Need of Social & Emotional Competencies for Educational Development

Daily writing prompt
If there were a biography about you, what would the title be?

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.

It appears that there is no text provided for me to paraphrase. Please share the content you’d like me to rephrase, and I’ll be happy to assist! Self-Governance

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.

Humanities and Social Sciences to a Transforming Life and Society

Daily writing prompt
If there were a biography about you, what would the title be?

Dr.Umesh Yashwantrao Gangurde

Assistant Professor

Krantiveer NavalBhau Arts

College Navalnagar Tal.Dist.Dhule

 ABSTRACT:-This research paper highlights the topic Transforming life and Society under the influence of Humanities and Social Science. The society we live in, the culture we adopt, the lifestyle we follow as well as the ease of technological advancements, altogether have transformed our lives and surroundings to a different level. It can totally be agreed upon that major sources of social change include population growth and its composition, culture and technology, the natural environment, and social conflict but, humanities and social sciences are a part and parcel of these changes. Social change is a phenomenon that we constantly encounter in our daily lives. This is because the society we live in, itself keeps changing all the time. Humanities help us to understand others through their languages, histories, and cultures. Humanities and social science make it easy to understand whether a new technology or a new pattern of life would prove beneficial, fruitful, and healthy or unfit, barren, and impotent for the people. Societal transformations often include not only social changes but cultural, technological, political, and economic, as well as environmental. Social science helps people understand the consequences and application of newly emerging technologies. They are concerned with the social and economic advancement of humanity at large. This research paper focuses on the importance of Humanities and Social Sciences in a transformed life and society. The data collected is through secondary data analysis following a series of various research papers, books, articles, and literature review for the same.

KEYWORDS: Education system, Technological advancements, Social change and improved standard of living, Fruitful or Barren

 OBJECTIVES: –1. The main objective of this study is to understand that humanities have an innovative and scientific nature that can improve the quality of life of people, thus leading to a change. 2. To aim on the fact that social science is important because its study helps us to gain knowledge of the society we live in and the changes brought in it.

INTRODUCTION: -In order to make something better, modifications are required and therefore nothing can be achieved if no modifications are made in existing situations. Social change and Transformation are a phenomenon that we constantly encounter in our daily lives. The concept of social transformation is closely linked to social change and therefore the two terms are often used interchangeably. In Sociology, Societal Transformation refers to “a deep and sustained, nonlinear systematic change in a society.” Societal transformations can also be referred as change of an entire culture or civilization. Humanities and Social science are concerned with the social and economic advancement of the race at large. Humanities, or the study of humanity, encompass a wide range of disciplines including History, Philosophy, Literature, and the Arts.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE:- The humanities can give us critical thinking skills and the perspective to deal with issues such as climate change, economic inequality, runaway technological change wherein, the solutions require something different and more than technical knowledge alone. Whether the problem is social, economic, and environmental or health related, solving such problems calls for critical thinking, historical understanding, cultural literacy and creativity. It requires skills and competencies cultivated through an education in the humanities and social science, and the insights and discoveries generated by research in these disciplines. Social Science is defined as “the study of society with respect to how individuals behave, interact with each other, develop as a culture and impact the world.” It includes Anthropology, Economics, Political science, Sociology and Social psychology. It seeks to study the past and present of humans, the patterns of behavior and behavioral changes, cultural changes with respect to different norms and values as a whole, how individuals and groups interact and how societies are organized and functions. The humanities and social science play an important role in supporting decolonization and reconciliation of people. The research collectively focuses on the population as whole and the impact that humanities and social science have had on the population, culture, and various generations. Humanities and Social science have a profound impact on how we view and interact with the world around us. There are many ways in which Humanities and Social science have transformed and can transform life and society, some include:

 EDUCATION SYSTEM:ØOften Education reform seems to take place un regard for the best interests of the learners. As per Education research, parents of younger children are more concerned that their children enjoy schooling and actively be a part of extra-curricular activities rather than sticking solely to bookish knowledge. By actively working with students of all ages and their parents, and understanding their perspective on schooling, researchers can discover new insights into what makes effective schools syllabi and therefore will be able to cater the students as per their need. Both humanity and social science can be used to reform and improve educational systems, curriculum and pedagogy. The study of education and learning can help to improve teaching practices and educational outcomes. This can lead to a more well-rounded and effective education system that benefits both individual students and society as a whole.

