I. Overarching Framework
II. S-C Program Concepts and Skills
III. S-C Teaching Strategies
I. Overarching Framework
A growing body of research suggests that social and emotional learning (SEL) is fundamental to students’ success in school and beyond. SEL is the process by which we develop the skills to recognize and manage emotions, form positive relationships with others, solve problems, motivate ourselves to accomplish a goal, make responsible decisions, and avoid risky behavior. There is promising evidence, primarily at the elementary school level, linking social and emotional skills training with improved academic outcomes and reduced anti-social behavior (DiPerna & Elliot, 1999; Feshbach & Feshbach, 1987; Haynes, Ben-Avie, & Ensign, 2003; Hawkins, Farrington, & Catalano, 1998).
School-Connect focuses on the five social and emotional competency areas identified by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2005) as critical to young people’s success in school, the workplace, and life in general. These include:
CASEL staff served as advisors during development of School-Connect and assessed the curriculum using an instrument designed to measure coverage of the competency areas. The curriculum received the highest score (Program Strength) in four out of five competency areas. Subsequently, School-Connect authors added lessons on negotiation skills to strengthen the remaining competency area. CASEL previously used this instrument to assess over 250 youth development programs in a landmark national study on evidence-based social and emotional learning (CASEL, 2003).
II. School-Connect Program Concepts and Skills
Module 1: Creating a Supportive Learning Environment
The primary research supporting the concepts and skills taught in Module 1 is in the area of empathy development. Research on the development of empathy in young children identifies three components of empathy: the abilities to 1) recognize emotions in others, 2) take the perspective of others, and 3) respond emotionally to others (Feshbach, 1975). By middle childhood, most young people have an understanding of the types and causes of emotions, including situations that involve mixed or contrasting emotions, and show personal concern for others in distress (Hoffman, 2000). This is not true for students with behavioral problems, who, as they grow older, tend to show less personal concern for others (Hastings et al., 2000). In adolescence, empathy is an important skill in friendship but is not readily extended to others outside of one’s sphere of friends (Worthen, 1999). Peer bullying, particularly in the form of relational aggression (i.e., exclusion, shunning, gossip, and verbal abuse), reduces students’ empathy for those who are targets of this behavior (O’Connell, Peplar, & Craig, 1999).
Module 1 aims to interrupt these negative social processes by awakening students’ natural empathic tendencies. It does this by providing practice in: recognizing micro-expressions of emotions, identifying situational social cues, actively listening to others’ viewpoints, and developing strategies for caring about the welfare of people who students perceive as different from themselves. Activities that have students listen to each other’s experiences with labeling, stereotyping, prejudice, and bullying, and assess their own reactions to diversity, help fuel students’ desires to act in accordance with their better selves.
Module 2: Developing Self-Awareness and Self-Management & Module 3: Building Academic Strengths
Module 2 and Module 3 employ cognitive-behavioral interventions that help students to understand how their thought processes affect their emotions, which in turn drive their behavior. This cycle, well documented in the literature on depression, psychological pathology, and violence prevention, impacts the way students perceive and respond to social and academic challenges, directly affecting their success in either realm (Beck, 1976; Seligman, 1998; Guerra & Slaby, 1990). Within the School-Connect curriculum, students learn to recognize automatic negative thoughts and attributions prompted by different situations [e.g., going into a test (“I’m going to blow this”), or passing a friend who doesn’t acknowledge them (“He just dissed me!”)]. Students learn to challenge these thoughts with more neutral or positive assessments and recognize the effect these self-statements have on their feelings and behavior.
This internal dialogue also is used to address students’ underlying beliefs about intelligence and personality, habits of thinking proven to have profound effects on student behavior and achievement (Dweck, 2000). Students learn about research documenting the debilitating effects of holding an entity theory of intelligence and personality (i.e., our intelligence and/or personality is fixed and we can’t do much to change them). Students who are entity theorists learn to challenge their beliefs, while those who are incremental theorists (i.e., believe that effort pays off) learn why this attitude works in their favor and how to strengthen it, especially as it applies to academic engagement.
In addition to addressing their thoughts, students learn to manage their affective states. In Module 2, they practice reducing negative emotions, such as anger, fear, anxiety, and shame, which can become barriers to learning and making friends. And they learn to employ positive emotions that can increase optimism and their ability to concentrate and apply themselves (Isen, 1990). In Module 3 students learn to apply these and other psychological strategies to academic planning, self-organization, and study skills (Weinstein & Hume, 1998).
Module 4: Resolving Conflicts and Making Decisions
The concepts and skills taught in Module 4 are grounded in prevention research. Numerous studies document the positive effects of teaching interpersonal problem solving and other relational skills, such as refusal, positive persuasion, and apologizing, to young people (Zins, Bloodworth, Weissberg, & Walberg, 2004). At the high school level, peer mediation has been a popular response to the threat of school violence. In two similar studies, high school students who were taught conflict resolution skills in conjunction with English literature and a social studies course had increased academic achievement in the courses and reported having applied the skills in real conflicts (Stevahn & Johnson, 2002; Stevahn, Johnson, Johnson, & Schultz, 2002).
