Child development experts everywhere are aware that, as children age and grow, the developmental milestones they reach change. So, social and emotional (SE) school interventions must change with them, too.
Social emotional learning (SEL) is defined as the process through which people learn skills in order to form healthy relationships, develop their identities, manage their emotions, make positive decisions, and become aware of others’ perspectives. Though these skills may seem standard for everyone, they look different for various age groups. For example, a 7-year-old exhibiting patience may look like waiting for their turn to play with a toy. On the other hand, a 17-year-old’s version of patience may entail waiting for months to receive a highly-anticipated college decision.
Younger children are learning some of these skills for the first time. So, explicit instruction of these skills and inclusion of SEL-guided classroom practices tend to work best. Of course, good teachers will find success in incorporating their students’ daily lives in their instruction. But the focus for this age group is imparting important knowledge about SE skills and solidifying it in students’ routines via consistency and repetition.
By high school, most children have learned some SE skills one way or another. Older children are also closer to adulthood, and thus experience higher-stakes situations daily. As such, the social-emotional learning programs in their schools should incorporate these experiences and set up intentional spaces for them to practice SE skills as a way of preparing for adult life. This could look like integrating SE lessons with academic work, finding opportunities for SEL in student leadership roles, or setting up peer mentoring programs.
It’s a wonderful thing that children grow and sophisticate their knowledge. To better serve them in their journeys, SEL programs must grow with them and consistently meet them at their developmental level to forward their SE knowledge during each stage of their lives.
By Despoina Lioliou, Project Coordinator at the Center for Social Development and Education.