Encourage social emotional learning
Published:Friday | August 13, 2021 | 12:05 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
There have been considerable talks about addressing the learning loss caused by the pandemic. However, I have not heard a national conversation about reducing the mental and emotional distress that has beset many of our students.
Lest you believe I am exaggerating the psychological toll of the pandemic, take a look at the local research. After surveying over 500 households, UNICEF Jamaica and the Caribbean Policy Research Institute found that many of our children are experiencing elevated levels of frustration, fear, and anxiety since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The September 2020 report also noted that adults have been more verbally abusive towards their children – shouting at them more regularly, and even calling them names. On top of this, children have been caned or slapped much more frequently.
So, yes, while we prepare to reopen our schools, we should also plan for our students’ psychological well-being. We can start by training our teachers to explicitly integrate social emotional learning (SEL) in some of the core subjects – English, science, and social studies.
The potential benefits of such integration are widely supported by research. For example, the collaborative for academic, social, and emotional learning have found that when students’ social-emotional skills are developed, they are more likely to manage their feelings, handle stress, “achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions”.
SEL can also bolster students’ academic performance. CASEL’s synthesis of 80 studies has evidenced this. After students from diverse socio-economic and racial backgrounds received instruction in SEL, they obtained higher scores on their achievement tests. In fact, some registered up to 17 more percentile points!
We cannot afford to lose out on these incredible potential gains, so let us seriously consider SEL for the upcoming academic years. Teachers can start with some mindfulness activities. They can also encourage their students to journal – by writing, voicing, or drawing. Use soothing music periodically to improve the students’ mental health, and conduct regular well-being checks. These are all simple and low-cost.
Take care of yourselves as well, teachers. There are free SEL toolkits for you online. Transforming education is great, they offer some excellent resources that the teachers can use to get themselves ready for work.
SHAWNA KAY-WILLIAMS-PINNOCK