’s considerable resources in terms of personnel and time. But when someone asks me why I think SEL works, I don’t mention research evidence. Instead, I point to the simple truth that people respond to — and are motivated by — other people’s compassion. The entire PoP Teacher Support team in Ghana, in partnership with our teachers, has fully engaged teachers and students in SEL, and created an environment in which students feel respected, listened to, and valued. As a result, students have responded in miraculous ways. The positive ripple effect of the earnest emotional investment placed in one student spreads joy throughout the network of other students with whom they interact. This is how, and why, SEL works; it allows teachers to connect to their students by showing each of them exactly how much they matter, both to the teacher, and to their fellow students.

What does all of this have to do with literacy? A great deal. Because when a child who comes into the classroom from the chaos and unpredictability of their life and is greeted warmly, asked to share something about their previous day, invited to play games with their classmates, or challenged to think deeply about the world around them, they are made to feel like they matter. And that feeling of significance and belonging to their classroom will contribute to a sense of purpose and a strong sense of self. They will bring that sense of purpose to their schoolwork. It is this process which creates the robust and reliable findings that students who are engaged in SEL programs will consistently do better academically than those who aren’t. As an organization, PoP is dedicated to a holistic approach for all children, and through SEL, we can make our best efforts to ensure that every one of our students leaves the classroom certain of his or her own value and is in turn able to fully engage not only in their relationships with others, but also in their schoolwork.

If you are interested in learning more about our SEL programs, please email our SEL Specialist, Alyssa Simmons, at asimmons@pencilsofpromise.org.