Classroom

Students spend the majority of their school day in classrooms, and what happens there plays a central role in the larger picture of schoolwide SEL implementation. Within the school environment, classrooms can act as a supportive “home base” and consistently provide students with opportunities to learn about and practice SEL.  Further, research shows that when students feel joyful, emotionally comfortable, and socially engaged in the classroom, they learn and retain more (Willis, 2007). As students move between classrooms, common language and aligned practices reinforce SEL competencies and mindsets and help students internalize what they’ve learned.

CASEL identifies three essential areas of hiqh-quality, SEL-focused classrooms. This section will provide your school team with guidance and resources to support teachers in developing aligned strategies for these areas:

A supportive classroom climate where students feel emotionally safe, part of a community of learners, motivated and challenged. This type of environment creates a strong foundation for students to engage fully and take academic risks (Darling-Hammond et al., 2020). This includes:

• Routines and structures that support emotional safety and student agency
• Shared agreements and goals that promote collaboration and accountability
• Identity-affirming practices that invite students and educators to know and appreciate themselves and each other
• Systematic opportunities for youth voice that allow educators to learn about and respond to student perspectives and needs
• Student-centered discipline practices that strengthen relationships and social and emotional skills

Explicit SEL instruction that provides direct, consistent opportunities for students to cultivate, practice, and reflect on social and emotional competencies in ways that are developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive. This includes:

• Dedicated time in teachers’ schedules for SEL, across all classrooms
• The use of evidence-based programs or strategies and training to teach SEL effectively

Integration of SEL into academics that weaves deep academic learning with opportunities for students to understand their own emotions, understand diverse perspectives, show empathy, cultivate trusting relationships, solve problems collaboratively, and make decisions while considering the needs of others. This includes:

• Taking a student-centered approach when planning learning experiences
• Aligning SEL and academic objectives so that SEL can be applied seamlessly in the context of a lesson
• Using interactive pedagogy to foster collaboration and personal reflection

Evidence-based programs can support one or all three areas of the SEL-focused classroom. Your team may also choose to supplement a program with additional strategies contained in these sections.