social and emotional learning

In Dance's article "On Being "Hardcore," a "Hardcore Wannabe," or "Hardcore Enough", the students are living in an urban area where their lives outside of school interfere with their school lives. Many students are faced with acting a certain way outside of school in order be accepted and feel approval from their peers. Thus, those personas, and actions make their way into the school also.  Dance comments  that some teachers are afraid to teach in urban schools because there is a perception of there being more violent students than there actually are. 

I think this speaks to the needs of the students. Why is there violence in the schools to begin with? Where do these needs to be perceived as "hardcore" come from? How do we reconcile school life with home life? What can we do for the students to feel safe in school? How can we teach the students to make better choices for their lives? The students need to see that the here and now for them is not a permanent situation. The live they are living right now is not the life they will have in ten years. They need be asked, where do you want to be in ten years, instead of where do you see yourself in ten years. Students who have little hope for the future will not have positive responses when asked where they see themselves in the future. Once the students have a good view and grasp of where they want to be, we, as teachers, need to help them find a path to get there. This could be through the students core content classes, or specials. In each class a student takes, there are numerous chances to reach students emotionally and socially.  

Students who are more reconciled with their emotional selves and have positive social skills do better academically. It also sets them up for success later in life. In the case of Malik, who ended up being pushed to drop-out, could have been saved. If someone had reached out to Malik, connected with him and showed him there was every chance for him to succeed in school, they "had his back" and would stand by him when in tough situations. His disillusionment with the school system was not predetermined and if the right teacher had stepped in as a mentor, Malik may have graduated high school. 

What we really need to do is teach teachers how to practice emotional and social learning. Teachers need to be taught to actively engage the emotional and social aspects of their students lives, make lessons apply to their lives, and see every student as an individual and not the stereotype. It can be hard to connect with students, but if they see you trying to connect with them, eventually they will respond. 

  Social and emotional learning not only helps the students in their academics, and futures, but it builds lasting teachers. Teachers who feel they make a difference with their students are less likely to feel "burnt out". Social and emotional learning creates and win-win situation for all those involved.