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EDITORIAL

Delivering health education: the contribution of social and emotional learning

Katherine Weare

School of Education, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline the contribution of school-based programmes of social and emotional learning (SEL) to health education, and outline a recent initiative by the English government, “Secondary SEAL”.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents evidence for the impact of SEL programmes, and accounts the key principles of the English SEAL programme.

Findings – The paper finds that SEL programmes impact on learning, behaviour, emotional and social wellbeing and physical health, provided that they follow certain key principles.

Originality/value – The paper shows, that for the first time, the English Secondary SEAL

programme has been outlined in an international journal.

Keywords Health education, Government, England

Paper type Research paper

Growing interest in SEL

In the last ten years or so there has been an explosion of thinking and research on the emotions, which has resulted in far more attention being paid to social and emotional

matters – in education, in the workplace and in society as a whole. Work has developed at an extraordinary pace, in psychology, neuroscience, and education to

name but three disciplines which is making clear that people can be emotional and socially intelligent that these “intelligences” are more influential over personal, career

and educational success than are conventional intelligence, and that the brain is a highly emotional organ. Increasingly emotional and social capacities are seen as being

at the heart of positive human development, effective social groups and societies, and effective education.

With this growth of interest in the emotions, across the globe a vast number of

Social and Emotional Education (SEL) programmes are springing up. They go under all kinds of names, such as “emotional literacy”, “emotional intelligence”, “social and

emotional aspects of learning”, “coping skills”, “resiliency” and “lifeskills”. There are

almost as many detailed aims and definitions as there are programmes, but broadly speaking SEL is concerned with helping people make positive relationships with other

This editorial draws on work by the author published in a paper in Vol. 35 No. 3 of Education

3-13 in 2007 and the author would like to thank the Board of that Journal for permission to draw on its content.

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Health Education Vol. 107 No. 2, 2007 pp. 109-113

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0965-4283

DOI 10.1108/09654280710731520

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people, understand themselves and their own emotions, and understand and respond to the emotions of others in helpful ways.

SEL links directly with health education and in particular mental health. A recent

review of programmes looked at how effectively they appeared to be in “promoting mental health” and found seventeen which were clearly effective under the most

rigorous scrutiny (e.g. with proper control groups, over a long period of time and with

large numbers of subjects (Wells et al., 2003). The review found that the programmes significantly reduced specific mental and emotional health problems, such as

aggression, depression and reduced commonly accepted risk factors associated with

mental health problems, such as impulsiveness, and antisocial behaviour. The programmes also helped develop the competences that promote emotional and social

well being, such as higher self-esteem and confidence, communication skills, social

skills, cooperation, resilience, a sense of optimism, empathy, a positive and realistic self concept, stress management and problem solving skills.

Other benefits include the reduction of incidents of violence and bullying in and

outside schools (Greenberg et al., 1995) and in some cases, there is even long term reductions in neighbourhood crime (Caplan et al., 1992). SEL helps pupils understand difficult emotions, and knowing how to act in challenging situations without putting

themselves or others in danger or at risk. It helps pupils to understand the causes of, and develop strategies to address, problems, conflict, violence, racism, bullying and harassment. It helps pupils continue to develop the skills of assertion and

self-confidence, by encouraging effective communication in situations where they may feel at risk, or feel they themselves pose a risk to others. It links particularly well

with whole-school work on anti-bullying and violence reduction. Work on self-awareness helps pupils to develop awareness of their own more difficult feelings and to start to manage them more effectively. It can promote pupils’ grasp of

strategies for building and maintaining an appropriate level of independence in thinking and behaviour. It helps pupils to develop the abilities to manage relationships and make wise choices regarding their lives and how they impact on others, critically

evaluating social influences.

Children who engage in effective SEL work tend to be happier and get on better with one another; they are more assertive and confident. Effective programmes have

been shown to improved a range of social attitudes and behaviours, including:

children’s understanding of the consequences of behaviour; their ability to cope more effectively with school stress; more classroom participation; improved attitudes to

school; greater effort to achieve; higher aspirations; fewer absences and exclusions;

better transitions and a higher sense of community (Zins et al., 2004). Establishing and maintaining social relationships requires an understanding of others, their points of

view, emotions, attitudes, and values, and is based on an inclination to value and care

for others. SEL can help pupils see the world from different points of view, respond appropriately to the experiences of other people, and to know how to identify and

celebrate differences in ability, interests and values.

SEL programmes have also been shown to contribute to children’s physical health, by helping them to understand the emotional implications of the health-related choices

they make, strengthening their ability to resist social pressures, help them become

more assertive and thus make healthier and safer decisions. Some SEL programmes have had demonstrated impacts on preventing the use of drugs, alcohol, and premature

sexual experience (Hawkins and Catalano, 1992; Battistich et al., 1989, 1996, 1997; Durlak and Wells, 1997).

Work in secondary schools – the English “SEAL” programme

Across the globe, work on social and emotional development is becoming well established for younger children but is still relatively rare for adolescents. The reasons

for this difference are debatable, but it may be that what in the UK are called

“secondary schools” (for age 11 onwards) tend to be more focused on academic subjects rather than on children, be of larger size and more impersonal nature. It is possible too that school staff are more nervous about tackling social and emotional issues with

adolescents, who may be seen as more resistant and challenging.

The English Government’s department for education and skills (DfES) is attempting to fill this gap with a new programme “Social and Emotional Aspects of

Learning in Secondary Schools”. The activity is currently a pilot, based on six

contrasting English local authorities. Over 60 schools are taking part, and have been chosen to reflect a good spread of rural and urban schools, which serve a range of

communities, including different faith groups. I have had the good fortune to be involved in designing and implementing this pilot, the principles of which may be of

interest more widely.

