Society faced dramatic changes over the last 18 months, and students are emerging with experiences and challenges not seen in recent history. Disruptions to daily life, both in the classroom and at home, have caused many to fall behind as learners. For some students, the only mental health support they could access was at the school they attended. For some, the months of uncertainty have caused significant emotional and physical burdens, which could be compounded for students with inadequate social and emotional skills or mental health challenges before the pandemic.
As with any school subject, children need to be taught how to accomplish or master new skills. Social-emotional curriculum is no different. More than just a fancy buzzword, it’s an approach to integrate critical life skills that help each learner reach their individual potential and get through times of uncertainty in healthy and positive ways. Here are some more proven benefits that come from a social-emotional learning, or SEL, curriculum.
Self-Awareness
A social-emotional curriculum promotes self-awareness. This helps students develop a better understanding of their beliefs, goals, emotions, strengths and weaknesses. By recognizing the connection between thoughts and actions, students learn to make decisions with greater insight and perspective.
Self-Management
Once a social-emotional curriculum helps students understand their emotions and actions, they can learn to regulate them. Through teachings on self-management, young people can practice impulse control, making it easier to achieve their goals faster.
Improved Relationships
For many students, starting and maintaining healthy relationships can be hard to accomplish. A social-emotional curriculum helps establish and demonstrate social norms in a practical way that young people can understand and apply to their lives. They walk away with a better understanding of cooperation, listening, managing conflict, and recognizing emotions.
Increased Confidence
We all want students to feel good about themselves as individuals. SEL curriculum and the skills it teaches helps students set and accomplish their goals. This increases confidence in their ability to overcome future challenges and reach their goals.
Enabling students to cope with the uncertain life experiences from the last few years — and equipping them to better handle all the challenges life brings is a goal all educators share. Social-emotional curriculum from EmpowerU can help schools achieve this goal more quickly.
