Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

Questions in this section focus on the following 2 areas from the CASEL framework, which provides a foundation for applying evidence-based SEL strategies in your learning community:

• Social awareness
• Relationship skills

Social reflections encourage students to think about how they work with other students. These can be asked in response to an interpersonal school activity such as a group project, or in isolation, and can also be used as a warm up activity at the start of class.

Prime opportunities to engage with students about their social learning are in any group settings (for example a class project), helping students develop an understanding of how they can learn better as they progress through school and into society as adults. 

‍Research highlights reflecting on SEL helps students improve crucial social traits like persistence, empathy and self confidence. It has also been linked to better academic performance, stronger rates of completion of work and a better mental state in their learning environment.

• Reflect on class responses to ensure there are no class-wide issues 
• Share themes with the class and use them as a basis for discussion

A full list of questions you can use in your class can be found in Ziplet’s question library under “Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) - Others”.

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