Building Resilience in Children
and Young People
What is Social and
Emotional Learning?
Teacher Professional
Development
What is Social and Emotional Learning?
•
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which children and
young people acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills associated with the
core areas of social and emotional competency
•
SEL programs set out to explicitly teach a range of skills, including those
necessary to:
•

understand and manage emotions

set and achieve positive goals

feel and show empathy for others

establish and maintain positive relationships

make responsible decisions
These skills are dynamic and inter-related and underpin both personal
resilience and healthy relationships
Durlak et al. 2011, CASEL, 2013; Frydenberg, 2010; Hromek & Roffey, 2009
What works in Social and Emotional Learning?
Multi-modal programs that integrate social
problem solving, social, and emotional
understanding work better than traditional
prevention models based on single skills
)
Matthews, Zeidner & Roberts (2004)
Social and Emotional Competencies
CASEL 5 Key Areas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Self-Awareness:
Identifying and recognising emotions; accurate self-perception;
recognising strengths, needs, and values; self-efficacy
Self-Management:
Impulse control and stress management; self-motivation
and discipline; goal setting and organizational skills
Social Awareness:
Perspective taking; empathy; difference recognition;
respect for others
Relationship Skills:
Communication, social engagement, and relationship
building; working cooperatively; negotiation, refusal, and conflict
management;
Help-seeking
Responsible Decision-making:
Problem identification and situation
analysis; problem solving; evaluation and reflection; personal, social, and
ethical responsibility
http://www.casel.org
Social and Emotional Learning Across the
AusVELS Curriculum
SEL skills are emphasised in particular in the AusVELS Personal and Social
General Capabilities, but are also relevant across the Critical and Creative
Thinking General Capabilities, and the Health and Physical Education
(HPE) and English Learning Areas.
The following table outlines how the Building Resilience lesson materials explicitly
address skills in these areas of the Curriculum*
*Note that the HPE and General Capabilities curriculum are currently aligned to the Australian Curriculum and will be updated
in line with the Victorian AusVELS when it is released. For further information see: www.acara.edu.au
Social and Emotional Learning
Lesson Materials available across all year levels:
Primary
Foundation
Level 1-2
Level 3-4
Level 5-6
Secondary
Level 7-8
Level 9-10
Year 11-12
(VCE/VCAL)
Social and Emotional Learning
GENERAL CAPABILITIES
LEARNING AREAS
Personal and Social
Critical and Creative Health and Physical
Thinking
Education
•
•
•
•
•
Self-awareness
Self-management
Social awareness
Social management
Inquiring –
identifying, exploring
and clarifying
information and ideas
• Generating ideas,
possibilities and
actions
• Reflecting on
thinking and
processes
• Analysing,
synthesising and
evaluating reasoning
and procedures
•
•
Being Healthy Safe
and Active
Communicating and
Interacting for health
and wellbeing
English
•
•
Speaking and
Listening
Reading and viewing
Social and Emotional Learning in the Post
Compulsory Years
The Building Resilience SEL lesson materials designed for the postcompulsory years can be used in a variety of ways:
• specific VCE study or orientation camps
• programs designed to help VCE students manage exam stress and learn
relaxation techniques
• daily or weekly 20-60 minute home group or pastoral sessions
• careers education programs
• part of the school wellbeing team’s response to specific VCE/VCAL issues
or events
• as source material for creative writing
• as a regular or one off element of the English classroom
• lunchtime or after school activities
• special ‘days’ or events held for post-compulsory students
• as an integral part of the VCAL curriculum
Reflect
What does your school do to promote the general
personal and social capabilities of:
• self-awareness?
• social awareness?
• self-management?
• social management?
Social and Emotional Learning
Key Ideas
• Social and emotional capabilities are teachable
• All students benefit from being taught SEL
• Student mental health and engagement in learning
improves when they are taught SEL
• Evidence-based programs work best
Social and Emotional Learning
Research Shows the Benefits of SEL Programs
A meta-analysis of over 200 primary and secondary SEL
programs where participants participated in rigorously
designed and well-taught SEL programs (as compared with
students in control schools) showed :
• More positive social behaviour
• Less risky and disruptive behaviour
• Improvements in academic performance with an
average 11% gain in academic achievement
Durlak et al. 2011
Social and Emotional Learning
Effective SEL Programs:
• Address a broad range of risk
and protective factors
• Are age-appropriate and culturally
attuned
• Use strengths-based
approaches
