Updates from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning

Welcome to CASEL e-Blast, an e-publication from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). These brief messages will keep you informed about new developments in social and emotional learning (SEL). Whether you’re already working in the SEL field, just learning about SEL, or studying or writing about SEL or related topics, CASEL e-Blasts provide “news you can use” and share with colleagues. To comment or offer feedback, please reply to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Videos bring SEL to life and document ideas of leaders in the field, thanks to GLEF (George Lucas Educational Foundation)

We are often asked what SEL looks like in the classroom or what it means to the field of education. One response is the high-quality videos produced by GLEF (George Lucas Educational Foundation, www.edutopia.org). In this issue we share the wealth of video resources about SEL provided by GLEF online.

GLEF has produced two types of SEL videos: SEL in action, as recorded in the classroom with students and teachers engaged in activities and learning, and conversations about SEL, offering the latest thinking from leaders in the fields of education, psychology, and neuroscience. Many of these interviews were taped at CASEL’s Forum event in New York City in December 2007.
See: http://www.casel.org/downloads/FORUMreport8.25.08.pdf.

• Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University Education professor and head of President-elect Obama’s Policy Working Group on Education, describes why social and emotional learning is a crucial part of teaching the whole child.
  See: http://www.edutopia.org/darling-hammond-video.
• Richard Davidson, international expert in neuroscience and professor at the University of Wisconsin, discusses the effect of social and emotional learning on the brain.
  See: http://www.edutopia.org/richard-davidson-sel-brain-video.
• Daniel Goleman, a founder of CASEL and a science and psychology writer who has made “emotional intelligence” a common term, addresses communications about SEL.
  See: http://www.edutopia.org/daniel-goleman-sel-video.
• Maurice Elias, a founder of the SEL field and director of the Social and Emotional Learning Lab at Rutgers University, describes the fundamental role of SEL in learning.
  See: http://www.edutopia.org/maurice-elias-sel-video.
• Roger Weissberg, CASEL’s president and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, discusses research about the positive effects of SEL on academic achievement.
  See: http://www.edutopia.org/roger-weissberg-casel-video.
• Daniel Goleman and professors Mark Greenberg, Maurice Elias, Larry Aber, and filmmaker George Lucas, discuss how to advance the field, improve SEL practice, expand policy, and communicate about SEL.
  See: http://www.edutopia.org/lucas-goleman-casel-sel-video.

See what SEL looks like in schools:

For a basic introduction to SEL, check out http://www.edutopia.org/social-emotional-learning-overview-video.

• For a view into an exemplary SEL School district, Anchorage, Alaska, including high school examples, see http://www.edutopia.org/anchorage-social-emotional-learning-video.
• For examples of SEL in action in a low-income elementary school that saw big academic gains through SEL, see http://www.edutopia.org/peace-helpers-video.
• For examples of how to teach social and emotional learning, see http://www.edutopia.org/emotional-intelligence-overview.
• These videos are for individual viewing as well as for use in meetings with school staff, parents, and the school community. They are a selection from the numerous videos available through the Edutopia website (GLEF) at www.edutopia.org.

The bottom line….Each of these videos offers powerful evidence of the growth and significance of SEL. Please learn from them and share them with others.

As the year draws to a close, we at CASEL send you our best wishes for a peaceful holiday season and a healthy New Year of continued growth and learning.

The field of social and emotional learning (SEL) is founded on research demonstrating that schools can teach children the skills of self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship building, and responsible decision making, along with reading and writing, and that children who acquire these critical SEL competencies are more successful academically and socially. Data show that SEL instruction can raise scores on standardized achievement tests, build attachment to school, improve interpersonal attitudes and behaviors, and decrease negative behaviors such as violence and drug abuse.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a network of experts who seek to advance student success and school improvement through evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL). Although CASEL focuses primarily on school-based SEL, the organization’s ultimate goal is to ensure that all people – children and adults – have the SEL skills they need to lead healthy, productive lives and to make the decisions required to create a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world.  

To learn more about CASEL and social and emotional learning, visit www.casel.org.