Social and Emotional

Development

Daniela Falecki
d.falecki@westernsydney.edu.au
You are the key…..
“I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in
the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is
my daily mood that makes the weather.

As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child's life

miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of
inspiration. I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be

escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.”

Haim Ginott – Teacher and Child.

We are ALL emotional beings
This lecture

• Understand the social context of adolescence

• Understand how emotions are regulated in adolescence
• Help adolescents identify and manage emotions
• Give strategies to manage emotionally and socially
• Assist in identify formation and sense of belonging
Social and Emotional development refers
to Non-Cognitive skills
Social & emotional context of
adolescence
• Adolescence is a time when teens develop templates for what adult
relationships look like - Relationships
• Teens value adult influence as role models – Role Models
• Emotion over-rides cognitive process requiring the learning or
emotional management – Emotional Intelligence
• Emotional development during adolescence involves learning to
cope with stress and manage emotions – Coping strategies
• This is the time when teens have the ability to cognitively question

and consider their own identity – Identity

(Santrock, 2001)
 Biggest question in adolescence is;
Who am I?
Identity formation neither begins nor ends during adolescence, however
adolescence is the first time, when individuals have the cognitive capacity to
consciously sort through who they are and what makes them unique.

What labels do you use to describe yourself?

Eg, mother, brother, cousin, retail operator, sporty, book-worm, Asian, Muslim
Identity formation
• identity formation involves experimenting with different ways
of appearing, sounding, and behaving.

• most experimentation is a positive sign that adolescents feel

secure enough to explore the unknown.

• Caution must be taken if experimentation goes to far and

places the young person at risk of danger

• The development of cognitive skills enables them to make

abstract generalizations about them self (Keating, 1990) in
either positive or negative ways, eg body image.
Identify – 2 concepts
1. Self-concept: the set of beliefs one has about oneself.
This includes beliefs about attributes (e.g., tall, intelligent), roles
and goals (e.g., occupation), and interests, values, and beliefs
(e.g., religious, political).

2. Self-esteem, involves evaluating how one feels about one’s

self-concept.
“Global” self-esteem refers to how much we like or approve of
our perceived selves as a whole.
“Specific” self-esteem refers to how much we feel about certain
parts of ourselves (e.g., as an athlete or student, how one looks)
Identity formation
• Adolescents must learn and master their emotions in
order to grow into a high functioning adult – known as
emotionally intelligence.

• They must also learn how to connect with others in

positive ways in respectful and effective relationships –
known as social intelligence

“SEL”
Social and Emotional Learning
 How do we develop
identity?
Developmental psychologist Erik H. Erikson
( 1902-1994) was best known for his theory
on social development of human beings,
and for coining the phrase identity crisis.

He believed that childhood is very

important in personality development

Life is a series of lessons and challenges

which help us to grow
 Erikson – Identity stages
• The theory describes eight stages
through which a healthy
developing human should pass
from infancy to late adulthood.

• In each stage the person confronts,

and hopefully masters, new
challenges.

• The challenges of stages that are

not successfully completed may be
expected to reappear as problems
in the future.
Stage Basic Conflict Important Events Outcome
Infancy (birth to 18 Trust vs. Mistrust Feeding Children develop a sense of trust when caregivers
months) provide reliabilty, care, and affection. A lack of this will
lead to mistrust.
Early Childhood (2 to Autonomy vs. Shame Toilet Training Children need to develop a sense of personal control
3 years) and Doubt over physical skills and a sense of independence.
Success leads to feelings of autonomy, failure results in
feelings of shame and doubt.
Preschool (3 to 5 Initiative vs. Guilt Exploration Children need to begin asserting control and power over
years) the environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense
of purpose. Children who try to exert too much power
experience disapproval, resulting in a sense of guilt.
School Age (6 to 11 Industry vs. Inferiority School Children need to cope with new social and academic
years) demands. Success leads to a sense of competence,
while failure results in feelings of inferiority.
Adolescence (12 to Identity vs. Role Social Relationships Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal
18 years) Confusion identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to
yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a
weak sense of self.
Young Adulthood (19 Intimacy vs. Isolation Relationships Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships
to 40 years) with other people. Success leads to strong relationships,
while failure results in loneliness and isolation.
Middle Adulthood Generativity vs. Work and Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast
(40 to 65 years) Stagnation Parenthood them, often by having children or creating a positive
change that benefits other people. Success leads to
feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure
results in shallow involvement in the world.
Maturity(65 to Ego Integrity vs. Reflection on Life Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense
death) Despair of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of
wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and
despair.
Personal application
Think about your experiences of high school in relation to Erikson’s
framing of identity v role confusion

• What factors at school influenced identity?

