Social Emotional Learning
What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and why is it important?
Social emotional learning (SEL) helps students understand their emotions, feel them fully, and demonstrate empathy. They can then use these behaviors to make positive, responsible decisions; achieve their goals, and build relationships with others.
SEL increases self-awareness, academic achievement, and positive behaviors in and out of the classroom. It has been shown that students who participated in SEL programs demonstrate improved attendance and academic performance. Additionally, learned SEL skills can help students cope with emotional stress, solve problems, and avoid peer pressure to engage in harmful activities.
At TASIS Portugal, SEL is woven into the fabric of the School’s curriculum. Using age-appropriate, proven programs, we integrate SEL into every subject as well as providing dedicated time to SEL every week. By fostering a sense of empathy, self-awareness, and feelings of safety and inclusiveness in the classroom, SEL can have a positive impact that lasts a lifetime.
Click here to learn more about the CKLA curriculum and social-emotional competencies.
ELLI (the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory) assesses Learning Power. Learning Power is plotted using an online platform research-validated among 100,000 people globally by a University of Bristol team. ELLI tracks changes in the student profile as their responsiveness to learning changes and is highly sensitive to the learning environment. It does not pigeonhole the student learner because it records changes in the learning profile as the student changes.
ELLI revealed 7 basic learning dimensions that have since been distilled into 17 underlying habits and behaviors.
ELLI directs, manages and tracks learning improvement and creates the conditions for lifelong learning.
ELLI reveals learning's seven dimensions:
- Resilience (willingness)
- Strategic Awareness (comprehension)
- Learning Relationships (interactivity)
- Creativity (inventiveness)
- Critical Curiosity (inquisitiveness)
- Meaning Making (synthesis)
- Changing and Learning (responsiveness)
Toolbox Project is a simple and practical metaphor directing children to the experience and awareness of 12 innate Tools that already exist inside them. Opening the door to authentic relationship to self and others, Toolbox Project naturally encourages social equity through empathy, understanding, and 12 skills or practices to navigate the complexities of everyday life.
It’s a research-based, community-tested social and emotional learning (SEL) program that builds and strengthens children’s inherent capacity for resilience, self-mastery and empathy for self and others through its curricula, methods, and strategies.
Toolbox Project creates a pathway for children to practice being mindful through 12 rich domains of their lives—the 12 Tools, strategies, and skills—building a critical foundation for personal wellness in relationships, academics, and family life. Through self awareness and a growth mindset Toolbox Project builds a natural bridge to social equity and kindness to self and others.
Wayfinder was incubated at The Stanford d.school using the latest adolescent research from leaders in the field. Wayfinder continues to be advised by Stanford affiliates and puts human-centered design at the forefront of its work.
In Middle School: Belonging is foundational to forming healthy relationships and living a purposeful life. Wayfinder’s middle school curriculum supports students to explore their identities and build compassionate relationships with themselves, their communities, and the wider world. Wayfinder middle school students are:
- Better able to identify and set concrete goals to develop healthy habits
- Better able to navigate conflict, challenges, and pressures
- More likely to have high self-confidence
Download a sample of the Wayfinder 5th Grade CurriculumIn High School: Purpose is the desire to accomplish something that’s fulfilling and meaningful to you that also improves the world around you. Wayfinder’s high school SEL + Future-Ready Skills curriculum prepares students to tackle life’s challenges with intention and purpose. Wayfinder high school students are prepared for the future:
- 11x increase in key measures of purpose
- 75% could name their strengths and connect them to real life
- 4x more likely to feel confident about their futures
Related Academic Team Blog Posts
Low Pressure, High Achievement
Institutions researching the impact of student wellbeing on academic achievement have identified a widespread interpretation of success defined only by grades, scores, or admission to the most elite universities. TASIS Portugal believes that student well-being is essential to learning.
How to be a good friend
Being a good friend is probably the most frequent conversation teachers have with children. And just when you think your child has learned how to play nicely and interact positively with peers, hormones show up and change everything!
The powerful impact of "A Handful of Quiet"
It is fascinating to see how a simple SEL (social-emotional learning) tool can create a powerful impact on young learners’ minds.
Social and Emotional Learning at TASIS Portugal
Students at TASIS Portugal learn and develop their social-emotional skills during general classroom instruction, through leadership and service opportunities, during assemblies where students are recognized for their demonstration of the TASIS Portugal ideals, and every day in our SEL classes.