Social Emotional Learning…
Questions You Should be Asking Part 2

Social emotional learning (SEL) is at the front of many debates in education. I was flabbergasted when I saw that many school board members are running on the platform of getting rid of SEL and that parents across the country were outraged by SEL programs. I have done a lot of research to see where we all went “wrong” in our opinion of such an important topic and in the way it is being taught.  This article gets to the bare bones of what exactly SEL should include, who decides the curriculum, how teachers can use it for current difficult topics and what you can do as a parent.

Questions in this article:

1. What is equity and why is it appearing with SEL?
2. Should SEL be used to “promote” or call attention to specific issues?
3. How does a teacher decide what to teach?
4. “How can parents determine what is taught in SEL programs?
5. How is a program approved of in my district?
6. What can I do as a parent?

The extensive research that has been done on SEL shows that students who are developing well can learn well.  And that the basis of an SEL program is that all students feel welcome, supported and valued. This was all discussed in Social Emotional Learning: 5 Questions You Should be Asking Part 1.

Equity was already being addressed in programs with amazing results.

The fact that CASEL came out with a new definition in 2018 to make equity part of SEL and has in fact said that teachers must teach SEL through the eyes of equity is disturbing. 

SEL is, in its very nature, teaching children (and hopefully adults) to look at different sides, to feel empathy for others, and to learn how to present in the world as a proud individual who can work well in a team or collaborative environment.

I am not against equity.  I am against pushing an agenda onto a program when it is not needed. It seems to me that the “old” SEL was focused on the child (all children) and the current one is focused on an issue.  Does this mean that over the years, every time we have a societal issue that is at the forefront, SEL will be rewritten?

The table below is from a study done with 36 midwestern schools, emphasizing 6th grade and looking at: The Impact of a Middle School Program (SEL) to Reduce Aggression, Victimization, and Sexual Violence. Notice that the grouping of students is varied, except, the schools chosen have a large percentage of students on free or reduced lunches. This is why I chose to include this graphic.

This study was conducted in the 2010-2011 school year. The study found a 42% decrease in physical aggression among students who participated in the program from the beginning of the year to the end.  Notice that the students are varied in every aspect except socioeconomic level. This study taught to SEL benchmarks and the child and it was very effective. The reported limitation of the study is that it used self-reported methods due to cost.

2. Should SEL be used to “promote” or call attention to specific societal issues?

This is a harder question to answer than you would think.  On the one hand, I would say “absolutely not,” however, the very study I referred to in question 1 was aimed at violence in schools.  There are many studies that talk about the lasting effects of integrated SEL programs, one of these, done in Seattle, talked about the long lasting effects on substance abuse.

I assume all of these goals were achieved with calculated teachings in the schools.  I also believe, but cannot prove since I do not have the actual program, that because these were used as examples of exemplary SEL programs, that the teachings were done meeting the benchmarks talked about in Social Emotional Learning: 5 Questions You Should be Asking Part 1. It was the way they were integrated with the curriculum that was targeted to have specific results.

Is it important to have children be aware of, know how they feel about and what can be done about bullying, violence, drug use, racism and differences in others?  Absolutely, I just believe we should first encourage the child to feel confident in who they are so that they can then be ready to learn about and have an opinion about other situations.  I also believe it is important to present and discuss, not tell children how to feel. Right now, in our society, there is a definite undercurrent of right vs. wrong. I feel like we can too easily make a child feel that what they are thinking, which often times is what they are hearing, is “bad” or “wrong”. This shakes the very foundation of what social emotional learning is.  The entire point of SEL is to help a child feel confident and to learn how to navigate their world.  We cannot start this process with a proverbial shaking of our fingers to say that they are wrong.  Instead, we need to help them grow and learn to critically think so that they came come to a conclusion based on their own deductions.

I want to take a step backwards.  Do you know that your state has a specific set of standards your child should be learning each year?  For approximately 44 states, this is Common Core.

The standards are often referred to by letters and numbers like: RL3.1. This is indicative of Reading and Literature, grade 3 and 1 is an early learned skill in the school year.

