Transformative SEL
“It will no longer be possible to discuss educational processes, pedagogy, curriculum and instruction, prevention, academic achievement, and the culture and climate of schools without discussing social-emotional competencies.”
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What is Transformative SEL?
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In addressing the Cautions of SEL, a modified framework must be designed that promotes equitable learning experiences for students of diverse backgrounds and circumstances. Rather than the universalist concept of SEL, transformative SEL instead seeks to empower students to address the iniquities and issues integrated in the United States as well as globally in critical and collaborative ways. This is an ongoing effort in CASEL’s current focus on integrating equity with SEL interventions.
“It is necessary to consider a form of SEL that transforms individuals, interactions, and institutions, in ways that support optimal human development and functioning for young people and adults regardless of circumstances or backgrounds.”
(Jagers, Rivas-Drake, & Williams, 2019)
“If we understand SEL to be part of the civic development process, then we can characterize it in terms of the extent to which it is personally responsible, participatory, and transformative/justice oriented.”
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(Jagers, Rivas-Drake, & Williams, 2019)
As mentioned previously, promoting citizenship remains as one of the long-term developmental goals in implementing SEL practices in schools. Rather than only focusing on the outcome of engaged citizenship, transformative education emphasizes the need to prepare students for critical, or transformative, citizenship. Transformative citizenship embraces actions that initiate social change with equity, rights, and social justice.
Equity Elaborations on the SEL’s 5-Component Model
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INTRAPERSONAL
SELF-AWARENESS: being able to recognize individual thoughts, emotions, and values as well as understanding how these factors affect behavior.
SELF-AWARENESS: in addition to understanding personal emotions, identities, and values, high levels of self-awareness also include recognizing personal biases, understanding personal identities in the context of history, and acknowledging how personal thoughts and feelings are connected among different contexts.
SELF-MANAGEMENT: being able to regulate individual emotions and behaviors; being able to set as well as achieve personal or educational goals.
SELF-MANAGEMENT: in addition to regulating emotions and behaviors, high levels of self-management include using problem-focused coping to manage stress and also expressing appropriate perseverance in addressing challenges to achieve goals.
INTERPERSONAL
SOCIAL AWARENESS: demonstrating empathy and the ability to take in the perspectives of people from diverse backgrounds
SOCIAL AWARENESS: in addition to taking in the perspectives of people from different backgrounds, critical social awareness requires the historical grounding of understanding and empathizing with people of different cultures and backgrounds. This also calls for recognition of social norms.
RELATIONSHIP SKILLS: the ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships with diverse individuals and groups
RELATIONSHIP SKILLS: in addition to establishing and maintaining healthy relationships, this domain includes the need for these relationships to understand social and cultural norms as well as practicing communication, active listening, and collaboration.
RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING
RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING: being able to make constructive choices in regards to personal behavior and social interactions
RESPONSIBLE DECISION-MAKING: in addition to constructive choices, constructive choices made about behaviors in diverse social environments must include the process of examining behavioral norms and realistic evaluations of various relationships.
The SEL framework through a transformative consideration still includes the original five components, but through transformative SEL, each component expands upon the previous ideas. Hover over each of the five components to view the modified version of the SEL framework through the lens of equitable and transformative social and emotional learning and competency. Each elaboration includes a deeper, culturally relevant perspective that builds upon the previous notions of the SEL framework originally developed by CASEL.
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Ethnic and Racial Identity
Cultural competence is heavily intertwined with social and emotional competency. Social awareness of cultural orientation is incredibly important for adolescents to develop in their Ethnic and Racial Identity (ERI), which applies to both White and non-White students. In applying transformative SEL, it is also important to note the need to recognize the intersectionality of various identities in students and teachers. Through a multicultural context, cultural and social identities relate to agency in accomplishing the five components of the SEL framework. In the context of equitable SEL, resistance is key.
See Call for Cultivation below for more information on ERI.
“[Resistance] refers to a process by which individuals or groups resist stereotypes, roles, and expectations that support their oppression and undermine their humanity, and how such patterns change over time.”
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(Jagers, Rivas-Drake, & Williams, 2019)
Teacher Self-Efficacy
As for teachers and their roles in promoting transformative SEL, self-efficacy (the teacher’s beliefs that they can influence students to learn despite difficulties or lack of motivation) is crucial to teacher and student well-being as well as student outcomes. Furthermore, a collective self-efficacy is required in transformative SEL, in that the entire staff and school faculty must establish a group-level belief that firmly believes and promotes student learning. See Teacher Well-being for more information.