The programme is evidence based, and attempts to reflect the current priorities and needs of schools in providing an education experience that supports all pupils in doing

their best and achieving high standards. There is a strong focus on promoting good

teaching and learning and ensuring that all pupils have the confidence to learn effectively. The pilot materials attempt to meet schools’ core needs of achieving

positive behaviour and regular attendance, attempting to ensure effective learning opportunities for all pupils.

The pilot is based on an approach which those who are keen on health promoting

schools will be familiar – the so called “whole school” approach to improving schools and generating effective practice which focuses on the whole climate, ethos, culture and

environment which shape good behaviour and attendance, effective learning, and the

promotion of emotional health and social well-being. The pilot uses a universal approach, aimed at all pupils, including bright and motivated, and those with

additional support needs where more specialist approaches will target more vulnerable

pupils and those at risk of exclusion. It is aimed at all school staff, not just teachers, and seeks to involve parents and carers too.

The pilot is attempting to encourage an approach which is based on the strengths and characteristics of secondary schools rather than encouraging them to be more like

primary schools, and which builds on existing structures, attitudes and styles of

working focusing on the opportunities they present. The attempt is to help schools identify their own starting points, and not feel that they are in some way inadequate if

they have not developed much work in this area yet.

The claim is not that that all this work is totally new, but is instead about consolidating, developing and strengthening what went on before. However, while

building on the positives and on existing work, this activity is also attempting to be genuinely new. What is distinctive about this work on SEL is that it is intended to

result in pupils being empowered to take more control of their lives by actually being

able to do things differently as a result, if they choose to, not just know why they

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should. Although many schools or settings will by and large be already delivering SEL work, this activity is intended to help them develop a clearer and more explicit focus on the learning and practice of the concrete social emotional and behavioural skills that underpin effective learning and behaviour. Focused, practical learning opportunities to develop skills, both in and outside the classroom setting, will help young people change, learn and grow. So this activity encourages schools to go well beyond just talking about skills, and instead undertake extensive and specific work to help students move through the stages of skill development – which include identification, modelling, coaching, feedback, practice, reflection, consolidation, internalisation, and generalization. However the view of skills is not reductionist or behaviourist – it sees skills as grounded in pupils’ understandings, values, and attitudes, not just as demonstrable behavioural outcomes, divorced of context and meaning. This process of skill development will be explored with pupils in order to empower them to acquire the skills they see as relevant and useful for them and which they think would work in the contexts they move in - not impose a normative model of “the one right way to do it”. Indeed the overall style is one of involvement and participation, not a top down approach. As well as the usual exhortations to involve the pupils and “help them find a voice”, this activity is trying to practice what it preaches by involving schools and school staff in its development.

This new activity builds on the undoubted success of the DfES’s “Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) in Primary Schools” resource, which can now be found in over half of the primary schools in England. The DfES hopes to have a similar impact on secondary schools, while recognising that the world of the secondary school is a very different place, and any approach will have to use rather different methods and

strategies. Experience across the world suggests it will be a tough call but one year into

the pilot and the initial evaluations are promising. The programme has gone down well with schools, is enjoyed by those who take part and is having felt impact on emotional health and well being of students and staff. The larger changes that are hoped for, such

as to learning and behaviour will take longer to emerge, but early signs are hopeful.

Schools appreciate the approach taken by the pilot activity, which attempts to be collaborative and evolutionary rather than top down and rushed, qualities, which they find refreshing, although there has been some frustration in schools, which like to be

given a recipe, and told what to do. Excitement, enthusiasm, and commitment have been

maintained throughout the first year, and are currently high.

For more information, consult the DfES web site at: www.dfes.gov.uk Information about Secondary SEAL is intended to be in place from May 2007.

References

Battistich, V., Schaps, E., Watson, M. and Soloman, D. (1996), “Prevention effects of the Child Development Project: early findings from an ongoing multi-site demonstration trial”, Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 12-35.

Battistich, V., Solomon, D., Watson, M. and Schaps, E. (1997), “Caring school communities”,

Educational Psychologist, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 137-51.

Battistich, V., Solomon, D., Watson, M., Solomon, J. and Schaps, E. (1989), “Effects of an elementary school program to enhance pro-social behaviour on children’s cognitive-social problem solving skills and strategies”, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Vol. 10, pp. 147-69.

Caplan, M., Weissberg, R.P., Grober, J.S., Sivo, P.J., Grady, K. and Jacoby, C. (1992), “Social competence promotion with inner city and suburban young adolescents: effects on social adjustment and alcohol use”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 60, pp. 56-63.

Durlak, J. and Wells, A. (1997), “Primary prevention mental health programs for children and adolescents: a meta-analytic review”, American Journal of Community Psychology, Vol. 25

No. 2, pp. 115-52.

Greenberg, M., Kusche, C., Cook, E. and Quamma, J. (1995), “Promoting emotional competence in school-aged children – the effects of the PATHS curriculum”, Development and Psychopathology, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 117-36.

Hawkins, J.D. and Catalano, R. (1992), Communities That Care: Action for Drug Abuse

Prevention, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Wells, J., Barlow, J. and Stewart-Brown, S. (2003), “A systematic review of universal approaches to mental health promotion in schools”, Health Education, Vol. 103 No. 4, p. 220.

Zins, J.E., Weissberg, P.P., Wang, M.C. and Walberg, H. (2004), Building Academic Success on

Social and Emotional Learning, Teachers College, Columbia, New York, NY.

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Sabtu, 30 Mei 2015

jurnal pembelajaran mengunakan metode SEL