Page 104 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Training Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 104
chers could implement them during their regular class activities or inte-
grate them into the curriculum. This means that such programmes are easy
to integrate into regular school work. When administered by the teacher
this also improves their relationships with students. In more detail, SEL in-
tervention can improve low academic performance (and ESL) in two ways:
(i) through the professional development of educators; and (ii) by encour-
aging students to change their behaviour in such a way that they are able
to persist in difficult academic tasks and elicit greater support from educa-
tors. When receiving support to teach social and emotional skills to their
students, teachers are given the same lessons and frequently apply them
to themselves, thereby preventing burn out and helping them self-regulate
more efficiently (Kres & Ellias, 2012).
When implementing a programme, the first and most important con-
dition is that it is high in quality. Zins and colleagues (2004) defined the
qualities of good SEL programmes that foster academic achievement: (i)
a theoretical basis and empirically proven efficacy; (ii) learning emotion-
al and social skills that are useful in everyday life; (iii) an orientation to
the emotional and social components of learning; (iv) control, integration,
unity of the programme in relation to academic achievement; (v) added
instructions for efficient learning of emotional and social skills; (vi) par-
ticipation of parents and the wider environment; and (vii) the presence of
sustainable development, evaluations and result dissemination. The pro-
grammes also need to be evaluated and tested in different cultural settings.
Europe-based research is (compared to research based in the USA) in need
of a randomised controlled trial in a longitudinal setting and multi-year
programmes integrated into the school curriculum (Bierman et al., 2010).
A bottom-up approach (similar to the Collaborative for Academic, Social
and Emotional Learning (CASEL) initiative in the USA) is advised in or-
der to obtain an evidence-based platform of programmes that works in the
EU. Based on this platform, good practice (high quality SEL programmes)
could be disseminated across EU member states.
The implementation of SEL is nevertheless not a straightforward pro-
cess of teachers simply administering unit after unit of an SEL programme,
but needs cooperation on multiple levels (students, teachers, principals,
parents). The implementation process and its quality assurance is stressed
across all the research literature with the focus of research shifting from
the pure effect of an SEL programme on academic achievement to how we
can successfully implement the programme and sustain the effects (Kres
104
grate them into the curriculum. This means that such programmes are easy
to integrate into regular school work. When administered by the teacher
this also improves their relationships with students. In more detail, SEL in-
tervention can improve low academic performance (and ESL) in two ways:
(i) through the professional development of educators; and (ii) by encour-
aging students to change their behaviour in such a way that they are able
to persist in difficult academic tasks and elicit greater support from educa-
tors. When receiving support to teach social and emotional skills to their
students, teachers are given the same lessons and frequently apply them
to themselves, thereby preventing burn out and helping them self-regulate
more efficiently (Kres & Ellias, 2012).
When implementing a programme, the first and most important con-
dition is that it is high in quality. Zins and colleagues (2004) defined the
qualities of good SEL programmes that foster academic achievement: (i)
a theoretical basis and empirically proven efficacy; (ii) learning emotion-
al and social skills that are useful in everyday life; (iii) an orientation to
the emotional and social components of learning; (iv) control, integration,
unity of the programme in relation to academic achievement; (v) added
instructions for efficient learning of emotional and social skills; (vi) par-
ticipation of parents and the wider environment; and (vii) the presence of
sustainable development, evaluations and result dissemination. The pro-
grammes also need to be evaluated and tested in different cultural settings.
Europe-based research is (compared to research based in the USA) in need
of a randomised controlled trial in a longitudinal setting and multi-year
programmes integrated into the school curriculum (Bierman et al., 2010).
A bottom-up approach (similar to the Collaborative for Academic, Social
and Emotional Learning (CASEL) initiative in the USA) is advised in or-
der to obtain an evidence-based platform of programmes that works in the
EU. Based on this platform, good practice (high quality SEL programmes)
could be disseminated across EU member states.
The implementation of SEL is nevertheless not a straightforward pro-
cess of teachers simply administering unit after unit of an SEL programme,
but needs cooperation on multiple levels (students, teachers, principals,
parents). The implementation process and its quality assurance is stressed
across all the research literature with the focus of research shifting from
the pure effect of an SEL programme on academic achievement to how we
can successfully implement the programme and sustain the effects (Kres
104
