Abstract
This systematic review examines the strengths and challenges of social-emotional learning (SEL) programming from primary through postsecondary grades. SEL programs are school-based preventive interventions that aim to improve individuals' social emotional skills and behavioral development. CASEL's seminal work on SEL are contextualized using the universal anti-social behavior of bullying. Additionally, the chapter looks at equity issues that address both students in special education and those in higher education that relate to SEL and culturally responsive teaching (CRT). The chapter will conclude with practical strategies that can be used to support SEL and CRT for teachers and students.
TopBackground
In SEL programs, an integral part of education and human development, are the five core competencies of social-emotional learning reviewed from above: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (CASEL.org, nd). The characteristics of each competency are adapted in Figure 1 (Characteristic of CASEL’s Five SEL Competencies). In the world of education, relationship skills and responsible decision-making are a must when applying any social emotional learning program in a district. According to CASEL, relationship skills and responsible decision-making are main aspects of their core structure in SEL programs.
Key Terms in this Chapter
First Generation Students: The first student in their family to attend institutes of higher education.
Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT): A teaching pedagogy that connects students’ experiences, culture and perspectives into their learning.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): SEL is the process through which people acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel, and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions ( CASEL, n.d. ).
Bullying Victimization: Unwanted and aggressive behavior involving a real or a perceived imbalance of power that is used to victimize an individual. Bullying may be physical, social, or verbal.
Cyberbullying Victimization: The use of communication technologies and information to support repeated, deliberate, and hostile behavior by a group or an individual, with the intent to harm others.