Although social and emotional competencies and their role in human lives are recognized worldwide, there is no universally official definition of them. Emotional intelligence, psychosocial competencies, socio-affective skills, etc.: they have all kinds of names. Over the years, constants have nevertheless emerged, and various benchmarks have materialized.
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If we recognize that these social and emotional competencies are transversal and intrinsically linked to school learning, it is clear that they are rarely the subject of explicit teaching at school, even if they are taught as other school subjects (Oliviera et al., 2021; Rimm-Kauffman and Hamre, 2010). Moreover, in order to teach them and reinvest them into everyday school activities, teachers must first have developed them for themselves.
Affective or social-emotional competencies play a major role in teaching and learning. However, these competencies are not stagnant: they are competencies that anyone can learn to develop—but not just in any manner! It is in this perspective that developing social-emotional competencies becomes a major subject in teachers’ professional training and educational arsenal.
Sometimes we seem to be better advised and equipped in matters of financial health than in matters of mental health. At least there seems to be less stigma surrounding the former. In addition, this so-called advice tailored to financial investing, i.e. intended to help you plan and ensure long-term financial stability, can be just as useful to us in a parallel objective: that of maintaining, in a preventive manner, psychological balance.
Here are four ways to support students' social and emotional well-being during the transition from online to in-person learning—each tied to core SEL competencies from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