• What emotions might be experienced at this time?
• What are some typical social issues through your school years?
Education MUST include Non-Cognitive skills
• Non-cognitive skills refers to attributes of ;
o how people manage themselves (intrapersonal)
o how they interact with others (interpersonal).

• Intrapersonal and interpersonal, such as self-control and

social competence, are well-established predictors of success
in academics, career, and well-being.

• These competencies must be incorporated effectively into

educational policy and practice to complement existing
academic and cognitive goals in order to ensure schooling
works to help all students flourish.

Source - Ready to Be Counted: The Research Case for Education Policy Action on Non-
Cognitive Skills (2015)
Social and emotional competence
• Social competence and emotional competence are distinct attributes,
however strongly interrelated (Denham et al. 2009; Squires 2003).

• Socially and emotionally competent children are;

o confident
o have good relationships
o can communicate well
o do better at school
o take on and persist with challenging tasks
o have a sense of mastery and self-worth
o develop peer & adult relationships necessary to succeed in life

(National Research Council and Institutes of Medicine 2000)

 Why teach non-cognitive skills?
• 95% of the young people in the top quintile of self-control went on to graduate
from high school, compared with 58% for those in the lowest quintile
(Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Development Study, 2011)

• Non-cognitive factors were as equally predictive as cognitive factors in

accounting for which young men earned a college degree by age 30.
(James Heckman’s 2006 analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 1979 (NLSY79)

• kindergartners with high social competency were 1.5 times more likely to
graduate from high school and twice as likely to graduate from college.

• Among Perry Preschool Study participants with high social competency, the odds
of having an income over $2,000 per month at age 27 rose fourfold—from 7% to
29%—compared to the randomized control group.

• The likelihood of owning a home tripled, and the frequency of having ever
received welfare or similar public assistance as an adult went down by a quarter.

Source - Ready to Be Counted: The Research Case for Education Policy Action on Non-
Cognitive Skills (2015)
Social Competence…
• Social competence is defined by personal attributes such a;
o cooperative and pro-social behaviour
o helpfulness
o the ability to initiate and maintain positive relationships and
o the ability to resolve conflict
(Denham et al. 2009; Humphrey et al. 2010; Squires 2003).

• Factors that affect how children form and maintain social relationships
with their families, peers and teachers include;
o attachment,
o conflict resolution skills,
o sociability and
o interpersonal skills
(Cullen et al. 2010; Dunn & Herrera 1997; Pahl & Barrett 2007).

• Socially competent children also demonstrate more positive school

behaviours and fewer mental health problems than children who lack
social competence (Denham et al. 2009).
• Robert Balfanz identified five key early predictors that could identify
60% of 13,000 U.S. students who would not graduate from high
school middle
• Of their five warning flags, two were based on academic
achievement (whether a student failed math or English), and the
other three were based on behaviours that depended on a student’s
ability to self-regulate their behaviour and emotions.

Source - Ready to Be Counted: The Research Case for Education Policy Action on Non-
Cognitive Skills (2015)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

has found that noncognitive skills, including self-control, are more
important than cognitive skills in helping to avoid obesity, one of
today’s greatest health risks.

Source - Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

(2014). ESP international report: Skills for social progress.
SEL increases academic outcomes
• A meta-analysis by Joseph Durlak of 213 social and emotional
learning (SEL) programs, found strong social-emotional skills
predicted positive academic outcomes.

• Students who participated in SEL programs developed greater social-

emotional skills as well as improved academic outcomes, compared
to their peers in the control groups

Durlak, J. A., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., Weissberg, R. P., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of
enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal
interventions. Child Development 82(1), 405–432.
Wellbeing = Academic achievement

Teaching Well-Being increases Academic Performance: Evidence From Bhutan, Mexico, and Peru
Alejandro Adler, 2016
 How do we teach SEL?
“Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and
adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary
to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show
empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make
responsible decisions.”

(CASEL – Centre for Academic Social Emotional Learning)

CASEL Framework for SEL

Source - http://www.casel.org/social-and-emotional-learning/core-competencies
 Social and Emotional Learning Competencies for
Good Mental Health

1. Self-Awareness - Identifying emotions, Recognising strengths

2. Social Awareness - Perspective-taking, Appreciating diversity

3. Self-Management - Managing emotions, Goal setting, mindfulness

4. Responsible Decision-Making - Analysing situations, Assuming personal

responsibility, Respecting others, Problem solving

5. Relationship Skills - Verbal and nonverbal communication, Building

relationships, Negotiation, Refusal

(Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2003)

National Curriculum - Personal and social capability
Self awareness
• recognition of emotions
• self-knowledge - strengths
• self-perception - achievements
• self-worth
• reflective practice.

