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What's the big deal about Social and Emotional Learning?

© Marilyn Robb

What’s the big deal about SEL? In order to understand the importance o f Social and Emotional Learning Skills to education and learning , I present a summary of definitions and quotes from some of the experts in Emotional Intelligence and SEL.

Peter Salovey and David Sluyter: Emotional Intelligence involves the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotions; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth. Source: Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications, 1997).

Maurice J.Elias: Social and emotional competence is the ability to understand, manage and express the social and emotional aspects of one’s life in ways that enable the successful management of life tasks such as learning, forming relationships, solving everyday problems and adapting to the complex demands of growth and development. It includes self-awareness, control of impulsivity, working cooperatively and caring about oneself and others. Social and emotional learning is the process through which children and adults develop the skills, attitudes and values necessary to acquire social and emotional competence. Social and emotional education is targeted to help students develop the attitudes, behaviours, and cognitions to become healthy and competent overall-socially, emotionally, academically and physically. Source: Promoting Social and Emotional Learning. Guidelines for Educators. ASCD. 1997

Daniel Goleman: Emotional Intelligence is the capacity not only to be aware of and able to express our emotions but to manage and moderate them effectively too. Emotional Intelligence is what prevents anger from turning into rage and sadness into despair. Source: Emotional Intelligence. 1995 Anon: Emotional Literacy is the ability to recognize, understand and appropriately express our emotions. Emotions are an integral part of human nature. Through them we respond to lice in many different ways, such as with anger, happiness, fear, love and loneliness. Emotions influence our thoughts and actions; they inspire our needs; they affect our bodies and impact on our relationships. They are not enemies to be rebuffed, repressed or rejected but rather allies to be honoured, understood and directed. Ignored they become willful tyrants, respected they are our cherished helpers.

Source: www.kidseq.com/emotions Susanna Palomares and David Cowan: For young people to manage their feelings they must identify them. To comprehend the feelings they must practice describing them in words. When a particularly feelings is verbally expressed several times, the mind begins to automatically recall ideas and concepts it associates with the feeling and starts providing ways to deal with it.