• Are augmented by a broad and ongoing health and wellbeing
curriculum
• Utilise collaborative teaching
strategies
• Engage students in problemsolving and critical thinking
• Assist students to relate their
learning to real life situations
• Incorporate messages which
support development of healthy
societal norms
• Are delivered in a longitudinal
fashion
• Target specific behaviours as well
as general life-skills
• Are located within a positive,
inclusive and participatory school
environment
• Make effective use of games as a
method to enhance peer relations
• Teach critical thinking and
problem-solving skills
• Teach self-calming strategies
Social and Emotional Learning
Collaborative learning strategies are central to
effective SEL programs
• Collaborative learning strategies include: role-play and simulation; small
group problem-solving discussions; critical-thinking tasks; skillsdevelopment exercises; themed games
• These strategies help students to think about the challenges that they
may encounter in their lives and develop life-skills to cope with
challenges/stressors
• Good programs give students an opportunity to learn and apply their
skills and to rehearse for future situations
Social and Emotional Learning
What do teachers need to be able to deliver SEL
programs well?
Use of collaborative or participatory teaching strategies is not the
norm for some teachers
To deliver SEL curriculum confidently and well, teachers need to:
• Understand the educational rationale for the approach
• Be prepared to use collaborative learning tasks
• Have good engagement with their students
• Use effective and positive classroom management practices
• Have adequate time to prepare for the lesson
Social and Emotional Learning
When are well-designed
programs not effective?
evidence-based
SEL
When fidelity is lost in implementation
• Programs are not effective or are less effective when poorly delivered
sections omitted or not taught in the spirit of the program). Breakdown
is most common in the loss of the interactive or participatory
components of the program
When programs are not supported during implementation by
effective:
• system policies
• school leadership
• professional training for teachers
Research shows that the fidelity breakdown is so common that we should anticipate it and plan for it by
supporting teachers to use collaborative learning strategies
(Payton, J., Weissberg, R.P., Durlak, J.A., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., Schellinger, K.B., & Pachan, M. (2008)
Social and Emotional Learning
Building Resilience Lesson Materials
The Building Resilience SEL materials are informed by a strong
evidence base that highlights the elements of effective SEL curricula
These lessons use a range of collaborative learning activities such as:
•paired sharing
•small group problem-solving discussions
•scenario-based discussions
•skills-development exercises
•role-plays
•storytelling
•games
•experiential activities
•class discussions
Social and Emotional Learning
Building Resilience SEL materials: Topics Covered
Topic 1:
Emotional literacy
Topic 2:
Personal strengths
Topic 3:
Positive coping
Topic 4:
Problem-solving
Topic 5:
Stress management
Topic 6:
Help-seeking
Social and Emotional Learning
Teaching SEL Improves Teacher’s SEL
Interview findings suggest that use of the SEL program had a
positive influence on the teachers' overall teaching techniques and
their broader social behaviour.
Most of the teachers reported that they felt they had become more
democratic and student-centered in their teaching more socially skilled and
more aware of individuals' needs and problems
Reflect
What practices do you use to enhance your own:
•Self-awareness?
•Self-management?
•Social awareness?
•Social management?
Social and Emotional Learning
Useful Links
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and
Emotional Learning (CASEL) leads research and
innovation in the area of social and emotional
learning (SEL).
http://www.casel.org/
Social and Emotional Learning
References
•
Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). The
Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of
School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405-432.
•
Frydenberg, E. (2010). Think positively! A course for developing coping skills in
adolescents. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
•
Hromek, R., & Roffey, S. (2009). Promoting Social and Emotional Learning With Games:
''It's Fun and We Learn Things''. Simulation & Gaming, 40, 626-644.
•
Larsen, T. and Samdal, O. (2012) The Importance of Teachers' Feelings of Self Efficacy in
Developing Their Pupils' Social and Emotional Learning: A Norwegian Study of Teachers'
Reactions to the Second Step Program. School Psychology International, 33(6), p. 631645
•
Payton, J., Weissberg, R.P., Durlak, J.A., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., Schellinger, K.B., &
Pachan, M. (2008). The positive impact of social and emotional learning for kindergarten
to eighth-grade students: Findings from three scientific re- views. Chicago, IL:
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning