Social-Emotional Learning & Development: Why SEL is a Hot Topic in Today’s World
Welcome to Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational blog. This is the second installment in our series, Social-Emotional Learning & Development: Why it is Essential in Education Today. I’m Elizabeth Blaetz, Head of School at Vanguard, and today we’ll be sharing insights on: Why Social-Emotional Learning is a Hot Topic in Today’s World.
How Social-Emotional Development Supports Children in an Ever-Changing World Culture
Social-emotional learning is not new. Children have been doing it for years. They have interactions and adapt their ideas and behaviors based on the feedback they receive from the people around them. But like when gifted children teach themselves to read, there are often holes in their knowledge. These holes are critical in social-emotional development. In addition to this, our world is changing at an exponential rate, and, with technology, the world has now replaced the neighborhood community. So much information is coming at these children; so many wonderful opportunities, a wide array of things that they can grow up to be. Many of them might even be unknown to us right now. Societal roles and careers are becoming more personalized through innovation and entrepreneurship. Even gender identification is becoming more personalized, as people indicate their pronoun preferences. With all of this going on around children, it is a very confusing world.
I wanted to share a cute conversation that was at a table of kindergarteners who were working together. One child said to another, “Are you a boy or a girl?” The long-haired child being asked replied he was a boy. And the child asking, also with long hair, said, “Oh, so am I.” Their conversation continued without skipping a beat. These kindergarteners are asking questions that would never have been socially acceptable in the past. But our world is so open to new and innovative ways of thinking about people that it’s like they took off the guardrails. Suddenly, there isn’t a straight path for children to follow. They need to learn about these differences. They need to understand who they are in this world and how they fit in. We need to do some exploring in schools to help them find their path.
Strategies to Support Social-Emotional Growth
Social-emotional learning is a lifelong process because life, now more than ever, is full of changes. Family units are more diverse. Children go off to school earlier and stay in school longer. As children grow, their social lives extend further from home. They become engaged in athletics or social groups in their community and join special interest clubs. Each step of the way, they need to develop new strategies that will help them feel secure in overcoming challenges, in ways to advocate for their needs, and in how to find innovative ways of sharing their strengths in their community. They also have to develop social confidence to interact positively in groups. This might be groups at work, groups at school, personal interactions and social relationships. This learning is happening 24/7, and the guidance of adults in all aspects of their lives is essential. Today, while children, teens, and young adults are going through the various stages of developing these social-emotional skills and strategies, consider the additional impact of a pandemic. Just having the knowledge that there is a high risk of illness and potential death because of this disease is overwhelming for children. Suddenly, social habits are changing. Don’t shake somebody’s hand, don’t share your toys, don’t attend social gatherings, and for heaven’s sake, don’t give somebody a hug.
Suddenly, those things are dangerous. Everyone is mandated to remain at home, keep six feet between themselves and other people, and wear a mask. This throws a huge wrench into the social-emotional learning a child’s been doing. Social-emotional learning is needed for parents and children alike. And we are all scrambling to learn how to work and socialize online. All of us, but especially our children, need support to understand our changing emotions in this new normal. Children of all ages have to learn new ways to find the support once received through the community. Now more than ever, we have to support this social-emotional learning needed as our children are in the process of, yet again, transitioning between feelings of safety because of the vaccine and renewed fear as new strains of the virus evolve.
Developing Social-Emotional Skills Benefits Growth
Children need to feel safe in order to learn. The pandemic has made them feel at risk. They need help to manage and understand personal emotions and social cues in a rapidly changing world. In these turbulent times, our children have to be able to understand and express their feelings. When a child is unable to express and manage their emotions, undesirable behaviors appear. When these behaviors occur, teachers, parents, mentors and coaches need to take the time to help the child express the true problem, not just the behavior. Then they need to teach the child to process problem-solving so she can develop a strategy to overcome the problem. Every child needs to develop these social-emotional skills to feel secure and to achieve success as they continue to grow. For more resources about social-emotional learning, visit vanguardgiftedacademy.org.
Thank you for reading our blog on social-emotional learning. We hope that Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational blog will continue to be a valuable resource for you. If you have any comments or questions about what we’ve shared today, please visit Vanguard’s website or call us at (224) 213-0087.