Social emotional learning (SEL) is the process of understanding emotions, cultivating empathy, making responsible decisions, and building healthy, lifelong relationships.
So, why is SEL important in education? This framework is one of the most effective ways to improve student well-being, academic performance, and the classroom environment.
In this article, you’ll discover what social emotional learning means, the 5 core competencies identified by CASEL, and practical examples of how these skills are applied in classrooms, from elementary school through high school.
What is social emotional learning?
Social emotional learning (SEL) encompasses the skills, knowledge, and practical understanding students need to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel empathy, build strong relationships, and make responsible decisions.
SEL should help students communicate effectively, get along with others, resolve conflicts, and manage their own emotional responses to any type of challenge.
Explained through examples, SEL encompasses all the knowledge a student draws upon when faced with a classmate who is distant for no reason or when dealing with frustrating situations.
Keep in mind that behind every child who gets distracted and every conflict in the classroom, there is almost always a skill that no one has taught them yet. It could be knowing how to name what they’re feeling, waiting their turn, or asking for help instead of lashing out.
Researchers at the Ecological Approaches to Social Emotional Learning (EASEL Lab) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have developed a taxonomy project that captures the complexity of SEL.
As they explain, it is a multidimensional term where each educational community must construct its own precise definition, adapting the concept to its local reality and ensuring that the prioritized competencies respond to the reality of its students.
The 5 core SEL competencies according to CASEL
The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a U.S. organization founded in 1994 in Chicago, dedicated to promoting social and emotional learning in schools.
In fulfilling this role, it has become one of the most widely used frameworks for defining and implementing SEL, and is the source of the five core competencies that articulate it and involve the development of specific skills:
- Two are inward-focused, toward the student: self-awareness and self-management.
- Two are outward-focused, toward others: social awareness and relationship skills.
- One lies at the center, in the negotiation between the “self” and “the world”: responsible decision-making.
Let’s see what each of these entails.
1. Self-awareness
Self-awareness focuses on recognizing one’s own emotions, values, strengths, and limitations, understanding to what extent they can shape behavior.
Among the skills that will help the student in this regard are accurate self-perception, self-confidence, and self-efficacy.
2. Self-management
Self-management is based on regulating emotions, thoughts, and behavior in different situations and contexts.
Students must develop specific skills such as impulse control, stress management, self-discipline, self-regulation, goal-setting, and organizational skills.
3. Social awareness
Social awareness is built on empathy toward people from diverse backgrounds. Students must be able to adopt other perspectives, appreciate differences, put things into perspective, and actively listen to and respect others.
As you can see, this is one of the competencies necessary for an individual’s proper development in society.
4. Relationship skills
Relationship skills allow us to put awareness of others into practice through cooperation, clear communication, and conflict resolution, as well as knowing how to ask for or offer help.
Social engagement, the gradual building of strong relationships, and teamwork all require this skill.
5. Responsible decision-making
Responsible decision-making is where all these skills converge—it is the core of social-emotional learning.
It involves making constructive choices about one’s own behavior and interactions with others, while considering the consequences.
To achieve this, individuals must be able to identify problems, analyze situations, resolve them, evaluate the results, reflect, and take ethical responsibility for their actions.
Why is SEL important for educators and students in the U.S.?
SEL is much more than a series of pleasant extracurricular activities or a mere supplement; it is closely linked to positive academic outcomes.
So much so that the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 recognizes the importance of preparing students holistically by fostering social, emotional, and behavioral skills alongside academic achievement.
The key competencies we have just discussed (such as self-awareness,
self-regulation, and responsible decision-making) improve the school climate, but they are also associated with better grades, a lower incidence of behavioral problems, and greater well-being.
As for educators, incorporating an SEL approach into the classroom allows for the creation of more inclusive and safe learning environments, where students feel seen and valued.
The results can only be better behavior management, reduced stress, and more active student engagement in their learning.
In this sense, social-emotional learning also prepares students for life, equipping them with strategic interpersonal skills to face personal and social challenges, as well as social skills in the workplace specific to the 21st century.
Conversely, when the educational community fails to support its students in developing these types of competencies, they often experience learning and attention difficulties, as well as increased demotivation that can lead to higher rates of chronic absenteeism.
As we noted at the beginning of our article, the complexity, but also the effectiveness, of SEL lies in the fact that it is not a program added to the school day, but rather a set of cross-cutting principles that permeate it daily.
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Real-world SEL examples in U.S. classrooms
In the following sections, you’ll see how SEL takes shape, evolving from an abstract framework into a poster on the wall or activities at the start of each class.