III. School-Connect Teaching Strategies
Teaching strategies employed throughout the curriculum are designed to foster the ABC’s of student motivation: autonomy, belonging, and competence (Deci, 1995). In a landmark policy paper involving the efforts of the country’s leading educational associations, Learning First Alliance identified these factors as “basic needs” of young people and central to the learning process. Schools that satisfy these needs benefit from their students’ improved attitudes, behavior, and performance (Learning First Alliance, 2001).
According to Edward Deci, having autonomy “means to act in accord with one’s self—it means feeling free and volitional in one’s actions” (Deci, 1995). Autonomy leads to authenticity in thought and behavior; without it, students are less likely to pursue learning for its own sake or discover the subjects and types of work that truly engage their interest and attention. In education, autonomy often is referred to as “voice and choice”— students having a say about what they think and what they study. Providing voice and choice requires teachers to be facilitators of learning, rather than imparters of information; this style of teaching is the opposite of the top-down lecture format employed in traditional high school classrooms.
One way that School-Connect develops voice and choice is by giving students many opportunities to speak. “Think-pair-share” activities encourage students to take a minute for quiet reflection and then turn to a classmate to respond to a prompt, share an experience, or discuss their homework. Afterwards, students have the opportunity to participate in a full class discussion. When students are able to organize their thoughts and try them out with a peer, they are more likely to feel comfortable speaking up in the larger group. In class discussions, students are encouraged to face and speak to each other and not always direct their comments to the teacher. Early in the program students receive practice “adding on” to others’ comments and “thinking differently,” rather than disagreeing or competing with each other. The emphasis is on being curious, respecting ideas, and seeking truth—not on winning debates and looking smart. Research has correlated these habits of mind with increased student participation and academic engagement (Ritchart, 2002).
Students also are given the opportunity for voice and choice through small and large self-directed group activities. In an early lesson, for example, students first reflect upon and write about what makes a good classroom environment. Working in small groups, they generate group guidelines for behavior they then discuss and decide upon as a class. The class also devises a plan for taking shared responsibility for adhering to the final set of guidelines (i.e., how students will respond when one of their guidelines is violated).
Teaching strategies that give students opportunities to interact with one another also help build a sense of belonging, which is a key factor in bonding to school as well as in student motivation (Resnick et al., 1997). Interacting with different classmates allows students to share experiences and discover what they have in common, helping to increase empathy and break down labels and stereotypes. The program also encourages teachers to share life experiences, which helps students learn how to meet new challenges and adjust to school.
The curriculum further aims to create connections between school and home and between students and their families. Many of the homework assignments involve students in activities with a parent or other family member. For example, parents discuss their children’s character strengths with them and hear how their children view themselves, share an experience they had while growing up and compare and contrast this to what their children experience, and identify obstacles they have overcome to reach a personal goal. Homework and classroom assignments ask students to share and practice the skills and concepts with their families, while maintaining an awareness of cultural differences that may require adaptation of some skills.
Students need to feel a growing sense of competence and confidence in order to pursue new challenges and overcome obstacles to learning. School-Connect develops student competence by providing repeated opportunities to apply the concepts and skills presented in the lessons. Social Learning Theory avers that students will not acquire behavioral skills without: 1) observing role models, 2) discussing and practicing the skills, 3) receiving feedback and reinforcement, 4) applying the skills to real life situations, and 5) reflecting upon the natural benefits of the skills (Bandura, 1986). For example, after discussing and observing what constitutes a sincere apology, students identify whether given responses for different situations meet the criteria, and then role-play sincere apologies for these situations. After each role-play, the class provides feedback and reinforcement on the student-actors’ performance. Teachers follow-up by continuing to model the skills themselves in everyday interactions with students, and by prompting and encouraging students to apply new skills in class and elsewhere.
In contrast to a business-as-usual approach, School-Connect aims to change the classroom environment by creating reciprocal exchanges among teachers and students and by increasing the skill level of all class members, including teachers. In this approach, teachers become facilitators of learning and students active participants in classroom processes. This means that:
Beginning with the first lesson, students reflect on an essential question, and then share their answer with a partner as a precursor to a full-class discussion. When students have an opportunity to organize and try out their ideas, they are more apt to speak up within the larger group. Periodically throughout the program, students use a Koosh ball to designate a speaker; this encourages them to listen to and construct responses to one another, rather than reply directly to the teacher. This discussion strategy also reminds teachers to refrain from dominating a discussion or reverting to a lecture format and allows space for students to construct understanding. These simple strategies have a dynamic effect on class discussions and student relations. Pilot teachers reported that School-Connect helped them become better listeners and develop closer relationships with their students. This is critically important, as research indicates that students benefit greatly from having at least one caring adult advocate at school (Resnick, et al, 1997).
Because School-Connect requires a new way of teaching and interacting with students, the program offers guidance to school administrators in selecting teachers for the course based on their experience and comfort level with SEL concepts and strategies. Program presenters should hold and reflect the belief that social and emotional learning is a worthwhile and lifelong process. It is beneficial if they also possess humility, a sense of humor, and an openness to change. Administrators should select presenters on this basis, rather than on what teachers are available to teach the course.
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