Pastoral Care

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

As a Catholic school in the Norbertine tradition, we are fortunate to provide our students with many different learning experiences. Soon our Year 12s will be Graduating and we know they will be better young adults because of their involvement in the Service Learning Program and also through the Religious Education classes where they learn about the selfless lives of St Norbert and Jesus. The article below explains how we can build human connections in our lives and the importance of developing these for a positive wellbeing.

THE BENEFITS OF SEL

by Michael Herbert

Schools are places of learning - obvious, I know! But have you ever stopped to think about this question - what is the most important thing a student has learned by the time they leave your school? Avoid broad and generalised answers such as “being prepared for a career” or “being ready to face the world”. So again, what is the one thing that a student will take away from their school life that will hold them in good stead throughout their adult years?

Research suggests Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a critical but underestimated element of school life. It provides social connection, a core psychological need that is essential to feeling satisfied with your life.

School communities can cultivate SEL by providing explicit opportunities to build human connections, using the Five Keys of Proactive Wellbeing:

1. Gratitude - the affirmation of goodness as an essential part of your school community where the relationship-strengthening that takes place helps to achieve goodness, in individuals and the community as a whole.

2. Empathy - understanding the needs of the people around us, increasing the likelihood that we will treat them as they wish you would treat them. Empathetic people do not judge others; they recognise the emotions and fragilities that drive them.

3. Altruism - actions that promote the welfare of others without the expectation of reward - often used as a synonym for selflessness.

4. Compassion - this is said to be the ultimate expression of our highest self because it demonstrates sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. The word ‘compassion’ is all-encompassing and is synonymous with at least 30 other words or expressions that address the needs of the human heart, mind or soul.

5. Forgiveness - is a key element of SEL because it highlights the best in humanity, bringing peace of mind to individuals and communities by letting go of those corrosive emotions that lead to vengefulness, bitterness, resentment and unhappiness.

Schools are not closed communities; they are open, alive and creative. SEL provides the human drivers for a young person to leave school with the social skills that will offer them meaning for a satisfying and productive life.

This article can be found at: https://www.vitalstaff.com.au/

The Pastoral Care Team