Before facilitating a session with the association of community educators of BC last week, I realized why I'm so committed to social emotional learning. It comes down to 3 key ideas social emotional learning stands for:
Learners matter - learner ideas, insights, thoughts, and feelings are understood to be worthy of attention and focus
Rapport matters - time and energy are needed to be interested and engaged with all learners
Frameworks and models to guide and inspire practice matter - the following social emotional learning frameworks and models teach us how to incorporate social emotional learning into practice: First Nations Education Steering Committee's First Peoples Principles of Learning, CASEL's Social Emotional Learning framework, First Nations Health Authority's Perspective on Health & Wellness, BC Ministry of Education's Early Learning Framework Principles and REiL Learning's REiL model. None of these tools are prescriptive. Instead, they offer us opportunities and ways to create learning which builds connection, engagement, rapport, and increased understanding. Some other ways to strengthen social emotional learning are:
•Be curious about our triggers
•Ask – why am I reacting this way to this learner?
•Model being aware of our strengths & our uncertainties
Social emotional learning reminds us that learning is a human experience. One idea I'm always inviting participants of pro-d sessions I facilitate to do is to try something new each year. This experience allows us to stay connected with what it's like to be asked to do something new, and the excitement, fear, uncertainty which can arise. This allows us to grow in understanding and compassion for our students.
How do you create and build social emotional learning in your learning space?