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“School belonging is viewed as one of the more important factors associated with students’ social and emotional wellbeing, academic self-efficacy and motivation, school satisfaction, and academic achievement.”
(McMahon, Parnes, Keys, & Viola, 2008; Mcmahon, Wernsman, & Rose, 2009; Eccles & Roeser, 2011 as cited in Jagers, Rivas-Drake, & Williams, 2019)
Belonging
In Case Study #4, it was evident that marginalized students in British primary schools lacked a sense of belonging due to teacher labeling and presumptions based on cultural differences and skills. Although teachers recognized the ethnic and racial identities of students, the environment lacked building relationships and making meaning of their diverse backgrounds that would have promoted engagement and positive racial awareness.
“Belonging implies not only recognition but also full involvement in meaning making and the building of relationships and institutions.”
(Jagers, Rivas-Drake, & Williams, 2019)
CALL FOR CULTIVATION
"CULTIVATING IDENTITY"
Awareness of Ethnic and Racial Identities (ERIs) are not only for minority or non-White students. Recognizing ERI is crucial for both students and teachers. In transformative SEL, identity serves as a central component to establishing and promoting wellness in the classroom. To cultivate identity in a meaningful and nurturing way, it can be helpful to understand the different schemas of racial identity development for both White people and people of color. The following was adapted by The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism & Engage in Collective Healing by Dr. Anneliese A. Singh.
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RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT:
WHITE PEOPLE
fairly oblivious to one’s own race and the race of others because racism has not been a system that has been questioned or has been explicitly made known. May have “color blind” views and may conform to White values and norms without question.
Feelings: obliviousness, safety, contentment, comfort
CONFORMITY
SCHEMA #1
consciously rejects that racism is real through justification and dismissal when people of color talk about racism. Instead, White people in this schema advocate for assimilating with White norms.
Feelings: alarm, anger, feeling overwhelmed
ACCEPTANCE
SCHEMA #2
begin distancing from the idea that racism is real due to feeling overwhelmed or exhausted. Shift from minimizing what people of color experience to blaming them for racial discord.
Feelings: anxiety, frustrating, numbing, anger
RESISTANCE
SCHEMA #3
begin to notice that the world is more unfair, realizing that racism does exist but also realizing previous instances of participating or witnessing racism as a passive bystander.
Feelings: guilt, shame, hopelessness, impatience, anxiety
RETREAT
SCHEMA #4
gradually learning more about White privilege and how to take action about racism
Feelings: curiosity, motivation, grief, hopefulness, understanding
EMERGENCE
SCHEMA #5
more aware of White privilege while also becoming more curious about other identities (gender, sexual orientation, class, etc.) and also appreciated the racial identity development of people of color
Feelings: confidence, clarity, motivation, curiosity, anger, sadness
INTEGRATED AWARENESS
SCHEMA #6
RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT:
PEOPLE OF COLOR
oblivious to racism, conforms to White norms and values without question, perhaps valuing Whiteness over people of color
Feelings: obliviousness, safety, comfort, satisfaction
CONFORMITY
SCHEMA #1
experiences one or more incidents of racism and perhaps questions the motivations of White people
Feelings: shock, confusion, surprise, anger
DISSONANCE
SCHEMA #2
feel anger toward White people for racial inequities, feel unsafe and lack trust toward White people, assuming that all White people are racist
Feelings: anger, frustration, disillusionment
IMMERSION
SCHEMA #3
find comfort in own racial community and focus on that specific community due to distrust towards White people, avoids majority-White spaces
Feelings: avoidance, anger, comfort, strong sense of belonging with people of color
EMERSION
SCHEMA #4
had positive experiences with anti-racist White people, exploring other individual identities (gender, class, sexual orientation)
Feelings: surprise, relief, curiosity
INTERNALIZATION
SCHEMA #5
reaches out to more racially diverse groups of people, aware of how racism works and appreciates own racial identity
Feelings: confidence, clarity, curiosity, motivation, anger, sadness
INTEGRATED AWARENESS
SCHEMA #6
Footnotes
Elias, M. J. (2019). What if the doors of every schoolhouse opened to social-emotional learning tomorrow: Reflections on how to feasibly scale up high-quality SEL. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), pp. 233-245.
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Jagers, R. J., Rivas-Drake, D., & Williams, B. (2019). Transformative social and emotional learning (SEL): Toward SEL in service of educational equity and excellence. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), pp. 162-184.
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Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2020). What is SEL?. CASEL. https://casel.org/what-is-sel/
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Singh, A. A. (2019). The racial healing handbook: Practical activities to help you challenge privilege, confront systemic racism, & engage in collective healing. New Harbinger Publications.
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