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A principal explains how his school has made social-emotional learning the foundation of a successful academic career and a supportive community.
This was the first year that my state, Ohio, rolled out social and emotional learning (SEL) standards. During the first year, meeting them is not a requirement, but their introduction has been an eye-opener for many districts. It’s likely just a matter of time until they are required, and a lot of schools will have to figure out how to meet them. At Ayersville, where I serve as the middle school principal, it will just be business as usual, because we’ve been meeting and even exceeding the new standards for years now.
Here’s what our approach to SEL looks like.
Why SEL?
When we first decided to adopt an SEL curriculum, we received a bit of pushback from our school community along the lines of, “This is stuff that should be taught at home.”
But the simple fact of the matter is that these skills are not being taught in the home, at least not adequately. Their family members didn’t receive any SEL instruction themselves, after all. Beyond that, educators are not merely teachers of content. We have a responsibility to prepare our students for the real world, and that includes teaching life skills and social-emotional skills.