The education system exists to equip learners with prerequisite skills to help them navigate through life successfully. However, most educational institutions are yet to achieve this objective, as there is an overemphasis on academics. As a result, the school system fails in molding an all-around individual who can fit into a society perfectly. Nonetheless, the situation can be reversed if the schools can adopt the social emotional concept. In essence, social-emotional learning is an attempt to create a curriculum, which addresses social and emotional needs of learners in addition to their academic needs. As it is, much research has been conducted with the aim of establishing just how school administrators, teachers, and policymakers can achieve this objective. From the research conducted so far, it is evident that addressing the social and emotional needs of learners increases their chances of excelling in academics.
Social Emotional Learning Matrix
Article
For the purposes of understanding the concept of social-emotional learning, it is crucial to focus on various articles, which shed light on the concept. As established, much research has gone into determining the tenets which help establish social-emotional learning process. The first article, which focuses on this concept, is Yoder’s Teaching the Whole Child: Instructional Practices That Support Social-Emotional Learning in Three Teacher Evaluation Framework. This article lays the groundwork while it comes to the importance of teaching the learner in all aspects apart from emphasizing on the academics. Moreover, the article sheds light on the role that each of the concerned educational stakeholders should play to make social-emotional learning possible. The second article is What Does Evidence-Based Instruction in Social and Emotional Learning Actually Look Like in Practice? By Linda Dusenbury and others. This article just like the first focuses on ways of enhancing social-emotional learning. Additionally, the article establishes four approaches that can be used to enhance social and emotional development in learner
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Pedagogical Recommendations
The articles go ahead to give more profound insights when it comes to the incorporation of social-emotional learning (SEL) in the mainstream curriculum. In essence, the materials agree that the existing curriculum overly emphasizes on students competencies in academics while omitting the importance of including SELs in the curriculum. The reason for this obvious omission is the fact that the school hours are restrictive denying teachers time to address the social and emotional needs of learners (Dusenbury et al., 2014). Moreover, the curriculum is so demanding to the extent of exhausting students and teachers which then comes in the way of their social and emotional development. However, the situation can be reversed if the concerned stakeholders implement SEL in their learning exercise. As it is, learners who are competent emotionally and socially are in a better position to tackle challenges that arise in the course of learning (Yoder, 2014). Overall, the articles have established that learners need to have several social-emotional competencies if they are to survive the academic demands of the time.
Comparison of the Current School Practice with the Recommendations
In as much as social-emotional learning is very crucial in the overall development of learners, most learning institutions are yet to adopt this kind of learning. Most of the schools have not adopted the system as it tends to conflict with the demanding curriculum which takes most of the school hours. In essence, the curriculum overly emphasizes academic competencies, which are measured by students’ test scores. Consequently, the teachers have no time to address the social and emotional needs of the learners. However, this should not be the case considering that the right education is the one that addresses all the needs of learners (Yoder, 2014). As it is research shows that learners who are competent in social and emotional learning are in a better position of excelling in their academics. The reason for this is the fact that they are more aware of their strengths and weaknesses as well as have good relationships with others (Dusenbury et al., 2014). In turn, the learners can understand that they can ask for assistance from others, which makes their academic achievement possible.
References
Dusenbury, L. et al. (2015). What does evidence-based instruction in social and emotional learning actually look like in practice? Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 1-5.
Yoder, N. (2014). Teaching the whole child: instructional practices that support social-emotional learning in three teacher evaluation frameworks. American Institutes for Research, 1-44.
