Reflecting on Social Emotional Learning: A Critical Perspective on Trends in the United States

Abstract

This critical cultural analysis of trends in the field of social emotional learning (SEL) in the United States considers how ideas concerning emotional skills and competencies have informed programmatic discourse. While currently stressing links between SEL and academic achievement, program literature also places emphasis on ideals of caring, community, and diversity. However, recommended practices across programs tend to undermine these ideals by focusing on emotional and behavioral control strategies that privilege individualist models of self. SEL in practice thus becomes another way to focus attention on measurement and remediation of individual deficits rather than a way to redirect educators’ focus toward the relational contexts of classrooms and schools. The promise of SEL to foster increased achievement and equity in American education may not be realized unless more work is done to connect ideals with practices and to address the political and cultural assumptions that are being built into contemporary approaches.

Teaching Teachers about Emotion Regulation in the Classroom

“…Emotion development in the classroom can be fostered or frustrated by school structures (Hargreaves, 2000). No matter which way they are addressed, emotions in children's school experiences should not focus on what a child can't do but more about framing the place of emotion in our schools (Hoffman, 2009). School and classroom environments that are structured around opportunities for expressivity, teacher autonomy support and a sense of belonging, as discussed below, are conducive to the healthy development of student emotion regulation strategies.…”

The Effectiveness and Micro-costing Analysis of a Universal, School-Based, Social–Emotional Learning Programme in the UK: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial

“…Critiques of the SEL movement focus on the implication that childhood is in crisis, the assumed need for explicit instruction and the alleged cultural insensitivity (e.g. Ecclestone & Hayes, 2008;Furedi, 2008;Hoffman, 2009) but there are strong counterarguments to some of these and efforts to address others (see Humphrey, 2013). …”

Socio-emotional well-being and academic achievement: evidence from a multilevel approach

“…SEL has only recently begun to be considered as an important factor for educational outcomes in schools (Hoffman, 2009). SEL has become a focus of major educational initiatives, even though there are still divergences and no clear definitions of its operational definition (Hoffman, 2009).…”

“…SEL has only recently begun to be considered as an important factor for educational outcomes in schools (Hoffman, 2009). SEL has become a focus of major educational initiatives, even though there are still divergences and no clear definitions of its operational definition (Hoffman, 2009). The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) conducted a meta-analysis reviewing more than 300 studies that addressed the effects of SEL programs on educational outcomes, including over 320.000 participants, showing consistently that SEL programs (K to 8 th grade) improved social and emotional skills in students, modified attitudes about the self and the others, fostered a sense of school belonging, and were associated with an increase in prosocial behaviours and a decrease in internalizing and externalizing problems.…”