Take Rubric CTA Arrow
alt text

Focus Area 1A

Engage All Stakeholders in Foundational Learning

Engage all members of the school community in foundational learning opportunities to help them understand their role in schoolwide SEL.

Commitment to schoolwide SEL is a long-term process in which all members of the school community internalize the critical place of SEL in each student’s education and build a shared understanding of their role in fostering SEL (Hall & Hord, 2015). Once assembled, the SEL team can create opportunities for key stakeholders to gain foundational knowledge of SEL.

It is recommended that foundational learning opportunities take place early in the school year or soon after prioritizing schoolwide SEL. Many schools begin with a one-hour presentation during an all-staff meeting or at department and grade-level team meetings.

CASEL provides a free course, an Introduction to SEL, that can be taken individually online or facilitated with a group. An SEL 101 sample introductory presentation and video and a presentation on SEL supporting research have been provided here to help get the team started. You can learn more and inquire about professional services from CASEL here.

If you have already begun providing foundational learning opportunities, reflect on these questions to identify areas for continuous improvement:

Are foundational SEL learning opportunities provided for all school staff in the first year of implementation?

After the first year of implementation, are foundational learning opportunities provided at least annually for new school staff, families, community partners, and as part of the onboarding process?

Can all members of the school community discuss SEL’s importance and its impact on student outcomes?

Do all members of the school community understand their own role in helping students develop social and emotional competencies?

Based on your responses, you’ll want to develop a plan to address the foundational learning needs you’ve identified. Consider the different learning needs of your stakeholder groups:

  • The SEL Team will be the school’s source for information about schoolwide SEL. Some team members may be learning about SEL for the first time. The team may choose to seek foundational learning opportunities from the district office, community partners, or outside organizations and conferences. The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL is also intended to support SEL teams in developing their knowledge around SEL implementation. Before the team engages the rest of the school community, it’s necessary for the team to develop a common language and understanding of SEL; be able to communicate how SEL can be helpful for students, staff, and families; and understand how the team will support implementation (see our Workshops page for information about CASEL’s professional learning for teams).
  • School Staff – The introduction of schoolwide SEL is an opportunity to energize staff, demonstrate the power of SEL, and begin establishing a common language. Staff may be concerned about adding “one more thing” to their plates. To address this concern, introduce schoolwide SEL as a lever for achieving many of the school’s existing priorities and connect it to goals in the school’s continuous improvement plan (Focus Area 1B will help you deepen this connection).
  • Families – Families are a child’s first teacher and an essential factor in the cultivation of social and emotional competencies throughout a child’s life. When families and schools work together, they can build strong connections that reinforce social and emotional skill development. Cultural awareness and responsiveness are critical to successful family partnerships. Awareness and celebration of the strengths and cultures represented in the school and styles of communication within those cultures help schools to effectively engage families and all members of the school community.
  • Community Partners, such as out-of-school time providers and other community organizations, are also key partners in shaping the social and emotional development of students and play an important role in ensuring that SEL becomes interwoven into the fabric of students’ lives both during and after school. Schools may choose to include community partners and out-of-school time providers in a presentation alongside the school staff or hold a separate session for partners.

Use the tool below to help create initial learning opportunities for these key stakeholder groups.

Planning Foundational Learning for the School Community

This tool is designed to help SEL leaders prepare a broad plan and access resources to support foundational learning about SEL.

download

For all of the groups above, you may want to begin with an interactive introduction to SEL with the following basic agenda:

  • An engaging opening activity that demonstrates the power of SEL.
  • What is SEL?  Videos and information on CASEL’s 5 Competency Framework can be found here, along with a reflection protocol to use with small or large groups.
  • Why is SEL important?
  • How can SEL affect the experiences, academic success, and lifelong outcomes of students?
  • How is SEL promoted in the school and classroom and within the family and community?
  • A closing activity that prompts staff to think optimistically about the future of SEL in the school.

Our free, one-hour online course is an all-audiences introduction to SEL that includes videos, application activities, and a facilitation guide. Additionally, here is our sample SEL 101 presentation and video.

This information may need to be presented multiple times to reach broad segments of your school community and can be customized for specific stakeholder groups. These foundational learning opportunities will serve as a basis for deeper learning about SEL. In Focus Area 2, school teams will engage in further planning for ongoing professional learning.

SEL 101 Sample Introductory Presentation

This presentation can be adapted and used to introduce SEL to staff, families, and community partners. It gives an overview of what is SEL, why it’s important, and the process for schoolwide SEL. Talking points and activity instructions are provided in the notes section.  Also available in Spanish.

download

The Case for SEL

This presentation provides a library of slides with research on social and emotional learning. Your school can use these slides to help introduce the importance SEL to staff, community partners, families, potential funders, and other stakeholders. In the notes section, you’ll see talking points to help you plan a presentation.

download
download Back to Top