Need of Social & Emotional Competencies for Educational Development

Mr. Naresh Pitamber Sawant

Ashoka International Centre for Educational Studies & Research, Nashik

Mail id: sawantnaresh84@gmail.com

Abstract

Higher academic accomplishment, better classroom behavior, and better long-term mental health are all closely correlated with social and emotional competences (SEC), which include self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills. Incorporating SEC into curricula promotes a supportive, effective learning environment by assisting students in controlling their emotions, persevering through difficulties, and forming meaningful connections.

Key Words- Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision Making, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills

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What are Social Emotional Learning Competencies?

The goal of the five social-emotional learning core competencies is to give teachers a clear framework for teaching skills that will help students in a variety of contexts throughout their life, from the workplace and school to their families and other communities.
These competences were chosen because they effectively identify the abilities needed to thrive in a variety of spheres of life, from reaching academic objectives to feeling more comfortable in social situations. Developing these fundamental skills in each kid via social and emotional learning is a beneficial and healthy process that can then benefit the communities to which these children belong.

The 5 core SEL competencies

1. Self-Awareness
2. Self-Management
3. Responsible Decision Making
4. Social Awareness
5. Relationship Skills

1.Self-Awareness
The capacity to think about and comprehend your own feelings, ideas, experiences, and ideals and how they may affect your behavior is known as self-awareness. Increasing your self-awareness can help you recognize your unique strengths and shortcomings in a variety of areas, which may enhance your ability to make decisions and control yourself (two additional essential skills).Understanding how your thoughts and emotions influence your behavior can motivate you to make constructive life changes and adopt a viewpoint that will give you fresh perspective on your own choices, passions, and behaviors. Self-awareness is a crucial component of the five core competencies because it not only promotes optimism and responsible decision-making but also serves as a basis for building and sustaining positive interpersonal connections.

Self-Awareness Lesson: Be Truthful With Yourself

Positive Action promotes self-awareness by utilizing a core philosophy that is woven throughout seven units, forming the foundation for all materials. The philosophy presented in Unit 1 states that engaging in positive actions leads to feeling good about oneself.

This becomes a conscious and practical concept through the Thoughts-Actions-Feelings about Self-Circle, illustrating how thoughts result in actions, actions in feelings about yourself, and then return to thoughts.

The Self-Awareness competency is taught specifically in Unit 5, where students discover that by being truthful with themselves, they can evaluate their strengths and weaknesses accurately.

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2. Self-Management

The self-management core competency emphasizes a person’s capacity to manage and oversee their emotions, thoughts, and actions. For instance, this could entail enhancing aspects such as stress management, organizational abilities, goal-setting skills, impulse regulation, and self-control.

Enhancing your self-management can boost your academic performance, work productivity, and relationships, in addition to fostering more responsible decision-making and a heightened awareness of safety issues.

Employing a constructive self-management approach within a SEL teaching framework can manifest in various ways, typically involving self-reflection and a pragmatic assessment of oneself, enabling subsequent actions (including those detailed in other competencies) to be taken constructively and positively

Self-Management Lesson: Cultivate Impulse Control

Intrinsic motivation is conveyed via the philosophy and the Thoughts-Actions-Feelings Circle: engaging in positive actions makes you feel good about yourself, based on the assumption that you desire to feel good about who you are.

It is specifically called “Self-Management” and instructs that we all possess personal resources to regulate in order to feel positive about ourselves, such as our thoughts, behaviors, emotions (anger, fear, concern, jealousy, solitude, anxiety, and more).

This aids students in managing impulse control. Enhancing self-management and impulse control is crucial for achieving positive academic and social-emotional outcomes for students, as well as fostering a well-functioning classroom atmosphere.

Learners are instructed that by effectively managing additional resources such as their time, energy, finances, belongings, and skills, they will experience improved self-esteem and feel a greater sense of control over their experiences in both school and life.

3. Responsible decision-making

Responsible decision-making entails the capability to make beneficial and constructive choices influenced by personal and social elements such as individual and academic objectives, ethical principles, safety issues, and societal norms. It calls for you to evaluate the outcomes of various possible actions, recognize your abilities and constraints, and be aware of when to seek additional assistance when making critical choices.

In daily life, individuals must make various decisions, both significant and minor, across a wide range of situations, all of which require focus and thought for a favorable result.

This might concern the way you decide to chase your individual aspirations, such as attaining specific academic grades linked to your abilities and weaknesses or enhancing your overall mindset, or it might involve social scenarios like opting to consider someone else’s viewpoint or deliberately investing more effort and time into nurturing positive relationships

4. Awareness of Society

The social awareness skill involves enhancing abilities such as empathizing with others, understanding perspectives of people in different circumstances, recognizing diverse individuals and groups, and ensuring fair treatment towards others.

This can assist you in building and sustaining healthy relationships and social interactions, thus positively affecting your family, school, and community, particularly when engaging in social-emotional learning within these groups.

Concerning equity and diversity, heightened social awareness can improve your capacity to comprehend the viewpoints of and relate to others, especially regarding traits such as gender, race, religion, age, culture, class, and economic conditions, and will guarantee that your decision-making in social environments like school considers diversity.

5. Relationship skills

The competency of relationship skills pertains to your capability to form positive bonds with others, along with your capacity to consider their emotions in various scenarios and social exchanges, to foster and sustain healthy, mutually beneficial relationships.

This includes various abilities, like active listening, effective and clear communication, recognizing suitable and unsuitable social behavior, readiness to compromise, ability to acknowledge and respect others’ emotions, thoughts, and values, along with the skill to see situations from another’s viewpoint and empathize with them.

In addition to personal situations with family and friends, relationship skills are valuable in school with peers and teachers, as well as in professional settings with colleagues and supervisors. Having the capability to build positive connections with those you learn and collaborate with enhances a more uplifting school or work atmosphere

Conclusion

The five SEL competencies—self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills—are essential for instructing and comprehending social and emotional learning in educational settings. These skills are entirely incorporated into the Positive Action program to guarantee that students have the abilities needed to lead joyful, satisfying, and optimistic lives.

References:

1. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.New York: Bantam Books.
2.  Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185–211.
3. Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., et al. (1997). Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators.Alexandria, VA: ASCD.