To understand this more deeply, I teamed up with a colleague to interview two academic scholars who have been examining SEL through a critical lens via school-based observations and close analysis of literature and curriculum.Ĭlio Stearns, a researcher, author and assistant professor of education at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, who is in multiple classrooms a week working with and observing pre-service teachers, has been asking interesting questions about how SEL is helpful and how it can be inadvertently harmful.
HAVING CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS TRAINING NYC HOW TO
The question is: How can we widen the spectrum of ways it can be critiqued?Īs a qualitative researcher and teacher educator in the educational psychology program at Washington State University, I’ve been following the debate and exploring this question of how to broaden critical conversations. We need to have more critical conversations about SEL. Cierra Kaler-Jones, a social justice educator and researcher, agrees, writing that “SEL devoid of culturally-affirming practices is not SEL at all.” “Without also changing the teaching behaviors, curricula, and school policies that can be assaultive to our students, particularly students of color, incorporating social-emotional learning into teaching will not be enough," writes Dena Simmons, a previous educator and the founder of LiberatED, a collective that develops school-based resources to address SEL alongside racial justice. Without acknowledging the reality of systemic racism, for instance, some educators argue that SEL can perpetuate a mentality in which social injustices will presumably be solved only if we can “fix” the flawed social and emotional identities of marginalized students. While some SEL advocates are quick to refute these criticisms by explaining that SEL is not, in fact, associated with a political agenda, others argue that SEL cannot and should not be separated from systemic issues deemed political. At the same time, a small but adamant group of voices-typically led by politically conservative community groups-have placed SEL under attack, turning it into a controversial concept.
Recent surveys show widespread support of SEL skills from parents, teachers and school administrators, and more curricular programs are being used in districts across the U.S.
Social and emotional learning (SEL) has picked up steam in the past few decades.
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