Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning

'Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning' (SEAL) is a comprehensive approach to the promotion of social and emotional skills in the classroom, introduced in England and Wales beginning with the Primary National Strategy in 2005. The aim of the approach is to help to promote positive behaviour and effective learning.

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ttzelrn/contexts/unit3/documents/seal_guidance.pdf

Social and emotional aspects of learning, such as self awareness, managing feelings, motivation, empathy and social skills are considered to be important in the SEAL approach because Social, emotional and behavioural skills underlie almost every aspect of school, home and community life, including
effective learning and getting on with other people. They are fundamental to school improvement. Where children have good skills in these areas, and are educated within an environment supportive to emotional
health and well-being, they will be motivated to, and
equipped to:

• be effective and successful learners;
• make and sustain friendships;
• deal with and resolve conflict effectively and fairly;
• solve problems with others or by themselves;
• manage strong feelings such as frustration, anger and anxiety;
• be able to promote calm and optimistic states that promote the achievement of goals;
• recover from setbacks and persist in the face of difficulties;
• work and play cooperatively;
• compete fairly and win and lose with dignity and respect for competitors;
• recognise and stand up for their rights and the rights of others;
• understand and value the differences and commonalities between people, respecting the right of others to have beliefs and values different from their own.

These approaches have been used in my school for the Primary where it is incorporated to other subjects. It is adopted to such an extent that our school has a theme of the month dealing with various social and emotional issues. Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) has been introduced to our secondary where we have one 80 minute lesson a week. It has not yet been incorporated into other subjects, teachers are free to do so but I have seen no evidence of it.

Secondary teachers could make the most of SEAL resources in creating a positive classroom ethos in the following ways:

 As communicative discussion activities in ESL lessons – the material can be used to prompt discussions and introduce students to new vocabulary 

Revision techniques– Students can be taught various ways of dealing with stress and anxiety whilst preparing for exams.

Empowering pupils - This might be in a situation where there is an argument or disagreement between friends. If all students are educated with SEAL resources they will be able to deal with these problems without having to involve the teacher.

As a warmer – confidence and self esteem activities could be used as warmers to energise students and therefore make them more motivated.

SEAL has its critics and sceptics, some of whom see it as a further – and in many ways unhelpful - extension of what is claimed to be a wider 'therapy culture'. A recent book review in The Daily Telegraph expands on some of the concerns.