Every lesson, every book, every activity that a teacher does or teaches in their room should correlate to a specific state standard for your child to learn that year.  This is how teachers “decide” what to teach.  They have a “plan” for the year of what their students need to learn and then they plan the lessons around these objectives.

In Social Emotional Learning: What you Should be Asking Part 1, I gave you the 5 categories and skills to be achieved in social emotional learning.  A lesson plan can be written the exact same way as the academic one is done.  At the bottom of the lesson plan, it could read something like: RL3.6, SEL3.3.C.  This “code” would indicate an SEL lesson will be integrated into a third grade reading class where students are learning to “distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.” The SEL goal is social awareness: understand the perspective and and empathize with others.

It is important for you to understand how a teacher plans and how SEL programs can be integrated into approved curriculum.  This way if you are bound for intervention, you have suggestions, not just arguments.

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Parents should have been included in the conversation when the SEL program was first introduced.  Often, this is done “quickly” and “easily” at school board meetings or on Site Councils.

Explained with examples and “how to’s” are 37 Guidelines to introducing an SEL program in your school.  These can be found in Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: An Educator’s Guide.

Here is an example of what you will see:

Guideline 31: “Long-lasting SEL programs are highly visible and recognized. These programs “act proud” and are not “snuck in” or carried out on unofficially “borrowed” time. They do not act in opposition to school or district goals, but rather are integral to these goals.”

Guideline 35: “SEL programs have clear implementation criteria and are monitored to ensure that the programs are carried out as planned.”

I chose these two guidelines because, as a parent, you can argue for a rigorous and effective SEL program, while maintaining control over how the program is being used and what it is being used to promote, as evidenced in Guideline 31.  Guideline 35 gives parents a way to see how the programs are being planned, carried out and evaluated for effectiveness.

If your school already has an SEL program in place and you have questions about it, see What can I do as a parent?

Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: An Educator’s Guide. https://earlylearningfocus.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/promoting-social-and-emotional-learning-1.pdf is an excellent resource for implementing a quality SEL program that will show the benefits of SEL in our schools.  It also serves as an excellent resource for Parent-Teacher-Administration conversations about what that program will look like, what it will promote and how concrete goals can be made and evaluated.

I have included the table of contents that reads like a “how to” manual for a school to effectively teach SEL so you can see the value of this resource.

1. The Need for Social and Emotional Learning
2. Reflecting on Your Current Practices
3. How Does Social and Emotional Education Fit in Schools?
4. Developing Social and Emotional Skills in Classrooms 
5. Creating the Context for Social and Emotional Learning
6. Introducing and Sustaining Social and Emotional Education 
7. Evaluating the Success of Social and Emotional Learning
8. Moving Forward: Assessing Strengths, Priorities, and Next Steps 
9. Appendix A: Curriculum Scope for Different Age Groups 
10. Appendix B: Guidelines for Social and Emotional Education

None of what I researched says a teacher should develop their own topics or ways SEL is taught, but for an SEL program to be effective it is taught throughout the school as an interdisciplinary tool?

I put these two questions together because they are intertwined. I have heard a lot about what SEL includes from different districts around the country. This seems to be the basis for why many parents are upset.

Most curriculum decisions that take place in schools are brought to the school board for explanation and vote.  It is critical that you, as a parent, show up to the school board meetings. 

If your school district is implementing an SEL program that promotes critical race theory (CRT), for example, and you have questions about this, you need to be present to ask the questions. The fear I hear is that if CRT is taught it will set up all white people as racist. If SEL is taught correctly and it is addressing CRT, the program would be integrated into curriculum already approved, government and the justice system, for example.  The actual way the social emotional learning program geared towards CRT is taught would need to be approved, if CRT is not already approved in your district curriculum.  

This would be an SEL program that is trying to have a specific outcome.  In Question 2 Should SEL be used to “promote” or call attention to specific societal issues? I discussed my feelings on trying to have children think a specific way and presenting what they have learned at home or in society as “right” vs “wrong”. I would make sure the SEL program is reaching a certain benchmark, for example: Responsible Decision Making: The capacity to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being. Then this particular benchmark will be reached when talking about current issues in a government or social studies class.  It would be a great discussion with the children to see what they think should result of a certain situation and what the benefits and consequences for them and society would be based on their chosen result.

