Both educators and policymakers have come to agree that social and emotional learning (SEL) is a vital component of student development and can have a profound effect on academic performance. As students grow into adults, they must face a growing number of interactions with their peers and other adults, and their ability to navigate through these interactions can, in many ways, affect how successful they will be when they move on to college or career life. That’s why, as an educator, it’s important to consider SEL in your lesson planning, teaching, and classroom management style.
In this third installment of our five-part series on the SEL competencies, we’re going to take a look at how you can incorporate social awareness into your classroom.
Social Awareness in Your Classroom
Your students will one day leave your classroom and go on to become citizens of their nation and the world. They will be called upon to cast their vote and voice their opinion on a wide variety of topics that can influence the health and happiness of people the world over. Foster that sense of awareness by contextualizing your content to authentic problems and real-world issues that it will relate to.
As part of a class activity, bring in a news clipping about a current event and ask students to think about how it might apply to what they’re learning. You can also create lesson plans centered around performing a community service, such as cleaning up a local park or nature preserve, or holding a food or clothing drive. These kinds of projects allow students to have a participatory role in what they’re learning and gives them the opportunity to learn about and explore issues that concern their local community.
Creating context that students can relate to will garner both more interest and attention in your classroom as well as encourage them to keep their eyes and ears open when they’re in the world at large for issues that they heard mentioned in the classroom. Seeing connections between your classroom and the world they live in will just maybe enable them to answer the question “Why are we learning this?” on their own.
Source: “SEL Outcomes.” CASEL. Accessed June 1, 2015.
Source: “SEL Competencies.” CASEL. Accessed June 1, 2015.
This work first appeared on Edgenuity’s blog, Where Learning Clicks, on June 24, 2015.