How school counselors can help teachers integrate the basic competencies of social and emotional learning The purpose of this commentary is to examine how school counselors can assist classroom teachers with the basic competencies of social and emotional learning (SEL), in order to enhance student learning. A brief review of the literature over the past decade reveals that there has been an increase in the number of teachers and schools in general who are utilizing SEL. However, before examining why that has been the case, it is important to discuss what exactly are SEL and the competencies that define it. There are many similar type definitions for explaining SEL but most educators agree that it is basically the process through which students acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions. Furthermore, it helps students set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and finally to make responsible decisions according to http://casel.org/what-is-sel/ (2019). The core competencies for SEL are: self-awareness; self-management; social awareness; relationship skills; and responsible decision making. Once there is a basic understanding of SEL, one can see why many educators have decided to implement it at their school sites and how that has increased over the past few years. However, the question of who is involved in implementing SEL and how it is done needs to be more fully explored. Is it simply up to the classroom teacher to implement it or should there be a more collaborative approach? As a former school counselor, I believe it is important for counselors to work closely with teachers on implementing SEL, but this can often be a tricky proposition. Teachers often feel programs like SEL are mandated by site leaders or district administrators and they as teachers have no say so in whether to implement the programs or not. By using a more collaborative approach that involves administrators, school counselors and classroom teachers can help everyone have more buyin into new programs. SEL is no different and should involve all the key stakeholders of a school site, including the school counselors, as by collaborating with teachers provides a learning climate for all students. Many experts (Hensley and Burmeister, 2008) agree that there are multiple approaches to helping students develop SEL competencies but the three most common are: utilizing an evidenced-based SEL curriculum; integrating actual SEL instruction directly into the academic curriculum; and the school or district creating actual SEL-centered policies. This requires educators at a school site to be willing to be change agents, in order to implement programs such as SEL effectively. Fullan (2001) believed that an effective change agent possesses skills in three main capacities: developing relationships of trust; communicating the change vision effectively; and empowering others to take action toward change. School counselors working direct...
Schools are increasing the use of social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, especially at the elementary level. As this trend continues, it's important to examine the SEL curriculum and the competencies that define it. While there are similar definitions for explaining what's involved in SEL, most educators agree that it's basically the process through which students acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, in order to help them make more responsible decisions. In this chapter, the detailed elements of SEL will be reviewed first, followed by an overview of the basic tenets of culturally responsive teaching. Additional cultural needs that today's elementary, middle, and high school students face will also be addressed in this chapter. The last part of the chapter will discuss the importance of merging SEL and culturally responsive teaching in co-existence in order to develop a stronger curriculum for creating equitable outcomes for diverse groups of students.
We used prototype theory to illustrate the concept of social justice in school settings, particularly as it might inform the education of school leaders. Using expert input, we developed descriptions of school setting actions predicted to be perceived as prototypical of social justice in education, as well as of actions that were predicted to be either peripheral or antithetical to the construct. Panels of (a) social justice education faculty and (b) students in social justice-oriented school leadership doctoral programs rated the extent to which each of these resulting 46 actions characterized social justice. Data were analyzed to map the concept.
This chapter outlines the evolution of a Master of School Counseling Program from a traditional in-person model to an asynchronous online program with an integrated field experience component. It utilizes a case study approach to how this transition occurred with an overview of the process and strategies used for the program course redesign presented. The primary goal of the redesign efforts was to sustain efficient student instructor engagement in an online setting while training aspiring school counselors for the complex 21st century educational settings. This chapter also includes a brief literature review of best practices, rubrics used for program development, progress monitoring, and program assessment. Additionally, descriptive data that is presented illustrates the perspectives of adjunct faculty and students in regard to teaching effectiveness, student engagement and satisfaction in an asynchronous fast paced online program.
There continue to be many issues women of color face as they pursue both an advanced education and leadership positions in education. There appears to be an increase in the number of women of color seeking advanced degrees and pursuing educational leadership positions, but the numbers are still small overall. While some educational stakeholders have worked to increase the number of women of color in educational leadership positions, it has been minimal. A central question that is often asked is, How does a school ensure that the educational leaders are capable of moving forward, with meeting the needs of a diverse student body? Many advocates say promoting a more diverse group of educational leaders, especially women of color, will only help increase student success. Increasing the number of women of color in educational leadership positions can help have a positive effect on the issues of racism, poverty, aggression, oppression, hostility, or even privilege.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.