  HEALTH AND WELL BEING:Ø By evaluating health care policies, social scientist can help ensure that our health care systems work at an optimal level. On one hand a nutritionist provides a diet chart/diet plan for an individual to have a healthy and balanced diet, whereas on the other hand a social scientist may look further into geographical, economic and social factors that impacts into the availability and accessibility of the diet. The field of psychology has made significant contributions to our understanding of mental health and the factors that contribute to it. This has led to the development of effective treatments and interventions for improving mental health conditions.

 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:ØWhen we understand the world around us, we are able to live in a more manageable manner. Understanding the society we live in, eventually makes us realize what we need to do to contribute to it and make it a better place for others. It broadens our horizons by introducing us to different social movements and cultures. It helps us to develop the ability to make the right decisions. This can lead to personal growth and self-improvement, as well as a greater appreciation of the diversity of human experience.It is addressed to people through social science. It helps in raising attention to different perspectives of the society and is concerned for the public when it comes to holding politicians and media into account. In this technological era, majority of transformation has taken place in the field of media resulting into digital age and social media. Social media solely holds the power to access multiple angles of a debate and allows one to share their own opinion by being a part of community journalism and presenting our own accounts online. Democracy could not flourish without the humanities because humanities develop informed and critical citizens.

 EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES:- The insights gained through the study of humanities and social science can be used to inform policy decisions at the local, national and international levels. Research in psychology may be used to inform the development of mental health policies, while in economics can inform economic policy decisions. The field of economics can provide insights into how to promote economic growth and stability, which can have positive impacts on individuals and society. Knowledge from the humanities and social science is crucial to understand the historical, structural and social phases that contribute to inequality, and to develop the most effective strategies that promote equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization.

 WELFARE AND SOCIAL CHANGE:Ø The study of humanity and social science can also be used to promote social change. It can help to identify and address inequalities and injustices in society, such as discrimination based on race, gender, or other social identities. This research can inform policies and practices that promote fairness and equality for all members of society. One of the key roles of social science is how it affects decision making when it comes to move forward as a society, and eventually as an entire species. It offers new insights and generates modern ways of understanding on trending topics of debates about feminism, peace, ecology, social movements, and much more. The world needs to be a safer place where basic dignity and human rights are practiced. Social scientists have made a remarkable progress in the areas of human welfare and development. It can rightly be said that social science and humanities are partly responsible for new laws and regulations that govern how we work and live. Social scientists influence how existing laws can be changed to meet societal demands that were more or less not being fulfilled previously.

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ØScholars from social science and humanities are helping address the societal implications of technology. Social science helps people understand the consequences and application of newly emerging technologies, such as steam power. The expansion of railways and factories not only transformed the economy and the working world, but also changed the way people organized their family lives and leisure. By raising questions associated with large group of social, ethical, and legal issues surrounding the introduction of new technologies, they help us to have a better understanding of the consequences of new technological developments. The Humanities and social science make it easy to understand whether a new technology or a new pattern of life would prove beneficial, fruitful, and healthy or unfit, barren, and impotent for the people. In the recent years, nanotechnology and advances in medical research have had a significant impact on the way we live. Creating a better future means to recognize the leadership and hard-won achievements of those who came before us.

CONCLUSION:-

Social transformation refers to a fundamental change in society, which can be contrary to social change which is viewed as gradual, moderate, or slow change over a period of time. An understanding of the role of social scientist is must in order to be able to forecast where the human race is heading and taking the rest of the world with it. Social science offers an insight into society and makes it easy to understand the relationships between individuals within that society. The main aim of humanities and social science is to look into those issues that contribute in improving the knowledge and understanding of human beings and in turn favours the development of society. As our understanding of the world and the human condition continues to evolve, the importance and relevance of humanity and social science will continue to grow.

 REFERENCES:-

  1. https://artifacts.ai/your-complete-guide-on-why-social-science-is-important/
  2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323952006_Social_transformation_development_and_globalization
  3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255056297_Development_social_transformation_and_globalisation
  4. https://curt-rice.com/2014/02/25/here-are-9-reasons-why-humanities-matter-whats-yournumber-10/

Social Change and Social Mobility: Understanding Their Impact on Indian Society

Daily writing prompt
If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?

By Shashikant Nishant Sharma

Society is constantly evolving due to various internal and external factors. Two key concepts that help us understand these transformations are social change and social mobility. While both terms describe shifts in societal structures, norms, and individuals’ positions, they differ in scope and impact. This article explores their definitions, differences, and applications in the Indian context.

