Strategies for Establishing School-OST-Family Partnerships in Support of SEL
Set goals and action steps to cultivate SEL for adults
Supporting adults to engage in their own social and emotional learning, collaborating on strategies to promote SEL, and modeling SEL throughout the school is an essential part of schoolwide SEL. More than just professional learning, the SEL team should also take steps to foster a supportive work environment where SEL is part of the way […]
Teacher stress has been found to affect teachers’ health and well-being, job satisfaction, turnover, and even student outcomes (Greenberg, Brown, & Abenavoli, 2016). For this reason, it’s essential that educators take time to prevent burnout, promote health, and protect themselves from the negative effects of stress.
Establish a structured, ongoing process to collect, reflect on, and use implementation and outcome data to inform school-level decisions and drive improvements to SEL implementation.
Assess needs and resources to develop an SEL implementation plan with clear goals, action steps, and assigned ownership.
By making the time to build the relationships that allow learners to feel a sense of community- that they are “in this together”- teachers create a safer, more equitable environment where all students participate and achieve.
Create a stable budget for SEL resources, professional learning, and staffing to support the sustainability of SEL efforts.
Collaboratively develop a shared vision for schoolwide SEL that is communicated to the entire school community, informs planning and implementation, and is revisited regularly.
Before launching an SEL action plan, it’s important to take stock of what is going on across your school and previous SEL-related efforts. Build on your strengths and learn from members of your school community who have seen many initiatives come and go by honoring and reflecting on the work that has come before.
Set goals and action steps to promote SEL for students
The core of SEL implementation is promoting students’ social and emotional learning throughout the school day and in partnership with families and communities. Because student learning is influenced by their interactions across many relationships and environments, promoting student SEL requires thoughtful coordination of strategies across the settings where students live and learn.