scholarly journals Social and Emotional Learning with Families

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Anna Marie Dinallo

<p>A Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) framework was used in this study to gather and analyze the perceptions of mothers involved in a critical family literacy program designed to foster social and emotional development. Through narrative inquiry, participants discussed perceptions of their children’s social-emotional development and the expanded use of existing parenting tools. Even though parents are primary agents of change, the cultural backgrounds of families has too often been a missing ingredient in both the curriculum development and participation phases of and social and emotional learning within school-based programs. Family engagement programs are particularly important for Latino parents who are recent immigrants, as they have the additional burden of contending with such stressors in school settings as race, language barriers, and stereotypes afflicting educators. All participants in this study had existing knowledge in the area of emotional development and were able to discuss the value of self-care and self-regulation with respect to parenting their children. This research contributes to studies in the fields of family engagement and popular education pedagogy besides providing the reader with an examination of the implications of effective socio-emotional curriculum in elementary school settings.</p>

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-99
Author(s):  
Kristen E. Darling ◽  
Deborah Seok ◽  
Patti Banghart ◽  
Kerensa Nagle ◽  
Marybeth Todd ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine Conscious Discipline’s (CD) Parenting Education Curriculum (CD PEC), the parenting component of CD’s research-based social and emotional learning program. CD aims to change child behavior by changing how adults understand and manage their own behaviors and emotions. Researchers explored CD PEC’s association with improved parenting skills, parent–child relationships and child behavior and emotion management. Design/methodology/approach During pre- and post-site visits, parents in four Head Start programs completed the Attentive Parenting Survey (n=25) and interviews (n=19); and 20 staff were also interviewed. Findings Parents reported that CD PEC shifted their perspectives and practices for managing children’s challenging behaviors, improved parent–child relationships and resulted in decreased child behavior problems. Research limitations/implications The study was correlational, based on self-report, and had a small sample with no comparison group. Practical implications This study supports CD PEC as a means of shifting parenting practices, relationships and child behavior by focusing on adult social-emotional skills and self-regulation. Social implications This study provides preliminary evidence that addressing the social-emotional needs of adults is a viable step to helping children improve their social skills, emotion regulation and general behavior, which have all been linked to later academic and life success. Originality/value The paper studies improvements in parents’ emotion recognition and self-regulation before disciplining their children.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Femi Vance ◽  
Rebecca Goldberg

Given the recent emphasis on social and emotional development, many professionals who manage, develop, or influence expanded learning systems are beginning to ask, “How do we better prepare staff to promote social and emotional development?” California has adopted a statewide professional development strategy for publicly-funded expanded learning programs that is designed to raise awareness of the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL) among practitioners and build tools for the field to support implementation. The strategy—led by a partnership among a state agency, expanded learning intermediaries, and funders—combines leadership development, field-building initiatives, and program-level supports. It also complements the current expanded learning system. In this article, we describe the statewide strategy and discuss how it addresses workforce challenges, the core levers that California used to develop the strategy, and why and how the state-level leadership prioritized social and emotional learning. We conclude the article with lessons learned about collaboration, implementation, and assessing impact. 


Author(s):  
Claire Blewitt ◽  
Amanda O’Connor ◽  
Heather Morris ◽  
Andrea Nolan ◽  
Aya Mousa ◽  
...  

Early childhood educators play an important role in supporting children’s social and emotional development. While a growing body of research has examined the impact of curriculum-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on child outcomes, the approaches educators use to strengthen children’s social and emotional functioning through their everyday practices are less defined. This study explored Australian early childhood educators’ perspectives on children’s social and emotional development, the approaches educators use to encourage children’s social and emotional skills, the enablers and barriers to SEL within the preschool environment, and the additional support needed. Thirty Early Childhood Education and Care professionals participated in semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Findings suggest children’s social–emotional development is at the forefront of educator planning, practice, and reflection. Participants described utilising various approaches to support children’s social and emotional skills, embedded within interactions and relationships with children and families. Specifically, strategies could be grouped into four broad categories: a nurturing and responsive educator–child relationship; supporting SEL through everyday interactions and practice; utilising the physical environment to encourage SEL; and working in partnership with caregivers. There was, however, inconsistency in the variety and type of approaches identified. Time constraints, group size, educator confidence and capability, high staff turnover, and limited guidance regarding high-quality social and emotional pedagogy were identified as key barriers. Participants sought practical strategies that could be embedded into daily practice to build upon current knowledge.


