What can educators do to inspire their students to become more caring citizens? We gathered seven stories that highlight the significance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and how we can incorporate it into our daily routine.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) has become increasingly vital during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Given that humans are social beings, the lockdown has redefined the way we socialize and reduced interaction between students has affected their ability to deal with the pandemic. Below, we hear seven different perspectives on how a school community can work collaboratively and compassionately during this challenging time.
“It is essential for schools and leadership to make SEL a separate subject to be taught to children and a separate rigorous training module to be imparted to teachers”.
Early years coordinator Garima Srivastava explains the significance of social-emotional learning and the impact it has on IB students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a community of educators, families and parents, we can support children, and each other, more explicitly by developing positive SEL habits”.
IB senior outreach and development manager Antrina Leeth outlines the role social-emotional learning plays in our everyday lives.
“The best teachers were the ones who made sure their students improved their confidence by creating wins for them”.
Diploma Programme (DP) graduate Ishanaz Bahar reflects on the importance of confidence and how students can use it to achieve their true potential.
“I would suggest adding some stretching, and yoga into your exercise routine. Yoga is really good because not only is it giving you some stretching, it’s also giving you some strength work”.
Dr Adam Carey shares the importance of physical activity on our well-being and how to find motivation to get active during the lockdown.
“One of the key findings from the study was that PYP students demonstrated consistently higher levels of well-being, compared with similar non-PYP students”.
The Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) found, amongst other things, that students in high implementing Primary Years Programme (PYP) schools were more likely to have developed social-emotional learning skills compared to students from low-implementing PYP schools.
“What do we want our children to get from their education? Is it only reading, writing, mathematics and science? Or something else?”.
PYP teacher Ranjit Biswas explains why social and emotional learning is vital to helping students become more caring citizens.
“The impact of this time will persist well beyond any return to (new) normality”.
King Edward’s Witley School share useful strategies that have helped their students overcome the challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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