Why isn’t current social-emotional curriculum enough?

With the start of the new decade slowly fading into the distance, we are confronted by the problems that need to be solved over the next few years. If Mental Wellness isn’t at the top of your list, then here are some things you should consider:

One in three students identify with having a Mental Wellness issue. 

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those under 34. 

Depression is the leading cause of disability, worldwide. 

Take a moment to let those facts sink in.  

Numbers regarding high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression are rising with few people thinking that there needs to be a solution. As a society, we are focused on external factors - our social media followers, the way we look, how much money we have - instead of internal factors like our mental wellbeing, self-care, and our physiological reactions to the situations we are in. 

We forget about the most important voice we should be listening to - our self. 

Current State of Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Many people are unaware of the value behind controlling thoughts and self-regulatory behavior. When we take a look at the most successful and well-adjusted people in the world, we can observe a specific set of skills that are widely used.

Since the mid-90s, the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has brought together resources and started the foundation of modern SEL curriculum. CASEL identified five core competencies that are at its foundation: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision Making, Social Awareness, and Relationship Skills. 

These foundations include definitions and why they are important to student development. CASEL has gone on to gather over two decades of research that shows SEL curriculum can lead to increased academic achievement, decreased dropout rates, and a strong economic return on investment.

But what has really been accomplished?

Change is Needed

Though CASEL’s layout and identification of these key areas were important, there is no pathway on how to begin to teach this information. A lack of standardized language, approach, and format used across schools makes it difficult to choose which SEL approach is the most effective. 

One of the biggest challenges in the current SEL landscape is many times terms are used in multiple ways or the same skill or competency will be called by different names across programs.  

Furthermore, CASEL only identifies broad terms that cover self-orientation, relational, and behavioral skills. They fail to see the opportunity in providing other crucial skills like mindfulness, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance.  There are no guidelines on how to cover these topics, which can lead to poor implementation and results.

We can’t outline a set of skills and call it good enough. Students have to work with the material and relate the information back to self. They need skill-building activities in relevant terms that will allow them to learn and figure out to apply the skills in broader areas of life. 

Pair the lack of standardization of language with poorly executed skill-building activities and we see that SEL needs an upgrade in its developmental sequence for implementation. 

Building Skills

Students are self-identifying that they are not prepared for the future. Research backs that 21st-century skills are needed for students to succeed in work, life, and community building outside of a school environment. 

Going beyond the five areas identified by CASEL, there is also a need to teach skills like resiliency, flexibility, adaptability, and collaboration. A skill like self-regulation needs to be taught before social awareness, but also needs to be tied back into the whole when expanding on social-emotional foundations. 

Students also need to be taught these skills throughout their development. A 5-year-old can understand basic emotions, but a 10-year-old can understand how they can change behaviors to change an emotional outcome. Later, a 16-year-old may struggle with understanding the basic emotions that are associated with a romantic relationship. 

A New, Comprehensive SEL Plan

The problems of our past are not the problems of our future. If we continue to use traditional, reactive methods to help students with stress, anxiety, and depression, we will lose. 

And truthfully, right now we are losing. 

A comprehensive SEL plan needs to incorporate more than what CASEL has identified. It needs to be culturally relevant, with a systematic approach through an evidence-based curriculum. Students need to be able to emotionally connect to the information, while also understanding the content through different developmental stages.  

To quote the proverb, give a student a fish you will feed him for a day; teach a student to fish and you will feed her for a lifetime.

We have an obligation to teach the life skills to manage stress, anxiety, and depression. Otherwise, the problems I referenced at the beginning of this post will only continue to get worse. 

So, let’s teach our kids how to fish. Otherwise, what future do we have to look forward to?