What is Social Emotional Learning? 13-06-2024
There’s something missing in the modern schooling system. In a day and age where skills are often seen as superior to knowledge, the idea of schooling seems to fall back on a lot of things. One of these things is an idea of how to function in modern society. Noticing the gap between skills and knowledge, the idea of social emotional learning came into play. And it began to change the ways in which people saw schooling and its importance in the world.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. People with strong social-emotional skills are better able to cope with everyday challenges and benefit academically, professionally, and socially. The idea of social emotional learning is to place an emphasis on the need for the person behind the knowledge. While education and being smart help individuals succeed in life,the need to have empathy, understand emotions, and develop skills should be taken into consideration. With social emotional learning, children thrive, education systems receive an upgrade, teachers are able to get through to students, and most importantly, society as a whole strengthens with well rounded individuals.

According to the The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) organization, social emotional learning can be addressed in five broad categories: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Most SEL curriculum follow these five broad categories in the ways in which educators teach. While each school and curriculum follow a very different set of rules, the main principles of SEL continue to be maintained. Some ways in which SEL is incorporated into school curriculums is either directly through an introduction of a new topic or indirectly in changing the teaching methods that were used earlier. In both cases, the outcomes are relatively the same. With a lesson to students on how to deal with their emotions and function in society.
In India, the most notable case of an implementation of social emotional learning comes from Andaman. With the acceptance of the Andaman social emotional learning curriculum comes DC’s project Abhyuday. Abhyuday aims to enhance the delivery, implementation, and acceptance of the Anandam Curriculum's social-emotional learning (SEL) initiative in Uttarakhand Government Schools. DC firmly believes that SEL will improve students' social and emotional well-being, thus contributing to their overall development and academic success. In collaboration with the government, schools, and teachers' community, DC intends to develop a state-wide SEL and Life Skills vision.Other projects under DC such as STiR Education also look to improve the skills and development of students either through a change in teaching methods or a change in the way we as individuals look at education.
Driving the change for a better tomorrow does not come easy and learning is always accompanied by unlearning and relearning which takes time and effort. But at DC, we hope for a time when the idea of learning being part of what it takes to be a healthy individual becomes a reality.