Before exploring some SEL activities in school, consider an idea from the Child Mind Institute: we teach a child math when they don’t know it, yet if they misbehave, we scold them when they haven’t learned to self-regulate. That is where the importance of SEL lies.
Elementary school examples (grades K-5)
In early childhood, SEL is introduced through stories and play.
For example, the 4Rs program (reading, writing, respect, and resolution), which is typically used from Pre-K through 5th grade, uses children’s literature to explore conflicts, incorporating social-emotional learning into language arts classes.
At this age, much of emotional literacy involves identifying emotions and expanding vocabulary to define and communicate them to others. Incentive practices are common, like displaying signs throughout the building that reward students with raffle tickets for showing self-control or compassion.”.
With the emergence of ICTs in the classroom, school districts combine analog and interactive activities.
For example, in California and Texas, it is common to start the day with the “mood meter”, where children anonymously click on a four-color quadrant (red for negative energy, blue for low energy, green for calm, and yellow for joy).
This information is essential for the teacher, who, based on the results, knows whether students need more or less time to regulate their emotions before beginning academic subjects.
In addition to the activities mentioned, there are others such as:
- The problem box: where minor conflicts that occur during recess wait their turn to be discussed in assembly.
- Calm down center or calming corner: these are physical spaces with sensory elements where students can regain their balance if they need to and on a voluntary basis. It is important to understand that this is not a punishment for misbehavior.
- Buddy classrooms: we can view these as a form of emotional mentoring. Fifth-grade students are paired with kindergarteners for reading tutoring. Through this practice, the older students develop empathy, and the younger ones build confidence.
Middle school examples (grades 6-8)
In middle school, introspection can intensify. We are talking about a stage in which social pressure from social media and the search for identity are developing.
In this context, activities such as debates, journaling, and role-playing are highly effective for developing skills like active listening, self-regulation, and cooperation.
Expeditionary Learning (EL) is a highly effective approach where students develop in-depth research projects that can last several months and address real-world problems.
In this learning by doing approach to solving the problems presented, students are required to cooperate in heterogeneous teams, negotiate roles, receive constructive criticism from their peers, and manage frustration.
Another activity during this educational stage involves the character growth cards used by KIPP schools. These consist of a periodic assessment by both the student and the teacher, who rate the student using a frequency scale. This scale is linked to specific behaviors related to 7 key personality strengths, including gratitude, optimism, and self-control.
This tool helps students understand that behavior is not a static factor—it varies and can be shaped—and it creates a space for dialogue and mentoring based on comparing the student’s and teacher’s perspectives.
Two of the major challenges in education today are silent cyberbullying and digital distraction. To combat them, elementary schools in districts such as Seattle and Chicago have implemented restorative circles.
These are weekly sessions held during homeroom where students address critical issues that concern them, such as exclusion in group chats or the fear of failure.
Another way to foster self-regulated learning is through digital self-monitoring tools that allow students to set academic and personal goals to help them develop self-discipline.
High school examples (grades 9-12)
In upper grades, SEL focuses on autonomy, college or career readiness, and mental health. Moral and ethical behavior also comes into play here.
Assessment at this level becomes more sophisticated through surveys that help measure adolescents’ growth mindset, self-management, or sense of belonging.
In this context, artificial intelligence integrated into learning pathways has transformed social-emotional learning, but it also poses challenges such as the impact of automation on people’s identities.
At this stage, innovative approaches such as youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) turn young people into researchers who identify problems in their communities and work toward real social change.
The study titled Youth-Led Participatory Action Research: Developmental and Equity Perspectives (Emily J. Ozer, 2016) scientifically validates what we have been discussing regarding SEL, specifically in its YPAR format.
It is not merely a school assignment; it represents an advanced pathway for social-emotional development where students cultivate social awareness, responsible decision-making, and equity while addressing structural issues in their community.
SEL in public vs. private schools: key differences in the U.S.
In the United States, public and private schools approach social-emotional learning differently, primarily due to funding structures, regulatory requirements, and operational flexibility.
In the case of public schools, they receive state and federal grants for SEL, facilitating its implementation, which is often mandatory. This occurs, for example, in North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) SEL Framework.
Private schools, on the other hand, have greater flexibility when it comes to offering more organic SEL programs to their students. Additionally, they can adapt these programs to their institutional mission, religious values, or pedagogical approach.
In fact, the budgets available to each type of school can also influence the quality and scope of SEL programs. Beyond the adoption of the curriculum itself (many programs like RULER or Second Step are accessible), the difference often lies in the resources available to implement them. Continuing teacher training, monitoring and assessment tools, and support from specialists are some examples of this.
