SEL or social emotional learning is a combination of many different
things. For example, it is the development of self-awareness, self- control and
interpersonal skills that allow people to be successful in different aspects of
their lives such as school, work and even their home environments. In the classroom
students need to be aware of their surroundings, show empathy, and be able to
function when things change rapidly. Having strong social emotional learning
skills allows students to do this without much interruption into their day.
Students who lack these skills often struggle when things change, do not understand
self- control or even have special awareness.
Embedding SEL into our curriculum is essential to help
students build positive relationships, become aware of themselves, gain self-
control and even begin to regulate their own emotions by using words to express
how they are feeling, instead of showing how they feel. This is much different
than traditional education because it looks at the child as a whole and
provides them with tools and opportunities to express themselves while gaining
the knowledge to build strong relationships with students and staff within the
classroom setting.
