Source : https://www.washoeschools.net/Page/4641
Is schooling all about learning factual concepts? Will learning everything there is about quantum physics or molecular biology help me succeed in life? The answer is NO. All this factual knowledge alone doesn’t allow us to sustain in life. And here comes in social and emotional learning.
What is SEL?
As stated by CASEL, “Social and emotional learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”
What are its key aspects?
- Self-awareness
As I’ve come to realize many of us fail to recognize our strengths and weaknesses be it adults or children. Self-introspection and thereby self-awareness is a means of improving oneself in order to realize our future goals.
- Responsible Decision-Making
Having integrity and making ethical choices often seems to take us through the hard path, but it is the right path. Having morals and principles goes a long way towards building meaningful relationships and thus being respected by everyone you meet.
- Relationship Skills
Forming relationships which are rooted by mutual respect is key to having healthy relationships. Working as a group and dissolving and dealing with conflicts in a graceful and virtuous manner.
- Social Awareness
Being able to show empathy to others rather than sympathy. Not belittling ones struggles and being more sensitive towards the environment
- Self-Management
Being confident, hopeful, dedicated, disciplined, sincere and tenacious and having struck the right balance between personal and professional life will ensure a more rewarding life.
Why is it important?
At an age where computers are faster than human beings and also with the onset of Artificial intelligence, the machines will have an IQ unmatched by any human. This is something that many renowned personalities such as Jack Ma and Elon Musk have to come to see as inevitable. We are now standing in the midst of the technological revolution and it is now that we humans find it imperative to develop EQ i.e. emotional intelligence.
In conclusion, SEL proves be a skill that you carry on for the rest of your life. No matter which country you go to, which job you get into these learnings will always stay with you. So I encourage everyone, adult and child, to work on themselves, understand themselves. I assure you, you will see the world in a different light.
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