You may also find differences in the integration of parents into these programs. Typically, their participation is more direct in private schools, because families can choose an institution based on its educational approach and values—a factor that can also extend to their involvement in SEL programs.
SEL and online proctoring: connecting emotional learning with remote assessment
Connecting social-emotional learning with online proctoring systems is one of the needs highlighted by the proliferation of digital learning platforms. The goal is to improve the student experience and promote their well-being.
Students with SEL competencies cope better with anxiety regarding online exams, thanks to their emotional regulation skills.
Keep in mind that remote assessments can increase stress due to factors such as technological constraints, unfamiliarity with interfaces, or a lack of human interaction. In these scenarios, students trained in self-management can use cognitive restructuring, breathing, and goal-reframing techniques.
Social-emotional learning helps students understand the ethical rationale behind supervision, resulting in lower anxiety levels and higher exam completion rates. Therefore, incorporating short SEL exercises before tests (such as mindfulness exercises) helps improve performance.
In this context, it is essential to provide an online proctoring environment that offers students a sense of security, protects their privacy, and safeguards academic integrity.
Here, advanced online proctoring systems, such as SMOWL’s proctoring plans, become a fundamental pillar for mitigating anxiety in the era of generative artificial intelligence, allowing the level of supervision to be adapted to the importance and demands of each assessment in a fair and fully transparent manner.
At Smowltech, rigor defines us: we combine automated verification with human review to ensure maximum accuracy, and our technology includes continuous identity validation, advanced browser blocking, and peripheral monitoring.
All our innovative proctoring solutions are flexible and also ensure academic integrity under FERPA/CCPA regulations. If you’d like to see for yourself, you can request a free demo with no obligation so we can walk you through the solutions we offer.
Best evidence-based social-emotional learning for U.S. schools
The CASEL Program Guide is one of the primary tools for selecting evidence-based SEL programs that best fit the needs of your educational project or institution, which is why we’ll focus on it.
To help educational leaders and administrators in the educational ecosystem select the right program, they can follow these recommendations from the guide:
- Align the team and objectives: The first step is to define the priorities and needs of the school district or project.
- Match needs with CASEL metrics: define the specific competencies that need to be strengthened (for example, if the school faces social issues, social awareness and relationship skills should be prioritized) and verify the program’s level of empirical support.
- Identify and compare: compare the programs’ approaches with the students’ demographic characteristics and your available budget.
You should know that CASEL awards 3 evidence designations based on the rigor of their studies and their design:
- CASEL SELect: this is the highest distinction for programs with a structured annual curriculum. It covers all 5 SEL competencies and is backed by independent scientific studies demonstrating its academic and behavioral effectiveness.
- Promising: classifies programs that have demonstrated practical effectiveness among students and teachers. However, they cover fewer competencies than the previous designation, and the methodological rigor of their studies is lower.
- SEL-supportive: this category offers specific, standalone tools rather than a comprehensive curriculum design, but with proven positive impact.
Let’s look at some examples of the best evidence-based SEL programs.
Second Step
Second Step is one of the most popular SEL programs in U.S. schools, backed by over 30 years of research, and designed for students from preschool through 8th grade.
It provides structured lessons on empathy, emotion management, and problem-solving, and is available in multiple languages.
Independent evaluation studies conducted by WestEd in multiple U.S. school districts demonstrated that consistent use of the program improves academic motivation and significantly reduces misconduct suspensions in elementary school.
RULER approach
RULER approach is a systemic, school-wide approach developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. It focuses on five skills: recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating emotions.
It yields excellent results in high schools because it integrates SEL into academic content, rather than treating it as a separate curriculum.
Its implementation helps reduce reports of bullying and aggressive behavior, while also boosting academic performance, since by helping students regulate stress, it frees up essential cognitive resources to maximize memory and attention.
PATHS
PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) is a curriculum for elementary school students that emphasizes self-control, emotional literacy, and interpersonal problem-solving.
According to a randomized clinical trial involving over 700 students, published in School Psychology Quarterly, the PATHS program improves behavior and promotes success in traditional subjects.
Resources for educators: where to start with SEL
Educators can access numerous free resources and references to begin familiarizing themselves with social-emotional learning, beyond the CASEL website, which serves as the essential starting point and which we have already discussed.
Below we have compiled some of the most significant ones:
- Social Emotional Learning Alliance for the United States (SEL4US): a platform offering updates on SEL policies, implementation guides, and connections to local advocates for this strategy.
- NC DPI (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction). An ecosystem that encompasses North Carolina’s SEL framework. You can find everything from implementation guides to professional development modules for K-12 educators.
- OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Washington State). A website that provides free SEL competency frameworks, lesson plans, and family engagement tools.