Self management
• appropriate expression of emotions
• self-discipline
• goal setting and tracking
• working independently and showing initiative
• confidence, resilience and adaptability.

Social awareness
• empathy
• appreciating diverse perspectives
• contributing to civil society,
• understanding relationships.

Social management
• communication
• working collaboratively
• decision making
• conflict resolution and negotiation
• building and maintaining relationships
• leadership.
Why Mental Health Should Be a Part of Core
School Business

Social & emotional well-being affects;

• Schooling outcomes
• Social development
• Capacity to contribute to workforce/community
• Reduction in rate of youth suicide

Mental health problems are associated with higher rates

of truancy, suspension, exclusion, school alienation
Emotional Intelligence
Salovey and Mayer define EQ as the;

“Ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions,

to discriminate among them and to use this information to
guide ones thinking and actions.” (1990)

Peter Salovey John Mayer

Yale University University of New
Hampshire
Experiences are fluid
Emotional literacy is key
Negativity Bias
Celebrate ups & Navigate lows
 Primary
emotions
Which primary
emotion has been
biggest for you
today?
Emotions and the body

“Bodily maps of emotions”

Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari K. Hietanen (2013)
Coping strategies

Helpful Harmful
Manage the self critic
Often the biggest bully
is our own inner critic.

This can impact on both

our self concept and our
self esteem
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy

It is not simply what happens to you that causes your reactions. Rather, it is the meaning that is
attached to an experience that leads a person to feel and behave in certain ways.
How do you track your thoughts?

McGrath & Noble (2003)Bounce Back resources

 Column A Column B Column C
1. Do you talk a lot about the things that go well Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
in your day?
2. Do you look for and notice the mistakes that Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
people make rather than what they do well?
3. Do you give yourself a very hard time when Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
you get something wrong or forget something?
4. Do you talk about what you like about people Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
you know?
5. Do you notice and talk about the things you Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
do well?
6. Do you talk about the bad things about other Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
people?
7. Do you pay attention to what you like about Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
how you look rather than what you don’t look
like?
 Column A Column B Column C
8. Do you focus a lot on the things you can’t Yes, a lot Sometimes Not often
do well?
9. Do you usually forgive yourself when you Yes, mostly Sometimes Not much
get something wrong and see it as an
experience that helped you to learn?
10. Do you talk about the things that go Yes, a lot Sometimes No
wrong in your day?
11. Do you agree with the statement that you Yes Unsure No
can learn at least one thing from everybody
you meet?
12. When you are having a hard time, do you Yes, often Sometimes Not often
fear that things will be terrible forever?
13. When things go wrong for you, do you Yes, usually Sometimes Not often
find one small good thing about the situation
to hang on to?
 Column A Column B Column C
14. Do you believe that nearly everyone has Yes Unsure Not really
some positive qualities?
15. When things go wrong, do you spend a Yes, a lot A bit Not much
lot of time agonising about how terrible the
situation is?
16. When you are having a hard time, do you Yes, usually A bit No
feel confident that things will get better in a
while?
17. Do you believe that some people have Yes Sort of No
absolutely nothing to offer other people
because they are complete losers?
 What kind of tracker are you?
Scoring
Transfer your ticks to this column to get your scores. Then add up all of your points.

Question # Column A Column B Column C

1 2 1 0
2 0 1 2
3 0 1 2
4 2 1 0
5 2 1 0
6 0 1 2
7 2 1 0
8 0 1 2
9 2 1 0
10 0 1 2
 What kind of tracker are you?
Question # Column A Column B Column C
11 2 1 0
12 0 1 2
13 2 1 0
14 2 1 0
15 0 1 2
16 2 1 0
17 0 1 2
Put a mark on the scale to show your total positivity score. Make a
plan to become more positive and get a higher score next time you
answer the quiz or something similar.
0 17 34

You need a lot more You need some practice You’re a very
practice at being at being more positive positive person.
but you’re on the right Keep practicing!
positive track
Positive trackers
Negative trackers
Changing your tracking
Learning to breathe..
Mindfulness
• Mindfulness is paying attention, in a particular way, on
purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally.
Kabat-Zinn, 1990
Mindfulness in Schools project

https://mindfulnessinschools.org/mindfulness-in-education/what-is-it/ /
 MIEd Research
• Flook et al (2010) reviewed the “Inner Kids” mindfulness skills programme taught
around the world. Evaluation with 7 to 9 yr olds produced parent and teacher-rated
improvements in ‘executive function’ (the ability to problem solve, plan, initiate and
control and monitor one’s own actions, to pay attention, be mentally flexible and
multi-¬‐task, and to employ verbal reasoning).