Social Change

Definition

Social change refers to significant alterations in societal structures, cultural patterns, and institutions over time. It is a broad concept that encompasses shifts in values, beliefs, technology, economic systems, and governance.

Causes of Social Change

  1. Technological Advancements – Innovations like the internet, artificial intelligence, and digital payment systems have transformed social interactions.
  2. Economic Changes – Industrialization and globalization have altered job markets and consumption patterns.
  3. Political Movements – Reforms like the abolition of untouchability and reservation policies have reshaped Indian society.
  4. Cultural and Religious Shifts – Changes in family structures, gender roles, and interfaith interactions reflect evolving societal norms.
  5. Environmental Factors – Climate change and urbanization have led to new societal adaptations.

Examples in Indian Society

  • Women’s Empowerment – Increased female participation in education and workforce due to legal and social reforms.
  • Digital Revolution – The rise of mobile banking, e-governance, and online education.
  • Social Justice Movements – The Dalit movement and LGBTQ+ rights activism have changed societal perceptions and policies.

Social Mobility

Definition

Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals or groups within a society’s hierarchical structure. It can be vertical mobility (moving up or down the social ladder) or horizontal mobility (changing occupations or locations without status change).

Types of Social Mobility

  1. Upward Mobility – Improvement in social status, often through education, employment, or political power.
  2. Downward Mobility – Decline in social status due to economic hardship or job loss.
  3. Intergenerational Mobility – Change in status across generations (e.g., a farmer’s child becoming a doctor).
  4. Intragenerational Mobility – Status change within an individual’s lifetime.

Factors Influencing Social Mobility

  1. Education – A key driver for upward mobility in India.
  2. Caste System – Although weakening, caste still influences mobility.
  3. Economic Opportunities – Access to capital and jobs determines movement within the social hierarchy.
  4. Government Policies – Reservations in education and jobs support marginalized communities.

Examples in Indian Society

  • Reservation System – Facilitates mobility for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
  • Entrepreneurship – The rise of self-made business leaders from diverse backgrounds.
  • Urban Migration – Rural populations moving to cities for better economic opportunities.

Differences Between Social Change and Social Mobility

AspectSocial ChangeSocial Mobility
DefinitionTransformation in societal structures and cultural patternsMovement of individuals or groups within the social hierarchy
ScopeBroad, affects society as a wholeIndividual or group-based
CausesTechnological, economic, political, cultural factorsEducation, economic opportunities, policies
TimeframeLong-term and gradualCan be short-term or long-term
Example in IndiaAbolition of untouchability, digital revolutionA farmer’s child becoming an engineer

Applications in Indian Society

  1. Education Reforms – The expansion of education has led to both social change (greater literacy and awareness) and social mobility (people improving their socio-economic status).
  2. Economic Policies – Initiatives like Skill India and Startup India promote social mobility by offering new employment opportunities.
  3. Urbanization – Migration to cities results in both social mobility (better jobs, income growth) and social change (modern lifestyles, nuclear families).
  4. Caste and Gender Dynamics – Legal protections and affirmative action drive social mobility while changing societal attitudes towards caste and gender roles.

Conclusion

Social change and social mobility are interconnected but distinct phenomena shaping Indian society. While social change alters the broader societal framework, social mobility determines how individuals or groups navigate that framework. Together, they play a crucial role in fostering a more inclusive, progressive, and equitable society.

References

Dehalwar, K., & Sharma, S. N. (2024). Politics in the Name of Women’s Reservation. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 2455328X241262562.

Dehalwar, K., & Sharma, S. N. (2023). Fate of Slums of Bhopal-A Tale of Struggle and Resilience. Think India Journal26(4), 12-18.

Ogbanga, M. M., & Sharma, S. N. (2024). Climate Change and Mental Heat.

Dehalwar, K., & Sharma, S. N. (2024). Social Injustice Inflicted by Spatial Changes in Vernacular Settings: An Analysis of Published Literature.

Ogbanga, M. M. (2024). Assessment of the Barriers to the Adoption of Clean Energy for Household Cooking in Okrika Local Government Area.

Ogbanga, M. M. (2024). Examining the Potential of Women Organisations in Promoting the Use of Clean Energy for Household Cooking; A Study of Okrika Local Government Area.

Ogbanga, M. M. (2024). Vulnerabilities of Youths to Climate Change Impacts: A Case Study of Phalga Local Government Area.