Social Emotional Learning program

While most schools focus exclusively on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and STEAM (the addition of A for Arts) initiatives, over the last 3 decades it has become clear that we can greatly influence the odds of happiness, success, and integration of citizens by introducing a systemic approach to social and emotional learning in our schools and communities.

Our program

The SEL program begins with establishing the requirements for your school and agreeing with you on a timeline, the classrooms to be targeted (we recommend Grades 3-8), and the teachers who will facilitate the SEL curriculum.

We then set a training schedule for the teachers. Training your SEL facilitators can either be intensive (1 week all day) or over 5 weeks.

Once the facilitators are trained they can start delivering the curriculum in the selected grades. We will continue twice monthly sessions with the teachers to support them as well as provide them with a forum for their own ongoing SEL.

We provide the SEL curriculum, the training for the facilitators, the design of the classroom experiences, and ongoing support for the facilitators and the school in implementing SEL. We also provide CASEL-qualified SEL assessments through our partner Satchel Pulse. We ask the school to commit to providing a 45 min period once a week for the targeted classrooms as a part of the classroom schedule.

What’s unique about our SEL curriculum?

While most SEL curriculums are didactic and lecture-based, our approach is completely experiential and focusses on skill building. Our curriculum is based on healing traditions, the expressive arts intermodal process, positive psychology, and neuroscience advances, integrated into well-researched and skill-able models for building the SEL competencies. The curriculum is delivered in 45 min experiences that promote the creation and holding of spaces so participants can pause, reflect, express and process thereby building resilience and promoting emotional wellness.

Why SEL?

Based on numerous studies of SEL in schools and longitudinal studies over 20 years the evidence for the benefits of incorporating SEL into schools has become overwhelming. SEL in schools has shown the following stark benefits:

  • SEL boosts academics by improving student academic performance by 11 percentile points¹

  • SEL helps students manage stress and depression and improved attitudes about themselves, others, and school²

  • SEL has a ROI of 1100% i.e every dollar spent on SEL has resulted in the creation or savings of $11 for the community³

  • SEL increases well-being up to 18 years later and decreases the likelihood of receiving public assistance⁴

“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.”

— Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a leader in the creation and promotion of SEL in schools and communities

How will SEL impact my child’s life & career?

While SEL directly impacts a student’s well-being, a myriad of surveys and studies have shown that SEL sets up a child for success in their career as well. Companies want employees that exhibit the behaviors taught by SEL. Specifically

  • 92% of employers say that these skills are equal to or more important than technical skills⁵

  • 6 of the 10 in-demand career skills involve SEL, like complex problem solving, critical thinking, communication, emotional intelligence, and creativity

  • 7 top characteristics of success at Google as an example are all SEL-related skills, such as communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others; and having empathy

  • 65% of surveyed executives say they’d rather colleges build up students’ life skills.

    1. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2015

    2. High Point University survey, 2018

    3. Source: Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum

    4. Source: Belfield, C., Bowden, B., Klapp, A., Levin, H., Shand, R., & Zander, S. (2015). The Economic Value of Social and Emotional Learning. New York: Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education.

    5. Source: Child Development (July 2017). “Promoting Positive Youth Development Through School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of Follow-Up Effects”