Op-Ed: SEL offers academic and emotional gains. Banning it is about politics not education

Schools have always played an important role in the social and emotional development of youth. Teaching and learning are inherently a social activities. The abilities to assess one’s own knowledge and regulate one’s emotional state are critical to all learning.

If anyone doubts this, try learning something in a state of fear or rage or without awareness of your own thinking.

We support students to resolve playground conflicts by helping them identify their feelings and motivations, consider how their behavior may have impacted others and understand another person’s perspective—just as we teach students to conduct a character analysis in Language Arts.

We teach them about the importance of sleep, nutrition, and planning as they prepare for exams. We support them with positive thinking and emotional regulation because brain science proves that these impact complex thought and performance.

We teach them to be assertive about their needs, because personal agency is fundamental to academic excellence. We teach them decision-making skills because they are critical in school, life and work. Decades of research in human development, neuroscience, and educational policy has established that social and emotional development is critical to all learning.

SEL is the process though which individuals develop knowledge and utilize skills in order to: establish a positive identity; manage emotions; understand and emphasize with others; create and maintain healthy relationships; set and achieve goals; and make just and caring decisions.

Our Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has connected SEL to Critical Race Theory (CRT) because he recognizes the divisiveness of concepts concerned with social awareness and racial justice. Why these concepts are divisive is another column, but he knows his base.

More:In 'Parents Bill of Rights 2.0,' Rokita takes aim at vaccine mandates, CRT and more

More:Indiana General Assembly leader pushing school transparency, not critical race theory bill

Rokita and Purple for Parents Indiana are calling for schools to cease using CASEL, The Collaborative for Social Emotional and Academic Learning. CASEL produces resources for evidenced based implementation of SEL. Its work is solid and highly regarded and its resources have been widely used by schools across the country for decades.

The main objection to CASEL appears to be their vision that SEL is a tool to leverage equity, as if leveraging equity is a dastardly deed.

Isn’t education itself a lever for equity?

SEL is not simply about teaching discrete skills, it is also about creating “conditions for learning,” including the school culture and climate.  Extensive research indicates that when schools intentionally and purposefully focus on SEL, students and communities experience the following benefits: student academic gains, including on-time graduation and post-secondary enrollment; enhanced employability skills; reduced rates of anxiety, depression, and risky behaviors; improved long-term outcomes in employment, citizenry, and health; and improved school attendance and engagement SEL competencies are known to be associated with decreased risk of alcohol and substance misuse and an increased likelihood of bouncing back from adversity.

Teachers with well-developed SEL skills have better relationships with students, are more successful in engaging students and stay in the profession longer.

For all of these reasons, SEL is broadly supported by teachers and administrators. According to a recent report from The Fordham Institute, there is also broad family support for social and emotional skill development to be addressed in K-12 Education.

Young people, even before the isolation and anxiety created by the pandemic, were struggling. Youth reports of depression and anxiety have now reached an all-time high. Distressingly, in Indiana, suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 15-24 and the fourth leading cause of death for youth ages 5-14.

Attending to the emotional well-being of our young people is imperative for schools as well as for families. It is not an either/or proposition, but a collective responsibility. Social Emotional Learning is our best primary prevention for suicide and mental health struggles.

Hundreds of professional associations, research institutes and educational organizations support SEL in schools. From the American Academy of Pediatrics, to the Afterschool Alliance, to the Indiana Association for Public School Superintendents, to the Division of Mental Health and Addictions — organizations with knowledge and experience in the science of learning and human development, drug misuse prevention and educational policy support this work.

I urge legislators and other elected officials to pay attention to the science, to the research, and to all present-day indicators that the “kids are not alright.”  Parents, ask your school board and school leaders to follow the science of learning and development and retain or include social emotional learning in your school curriculum.

Sandra Washburn is Research Scholar at the Center on Education and Lifelong Learning at Indiana University