ABSTRACT
Spurred by continued efforts of school health professionals and educators to address student needs, social emotional learning (SEL) has become a high priority in schools nationwide (Jones & DoLittle, 2017). Educators have sought innovative ways to incorporate SEL across the school day. Out-of-school time has also been identified as an ideal opportunity to reinforce SEL competencies. The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) school-centered model as well as the teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) physical education centered model intersect with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework for SEL; and in conjunction advance the notion of how we think about SEL and development in children across the school day and beyond. Accordingly, the objectives of this book chapter are to 1). Define SEL and provide an overview of its potential contribution to out of school programming, 2). Review global SEL approaches as they relate to out of school time, 3). Provide a case study of the Kids Work it Out after-school program that utilizes the SEL framework and 3). Consider strategies and future directions for how SEL can be utilized as a best practice in out-of-school programming.
