ABSTRACT
The survival of the human race depends at least as much on the cultivation of social and emotional intelligence as it does on the development of technical knowledge and skills. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is needed, among other reasons, to remediate the surging number and severity of student problem behaviors. Many of the receiving messages are problematic—selfish, cynical, and often sexual. Teachers want to help rectify this trend. Most genuinely want to make a contribution to the life success of their pupils, and they don't believe that academic learning (AL) alone does that. There is growing agreement on embedding SEL into the general curriculum, for its own sake, and for the many ways it facilitates AL. SEL must not interfere with academic learning. The relevancy of SEL to the required academic objectives must be apparent to the teacher. Each of the SEL lessons is closely integrated with a typical learning goal.
