We're excited to post for the very first time on the Positive Pieces Blog. Welcome! This is where we will share information and articles on Social & Emotional Learning and well-being when we find something too good not to share. Our passion at Positive Pieces Education is Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) and our mission is to raise the awareness of SELs whilst supporting educators, practitioners and parents.
So what is SEL and why does it matter? CASEL, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning describes SEL as the "process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions."
CASEL and their collaborators broke new ground in 2011 after releasing a Meta-analysis of 213 social and emotional learning programs which demonstrated positive impacts of Social Emotional Learning. In 2017, they followed this up with a further meta-analysis in which they analysed the results from 82 different SEL programs involving more than 97,000 students from kindergarten to high school. CASEL highlighted some of the results from the research as outlined below:
3.5 years after the last intervention, the academic performance of students exposed to SEL programs was an average 13 percentile points higher than their non-SEL peers, based on the eight studies that measured academic performance. “Although based on only eight studies, these long-term academic outcomes are notable,” the research said.
At other follow-up periods, conduct problems, emotional distress, and drug use were all significantly lower for students exposed to SEL programs, and development of social and emotional skills and positive attitudes toward self, others, and school was higher.
CASEL, 2017
Keep an eye out for our next post which will look at the importance of empathy.
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