Author(s):  
Kristin M. Murphy ◽  
Amy L. Cook

Implementing a curriculum that supports students' social-emotional development alongside academics is essential. Social-emotional learning (SEL) promotes positive outcomes across social and emotional skills, attitudes towards self and others, positive social behavior, conduct problems, emotional distress, and academic performance. In spite of what research tells us and what we as educators know intuitively through our practice, social and emotional development has long been known to many as a missing link in U.S. public schools. Teachers' concerns include whether they have the time, resources, and access to professional learning necessary to implement high quality SEL instruction, particularly in light of academic content instruction pressures. This chapter discusses the application of mixed reality simulations as a next generation digital tool that offers active learning opportunities in social-emotional learning in conjunction with dialogic reading sessions to foster social-emotional competencies and literacy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Zadrazil Newman

Extensive research demonstrates that a qualified workforce is essential to out-of-school time program quality, which, in turn, is essential for positive youth development. Recently, the in- and out-of-school fields have witnessed an increase in attention to social and emotional learning practices and programs, yet less is known about how to support the adults who are engaged in the social and emotional learning process. A first step in supporting this workforce is to build the collective knowledge around what social and emotional learning is and what the practices are that support social and emotional development. We also believe there is a need to identify and describe the connection between what has been and what could be—that is, connecting youth development as a foundation for intentional social and emotional learning. We reviewed a selection of widely disseminated, research-based, practitioner-focused resources to identify the specific practices that promote social and emotional learning. This process elevated a set of 8 practices, which we delineated into 2 categories: foundational organizational practices and programmatic practices that support social and emotional development. In addition, we completed a comprehensive crosswalk of those practices with seminal youth development and out-of-school time resources to demonstrate the alignment and progression from youth development to social and emotional learning. This article describes the 8 social and emotional learning practices and highlights connections to foundational youth development practices. We conclude with a set of recommendations for the field leaders who must continue to support the workforce.


Recent polls report a trend that school violence is steadily continuing in middle and high schools. Concurrently, schools are filled with students who cannot function academically and socially due to challenging home lives. Recognizing that social and emotional development in young adolescents is essential to academic success, educators are learning how to address these issues through social-emotional learning (SEL). The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, outlines components of SEL that children and youth need to understand and manage their own emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy toward others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible life decisions. Findings note that schools that employ SEL have better academic performance as well as fewer disciplinary incidents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Walker ◽  
Jeni Venker Weidenbenner

Purpose Empathy is part of what makes us human and humane, and it has become a core component of the Social Awareness competency of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) (CASEL, 2019). SEL fosters the understanding of others’ emotions, is the basis of Theory of Mind skills and frames the development of empathy. The purpose of this paper is to trace the links between empathy development and social and emotional learning when using real versus virtual environments. Empathy is a uniquely human emotion facilitated by abstract thinking and language. Virtual play is a teaching tool for acquiring prosocial behaviors. And finally, human-mediated (traditional and virtual) play is most favorable for SEL growth. Recognition of emotions such as empathy and other socio-communication skills have been taught to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, technology can be a venue for acquiring empathy. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a qualitative interpretive methodology to advocate for the use of technology with human mediation to teach Social and Emotional Learning skills, based on the premise that cognitive and social-emotional development occurs synergistically and mediated by speech and interaction with the environment. Findings Technology is best seen as an instrument of assessing and teaching socio-emotional skills, but not as the only means to an end, because what makes us human can only be taught within an ecology of human interaction in real-life situations. Originality/value This paper reviews previous research works (both empirical and theoretical) that bring to light the connection between socio-emotional development, specifically empathy development, and virtual environments.


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