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Whole-Child Education: Approaches to Develop SEL Competencies in Students

Students who are equipped to deal with problems that affect them on a personal level are then better able to navigate the pressures of adult life

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Today’s world is ever-diversifying with people having different religions, beliefs, capabilities, etc. One should be equipped with certain skills to adjust well in today’s world. The classroom is the place where children are first exposed to humans who hail from a range of different backgrounds, hold differing beliefs, and have unique capabilities. Classrooms should aim at the holistic development of students to make them productive, self-aware, and socially aware citizens. SEL or Social- Emotional Learning aims at the same.

SEL is a methodology by which students are helped to understand and feel their emotions and not only learn empathy, self-regulation, persistence, self-awareness, and mindfulness but demonstrate as well. These learned skills help students take positive, responsible decisions, make positive relationships with others, and create a framework to achieve their goals.

SEL involves five core competencies that can be applied in the classroom, at home, and in students’ communities. These five core competencies are:
1. Self-awareness: the ability to identify and assess your thoughts, feelings, and values, as well as how they intersect with your behaviors
2. Self-management: the ability to not only identify but regulate emotions, thoughts, and actions
3. Responsible decision-making: the ability to make positive, constructive choices about your behavior
4. Social awareness: the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, as well as learn social and ethical behavior
5. Relationship skills: the ability to get along and make meaningful connections with people in their life.

Here are some approaches to teaching these five skills to students

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Self-Awareness

Self-awareness can be developed by:
a) Mindfulness Meditation – a Mindfulness is the ability to focus on the present and accept one’s circumstances. It is a self-awareness skill that can significantly reduce stress and anxiety. To teach mindfulness in class, put on a guided meditation recording or read one aloud to your students. Encourage them to put their thoughts and feelings aside and focus on the meditation as much as they can. For younger students, simpler breathing exercises can be tried to help them develop mindfulness.
b) Reflective Writing – Reflective writing helps students develop self-awareness, empathy, and compassion. Students can be given five to ten minutes during a period (especially in languages) to write about a prompt that encourages self-reflection. By practicing reflective writing every day, students can
learn to consider their thoughts and feelings in a self-aware way. Here are a few prompts that encourage self-analysis:
When was the happiest moment in your life? Why was it so happy?
What is your wildest dream?
Who is your best friend and how does he/she make you feel?
Why is kindness important?
What things do you like and dislike about yourself and why?

Self-Management
a) Self-Management Party Games – There are many popular children’s games through which children can be taught how to regulate their behaviors. Turn on some music, sort children into groups, and play any of these well-known games that model self-management:
• Musical Chairs • Follow the Leader • Red Rover • Wait Five • Simon Says
After playing these games, bring your students back together for a class discussion on what they learned about listening and being respectful to others.
b) SMART Goal Challenge – In social and emotional learning, self-motivation is an essential component. This activity helps students learn self-management. At the beginning of the month or quarter, work with each student to set a SMART goal for themselves which should be Specific, Measurable, Agreed-Upon, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Observe your students several times throughout the month to measure their progress and support them if any challenges arise.

Responsible Decision-Making
a) Class Contract – Class Contracts can help students develop responsible decision-making. Putting a contract together with your students will surely make them feel that their voices are heard and they are listened to. To make this activity interesting and exciting for students, treats, and rewards for meeting academic goals can be included.
b) Student Council – Teachers should involve their entire class in the student council. By bringing your students to a platform to discuss classroom needs and upcoming events and to take appropriate decisions, the whole class can be involved in the responsible decision-making process.

Social Awareness
a) Classroom Service Projects – Service activities connect students to the world around them in a fun and meaningful way. Through classroom service activities when they help others, students develop empathy. Here are a few service project ideas:
• Donate clothing and books to nearby slum areas or underprivileged communities.
• Visit a local nursing home or an orphanage.
• Clean up litter around your school or in a nearby area.
• Raise money for your school or a charity through a bake sale
b) Diversity Story Time – Teaching diversity in the classroom is an essential component of social awareness. During read-aloud story times, the teacher must keep in mind that stories should be about people of different cultures, races/ethnicities, religions, and other backgrounds. After reading one of these books to your students, discuss how differences make the world a better place and ask what they learned from the story.

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Relationship Skills
a) Team Puzzle Game – To play this game, divide your students into teams of three to five and give each one a jigsaw puzzle to put together. Then instruct them to complete the puzzle by working together as a group. To encourage teamwork and add challenge, give your students a time limit for completing the puzzle. When students work together, even younger grades can put together complex puzzles. Your students will be amazed by how much they can get done with a little collaboration.
b) Fairy Tale Read-alongs – Conflict resolution is a skill that helps students throughout their lives to develop and keep better relationships. Fairy tale read-along can help your class learn this skill. Choose a beloved fairy tale to read as a class, like Union Is Strength, Goldilocks, the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As you read the story to your students, ask them the following questions:
What is this story’s main conflict?
How can the characters work together to make everyone happy?

Students who are equipped to deal with problems that affect them on a personal level are then better able to navigate the pressures of adult life. When educators are able to see which students do not grasp the core pillars of SEL, they can better work with them at an early age and help these students develop better self-control, empathy, and other positive qualities. Learning positive behaviors that extend beyond a purely academic level of achievement can help these students develop the “soft skills” required of many jobs, such as teamwork, and ability to understand others, and problem-solving. This can help set these students up for success throughout their school years and beyond.

Author – Aman Kumar Kanwar, Principal, Director, MBLMIS Kangra, Himachal Pradesh

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