Social emotional learning

  • 15 minutes

Develop learners’ abilities to manage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions

Social emotional learning (SEL) is essential to success in school and in life. Learning is an intrinsically social and interactive process. Social emotional learning aims to develop learners’ abilities to manage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Read Chapter 1 of A new vision for education: Fostering social and emotional learning through technology. Think about how social emotional learning intercepts all aspects of learning and the impact on learners if SEL needs are not addressed.

Illustration of the 2022 Skills Outlook Infographic by the World Economic Forum - Link to text version below.

Link to text version of infographic 2022 skills outlook by the World Economic Forum

Meet the social emotional needs of learners in a remote setting

Microsoft has a plethora of resources available to support social emotional learning work in the school system.

  • Teams now includes the Reflection extension that allows educators and leaders to check in with learners and staff to monitor how they’re feeling and support work-life balance
  • SchoolDay is an app that integrates into Microsoft Teams and supports learner wellbeing
  • Minecraft: Education Edition offers lessons and worlds to promote wellness and social-emotional skills building

Select a resource that aligns with the needs of your school or school system. Consider which resources your school needs most, both inside and outside of class.

With your leadership team, review the Reopening Schools Tool on page 23 of Education Reimagined.

  • Make a list of things your organization is doing well to support learners with SEL in and out of class.
  • Make a list of potential next steps and action steps that you and your leadership team will review at your next meeting.

As a school leader, what change might you make immediately to ensure the culture of the school supports social emotional learning?