• Schonert-Reichl and Hymel (2007) reviewed the “MindUP” program which fosters the
development of wellbeing traits using social, emotional, attentional and self regulation
strategies, including mindfulness exercises. Teachers noticed improvements in 9 to 13
yr olds’ behaviour, attention and focus.

• Semple et al. (2010) assessed the impact of a 12 week group program based on
MBCT in 9 to 13 year old children who were struggling academically. Significant
improvements were found on measures of attention and reductions in anxiety and
behaviour problems compared to those who had not yet had the programme.

http://mindfulnessinschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MiSP-Research-Summary-2012.pdf
More…
• Joyce et al (2010) report pre and post group differences in children
aged 10 to 13 years on measures of behaviour problems and
depression. The 10 week program delivered by teachers lead to a
significant reduction in self‐reported behavioural problems and
depression scores, particularly in pupils with clinically significant levels
of problem before the intervention.

• Napoli, Krech & Holley (2005) reported the results of integrated

mindfulness and relaxation work with 225 children with high anxiety,
aged between 5- 8 taking part in the ‘Attention Academy Program’ in a
school context. The intervention constituted 12 sessions of 45 minutes
each. The children showed significant decreases in both test anxiety
and ADHD behaviors and also an increase in the ability to pay
attention
Great apps
When it goes wrong…
Peers: the value of friendship
• In adolescence close friendships become very important
psychologically. Intimacy & similarity are key features.
• Adolescent friendships provide:
• Companionship through
• shared activities
• Information, advice & guidance
• Instrumental support
• Esteem support
Schools must support wellbeing

“Student wellbeing is defined as a sustainable state of

positive mood and attitude, resilience, and satisfaction
with self, relationships and experiences at school.”
Australian Catholic University and Erebus International (2008)

Four components;

• Positive affect (an emotional component)

• Resilience (a coping component)
• Satisfaction with relationships life (a cognitive component)
• Effective functioning and the maximizing potential (a performance
• component)
 Types of wellbeing
1. Cognitive wellbeing….. “how we think”

2. Emotional wellbeing…..“how we cope”

3. Social wellbeing is ….. “how we connect with others”

4. Physical wellbeing….. “how we connect to our body”

5. Spiritual wellbeing is….“our beliefs values and ethics”

Pro-actively supporting wellbeing
Re-actively supporting wellbeing
CHILD framework - An evidence based framework outlining how teachers can promote social
and emotional wellbeing;

• C - Create safe and supportive environments that promote wellbeing and personal
development as well as learning.
• H - Help children and young people develop effective social and emotional skills and
manage their own behaviour.
• I - Identify children, young people and families who may need of additional support for
their mental health and wellbeing.
• L - Link children, young people and families with support and information services for
mental health and wellbeing.
• D - Develop broader organisational, school and community strategies that support
wellbeing.

http://www.responseability.org/childrens-services/student-handouts/the-child-framework
Developing our identity is a journey
where SEL is essential
 Final thoughts….
Consider your choices and perspective
Activities - Vuws

1. SEL Explained

1. SEL Activities

3. VIDEOS

4. OPTIONAL EXTRAS
References

Benard, B. (1995) Fostering Resilience in Children. (ERIC Digest). ERIC Clearinghouse

on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Urbana IL. [online]
http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed386327.html Accessed 17/05/03

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2003

Commonwealth Dept of Health and Aged Care (2000) Mind Matters: a mental health
promotion resource for secondary schools. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia
http://www.curriculum.edu.au/mindmatters

Frydenberg, E. (1997) Adolescent Coping: Theoretical and Research Perspectives.

London: Routledge

Hunter Institute of Mental Health (2001) Response Ability: Resources for Teacher
Education. Available online at http://www.responseability.org

Sawyer M.G., Arney F.M.,Baghurst P.A., Clark J.J., Graetz B.W.,Kosky R.J., Nurcombe
B., Patton G.C.,Prior M.R., Raphael B., Rey J.,Whaites L.C. and Zubrick S.R.(2000) Child
and Adolescent Component of the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being.
Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care
 Daniela Falecki
www.teacher-wellbeing.com.au