5.1 Social-emotional competence
True story
“Teach him how to be a little boy at school,” was the request from the Senior Guidance Officer as she stood at the Intervention Centre door with Elliott. The Intervention Centre was for students who had been suspended or excluded from school. It was a temporary placement for behaviour intervention and support to reintegrate the student back into the school environment. Most students were at the Intervention Centre for 8-10 weeks, some longer. Next time he is violent the school will exclude him” she continued.
Elliott and I went to play on the carpet and I rolled out the car mat between us and handed Elliott a toy car. He looked at it, turned it over, looked back at me and waited. He had no idea what to do with it. I placed my car on the road and made “broom, broom” noises. Elliott just watched, holding his car tightly in his hand.
And so it went like this for many days. I played, narrating what I was doing and feeling and Elliott watched. At the end of two weeks, he bravely put his car onto the mat and mimicked “broom, broom.” It was like Christmas. I was thrilled.
Elliott was eight years old. He had lived in a series of foster care situations since he was two years old. Removed from his home due to severe neglect and abuse, Elliott had no concept of caring or compassion but he was learning ever so slowly how to be a little boy and that is why his eight week stay at the Intervention Centre became a year.
Social-emotional competence
Competence in social emotional learning is recognised as having a significant influence on a child’s school readiness, school adjustment and academic achievement (Beamish & Saggers, 2014). Supporting the social emotional health of children is integral to teaching. Social emotional learnings develop resilience in children and foster positive wellbeing. The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is a leader in the field of social emotional learning. Formed in 1994, this group of American educators, child advocates and researchers, introduced the term social and emotional learning. CASEL (2020, para. 1) define social and emotional learning in the following way: “Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”
It all begins in early childhood, the tone is set, the path laid out and the future sketched. So much that happens in the early years significantly impacts future quality of life. Being ready for school, functioning effectively at school, interacting positively with people at school and being academically successful at school, are governed by social-emotional competence (Bailey, Denham, Curby, & Bassett, 2016; Bayat, 2015; Denham, 2010). Generally speaking,