Social and Emotional Learning During COVID-19
Today’s blog includes special lessons on Social and Emotional Learning from Saint Louis University School of Education students.
As we lurch into the third month of the Coronavirus shutdown, plans and actions have started to emerge on how we will return to more in-person interactions and activities. The underlying goal with these plans is to help return to some semblance of normalcy, but with a clear focus on health and safety. While some services are slated to resume in a semi-normal fashion it is still too early to tell how we should return to school in the Fall. With this uncertainty in mind, it comes as no surprise that there have been more efforts to mitigate the effects of quarantine and isolation on peoples’ mental and emotional well-being. This is especially true for schools and educators, which have been attempting to serve both the mental health and academic growth of their students throughout the pandemic.
Much has been written on how state departments of education and schools themselves have responded to the pandemic. Canceled testing, shortened school years, and online learning have become all too familiar for those of us in the education world, leading to concerns around how much students have lost academically. Floating in the background is what the impact will be on students’ and teachers’ emotional, mental, and social well-being. Social and emotional learning (SEL) had been gaining more public backing prior to the shutdown. SEL helps students gain important skills that aid in learning and understanding how to cope with emotions and circumstances that may arise.
In this blog, we take a look at how the pandemic may alter behaviors and emotions, what this means for schools, and provide some tools to help schools and teachers with social-emotional learning in online environments and as we transition back to in-person learning.
The Emotions of a Pandemic
A recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine described the impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have on our mental and emotional well-being. The authors point out that because these home confinements and other reactions in the name of public health are so new to us, we are not entirely sure how people will respond. The authors point out emotional responses like distress and psychiatric conditions, as well as feelings of depression and anxiety, may arise like that observed following disasters and other traumatic events.
Similarly, a review of literature on the psychological impacts of quarantine showed that home confinements can lead to a variety of negative mental and emotional health outcomes that include anxiety, depression, and irritability. The authors also find these conditions can carry over after the quarantine is lifted. Additionally, the literature shows the pandemic and resulting quarantine negatively affects emotional health by altering day-to-day routines. This is exacerbated by feelings of isolation that come from being removed from social networks and communication.
Emotions and Student Learning
An important aspect of learning in schools is knowing how to effectively manage emotions. These are skills students can learn through positive interactions and in environments that are conducive to social interaction. Emotions affect how and what students are able to learn, so teaching and helping students understand their emotions can have a lasting effect on what students can accomplish academically. Schools play an essential role in helping students develop academic, social, and emotional skills to be successful after they leave. With the COVID pandemic decreasing the amount of social interaction between students, teachers, and classmates, the feelings of isolation will likely have a lasting impact on students’ abilities to handle emotions.
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a vital aspect of preparing students for life after school. A meta-analysis on SEL and how it impacts students found that schools and classrooms where students participated in SEL experienced “improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance.” Effective SEL implementation occurs within caring, supportive, and well-managed learning environments. This is easier said than done in online learning environments, as the new virtual classroom settings can create a distance that can prevent the development of student-teacher relationships. But, our connectedness and ability to communicate can provide positive growth opportunities that help with SEL implementation.
Tools for Online SEL
In researching the impacts of quarantine on individuals, one of the best approaches to alleviate the negative effects through improved communication and reducing boredom. Consistent check-ins on social and emotional well-being have proven critical in the health care world. It stands to reason this would be important for students and teachers as well. Helping students gain more SEL skills is useful in improving behavioral and academic outcomes. Additionally, it creates a more caring learning environment. If we are able to focus on these skills in the current online learning environment, it may help to ease the transition back to in-person learning in the fall and regain some of what we may have lost this past spring.
Often, discussions of educational issues point out something we should care about with few solutions or strategies to improve. With that in mind, we’re listing some resources for our friends in the classroom rather than listing why SEL is important. Here, you will find some existing online resources and we’re proudly sharing some video lessons on SEL created by pre-service teachers here in the SLU School of Education. Enjoy!
Resources
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s (CASEL) guidance for returning to school with SEL
Panorama Education’s list of SEL and self-care resources for educators, schools, and parents
Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence has training and webinars on their RULER approach
Video Lessons
Kayleigh Isom's lesson on Empathy, grades 2-8
Kayleigh's 12-minute video explains and allows children to think about what empathy is, its different types, how it helps others and how empathy impacts our own lives.
Jessica Furgal's lesson on Stress (Guitar Strings), grades 2-8
Jessica's 4 minute video helps children understand what stress might feel like, as well as the good and bad parts of stress. She also offers some ways to help cope with too much stress.
Ajla Ahmetovic's lesson on Crushing Anger (Bricks and Chocolate), grades KG-6
Ajla's 9-minute video teaches children ways of realizing why they are angry and strategies for letting that anger go.
Margaret Conley's lesson on Worry (Breathe and Rip), grades 2-8
Margaret's 5 1/2-minute video offers children techniques for noting and releasing one's worries.
Gwen Cataldo's lesson, I Have Feelings, grades PK-1st grade
Gwen's 3-minute video has the perfect song for little ones to name and express different feelings.