TEACHER SEL CORE COMPETENCE AREAS
Based off the CASEL model of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) for students (https://casel.org), the Attached to Learn Model of Teacher SEL has 5 core competence areas that teacher education programs and educator professional development trainings should address.
Core Competencies for teacher SEL
Self Awareness
- The abilities to learn how to identify one’s own emotions, triggers, and automatic thoughts and to understand the impact of emotions on our behaviors.
- This includes the capacities to recognize one’s strengths, challenges, and areas of improvement.
Such as:
- Identifying one’s emotions
- Understanding one’s triggers
- Being flexible
- Noticing one’s automatic thoughts
- Recognizing one’s potential for a negativity bias
- Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones
- Being your best self
- Developing a process to be reflective
Self Care
- The abilities to develop a routine practice of taking an active role to promote one’s wellbeing and to foster resilience in the face of challenges.
- This includes the capacities to manage stress and maintain good physical and emotional health.
Such as:
- Developing emotional regulation skills
- Identifying potential sources of stress
- Understanding the impact of stress on the body and one’s behaviors
- Taking steps to reduce/ minimize stress in one’s life
- Forming and consistently engaging in self-care routines
- Learning the potential impact of secondary/ vicarious traumatization
- Forming strategies to mitigate against secondary/ vicarious traumatization
Intentional Decision-Making
- The abilities to reflectively and deliberately make choices about personal and professional behaviors and social interactions to lead with the heart.
- This includes the capacities to intentionally collaborate with others, to utilize a team-based approach, to make routine and in the moment classroom decisions, and to maintain a positive outlook even in challenging times.
Such as:
- Learning time-management skills
- Setting healthy boundaries
- Fostering positive connections with families and within the community
- Fostering self-efficacy
- Using evidence based best-practices
- Knowing resources available to students
- Connecting students to available supports
- Working with the students and valuing student voice
- Utilizing instructional rounds/ visiting colleagues' classrooms
- Having a growth mindset
Positive Relationships
- The abilities to establish supportive relationships and to maintain unconditional positive regard for students.
- This includes the capacities to establish clear and achievable high expectations, correct and discipline students in positive ways, listen actively, resolve conflicts constructively, and develop a positive classroom culture.
Such as:
- Demonstrating that you care through creating a positive classroom environment
- Taking a strong stance against hate-based language/ offensive comments
- Meeting students where they are at and using differentiated instruction
- Understanding restorative practices
- Utilizing a lens of compassion
- Utilizing positive behavior interventions
- Forming a personal system of supports
- Understanding the power of school connectedness
- Examining your own unconscious implicit biases and potential prejudices
Student Awareness
- The abilities to understand and support the whole student, including the knowledge of how to recognize and to respond to critical issues or struggles students may experience.
- This includes the capacities to understand the broader sociocultural context of student lives, comprehend students’ baseline behaviors, and recognize deviations of baseline behaviors.
Such as:
- Recognizing the signs and symptoms of common mental health struggles identifying the signs of substance use
- Recognizing that students want to do well and helping them succeed
- Knowing how to respond to challenging behaviors
- Understanding student development
- Understanding the impact of trauma
- Utilizing trauma-sensitive practices
- Recognizing the impact of historically marginalized identities
- Acknowledging and capitalizing on student strengths
- Incorporating student choice
- Understanding the function behind student behaviors
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References
Hamilton, L. S. & Doss, C. J. (2020). Supports for social and emotional learning in American schools and classrooms: Findings from the American Teacher Panel. RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA397-1.html
Hamilton, L. S., Doss, C. J., & Steiner, E. D. (2019). Teacher and principal perspectives on social and emotional learning in America's schools: Findings from the american educator panels. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2991.html.
Hoff, N. (2020). Preserving you: Preventing teacher burnout. https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2020/01/preserving-you-preventing-teacher-burnout
Merk, A. (2019). 47 states don’t meet the recommended student-to-counselor ratio. https://salud-america.org/47-states-dont-meet-the-recommended-student-to-counselor-ratio/
Oberle, E., & Schonert-Reichl, K. A. (2016). Stress contagion in the classroom? The link between classroom teacher burnout and morning cortisol in elementary school students. Social Science & Medicine,159, 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.04.031