The entire basis of a quality SEL program is that it is district wide, based on district values.  Talk to the school board, suggest an SEL Consortium made up of parents, teachers, community members, specifically school board members and district administrators.  Iron out what the exact values, everyone has already agreed upon, for the district are. Find out what the approved curriculum already is.

Once you are all agreed about what the actual values being taught in the classrooms district wide are or should be, then go into talks about social and emotional programs in the schools. Talk about how they will be taught, how they will be reinforced, how they will be assessed and finally when will the consortium come together to re-evalute the program?

If you feel that your school is “flying solo” or that the programming is done by teachers on an individual basis, you still have recourse.  

1. Your district instructional guidelines should be published online, by grade.  They may be referred to as instructional guides, scope and sequence or curriculum.
2. Find the instructional guidelines and read what the learning objectives are for your child in their current year or any of the following years.
3. If you have difficulty finding the instructional guidelines, call the district office and ask to speak with the curriculum coordinator or someone who can tell you where to find the curriculum by grade and subject online.
4. Warning-I am a certified teacher, who no longer teaches, but who has kept up with the curriculum and its changes for years.  I have been able to find it easily each year.  This year, all I found was an adopted curriculum program: Amplify CKLA.  I called the district office to find the actual scope and sequence for each grade level.  There is an online scope and sequence for each grade through Amplify, however, it does not address the SEL program that is also taught.  So, the warning is that this initial step may not be as easy as it seems.
5. Once you find the “what” your child is being taught, find out the “how.”  There is often “SEL Anchor” or “SEL component” with lessons.  If not, call your district and ask for the scope and sequence or instructional guidelines by grade for the social emotional learning program implemented in the schools.
6. Compare the lessons taught in SEL to the curriculum that has been approved, do they coincide?
7. If you are unsure or have questions, ask for an appointment with the district curriculum coordinator or instructional support. If your district does not have this position, usually the assistant superintendent is the person who handles these questions.
8. The questions you will ask: 

• What is the approved SEL program for our district?  
• When was it approved by the school board?
• Is it a stand alone program or is it integrated in the academic curriculum?
• Can I please have a copy of the learning goals for each year for this program?

9. If you are not satisfied with any of the answers you learn, ask for clarification at a school board meeting.  Usually you must enter your question a month in advance to be heard at a board meeting; you need to be put on the agenda.
10. Most importantly, remain polite.  If you come across as angry and contrary, you will immediately put everyone on defense and it is hard to communicate and look at sticky issues when people are polarized.

Site Council is the only other resource I can give you.  Each school, usually, has a Site Council.  I was on this when I was teaching.  It requires a faculty member, community member and parent.  The Site Council meetings are public and it is at these meetings that school climate and changes are addressed.  You will learn a lot about your school if you are on this committee, in my opinion, this is much more important than the PTA for learning about actual teaching methods or what the school is trying to accomplish.

I want to end with the entire reason for both of these articles: Social Emotional Learning: The Questions You Should be Asking.

What all programs should come down to is are they effective? I found this interesting quote in reference to the way social emotional programs are being taught:
“Unfortunately, in their efforts to respond to the needs of students, many schools have adopted information-oriented, single-issue programs that lack research evidence to support their effectiveness.” 

Social emotional learning is essential for the growth of our children, their mental well being, acclimating to many changes they will encounter in their lifetimes, and interpersonal skills.  

When we actively teach students how to develop their emotional intelligence, we are helping them learn and grow holistically.  Which simply means, we are meeting all of the child’s learning needs.

It is important to know exactly what a social emotional learning program should look like so that parents, administrators, and school board members can address the issue armed with information.

I challenge you to do the research, know the topic, form groups and do the work so that you can help bring an amazing program to your school.

“Don’t make my mistake, kid. Don’t follow orders your whole life. Think for yourself.”
~Barbatus, Ants