Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and crucial for all children’s development

Providing children with social emotional skills to handle life’s challenges, such as regulating emotions and interacting with peers, dealing with conflict, and coping with stress are all important protective factors that buffer against mental health risks.

Schools play a pivotal role in the health and wellbeing education of all children. Building strong social emotional foundations for children and taking the time to nurture their social and emotional needs will not only lead to more productive, self-aware, resilient and socially aware young people in the classroom, but directly correlate to happiness and success as an adult.

At Hamish & Milo, we strongly believe that all children should have access to high-quality social and emotional learning to build and strengthen their skills.

What is social and emotional learning?

In a nutshell, social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which young children develop and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to develop a healthy sense of self, manage their emotions, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships, make responsible decisions and achieve their goals, hopes and dreams.¹

The development of emotional literacy skills is important for developing a sense of self-awareness, boosting self-esteem, encouraging emotional self-regulation, and promoting healthy emotional and social development. Supporting emotional literacy in schools has also been shown to help children engage with their learning and have better educational and life outcomes.

The 5 core competencies of social emotional learning

The CASEL framework, introduced in 1994, is the most widely used model for SEL, emphasising five core skills: self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making.

Influenced by Daniel Goleman² and Adrian Faupel³, we adapted this model and created our own Social and Emotional Literacy Pathway, highlighting the importance of relational practice and attachment in children’s social and emotional growth. We also incorporated three key precursor elements – self-regulated adult, establishing emotional safety, and co-regulation – as these elements must be in place before children can begin to develop their social and emotional competencies.

  • Self-awareness – The ability to recognise emotions, thoughts, and values, and how they influence behaviour, accurately assess our strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and optimism.
  • Self-regulation – The ability to successfully regulate our emotions, thoughts and behaviours, effectively managing stress, controlling impulses, and motivating ourselves.
  • Motivation – The ability to use our emotional resources to achieve goals and the ability to enjoy the learning process and persevere through challenges, and work toward personal and academic success.
  • Empathy – The ability to sense and respond to other people’s emotions with a felt sense of understanding.
  • Social skills – The ability to interact and communicate effectively with others, including understanding social cues, expressing emotions, problem solving and conflict resolution.
Children’s social and emotional skills improved
SEL

¹ Adapted from Fundamentals of SEL – CASEL
² Goleman, D. 1996. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ. London: Bloomsbury.
³ Faupel, A. (ed.) 2003. Emotional Literacy Assessment and Intervention Ages 11-16. Southampton: GL Assessment.