In an era where the emphasis on holistic education is growing exponentially, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has emerged as a cornerstone of nurturing well-rounded individuals equipped to navigate life’s challenges. In the following interview, Mrs. Seema Jerath, Principal, DLF Public School, Ghaziabad, shares her valuable insights on the importance of SEL and provides invaluable perspectives on its integration into the curriculum and school culture.
DLF Public School, Ghaziabad.
How do you define Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and why do you believe it is essential in today’s education system?
Socio-emotional learning is crucial for the overall well-being of not just an individual but also society. SEL is the process of equipping a learner with the tools that help them foster a healthy relationship with their own self, their emotions and with others around them because life is beyond ‘I, Me and Myself’. Each of us needs to know how to process emotions, manage moods, handle negative thoughts and stress. SEL helps learners develop the right vocabulary so that they can identify and articulate their emotions well and develop empathy for others. At a time when our learners are spending more time on the internet and are therefore exposed to all kinds of influences, it is important that the education system of today prepares them to handle all these new-age challenges and helps them nurture meaningful relationships with people in real life and also helps them understand that they have a role to play in the growth of society.
Regular Meditation Camps to Promote Mindfulness.
What strategies has your School implemented to integrate SEL into the curriculum and school culture?
It’s important to understand that a school is an environment and not just a collection of classrooms—and in a very focused way we have created an environment that promotes the emotional well-being of our learners. As a ‘school with a soul’ we cherish the values of compassion and empathy and we have taken numerous steps to weave them in the fabric of our school’s culture. We start cultivating an attitude of gratitude from a very early stage. We celebrate little acts of kindness and compassion that our learners show – the idea is to make them look beyond themselves. We follow the ‘No Learner Left Behind Policy’ religiously which makes our classrooms truly inclusive. These inclusive classrooms benefit not just ‘Children with Special Learning Needs’ but also other students as they develop empathy and thereby make society more accepting of diversity. Our learners make regular visits to foster homes and old-age homes to spend time with ‘individuals in need’, celebrate festivals with them, and carry presents for them through our ‘Wish-Fulfilment-Tree’ initiative. To promote mindfulness, we have carved out time slots in our daily schedule for meditation along with the ‘Anapanasati’ meditation camps we have over weekends.
A ‘Delfite’ depositing food in the ‘Happy Fridge’ for the underprivileged of the neighborhood.
Can you share examples of specific SEL initiatives or programs at your School that have been particularly successful in supporting student well-being and emotional development?
One of our most popular initiatives is ‘Happy Fridge – our Food ATM’ which began with the noble intention that ‘nobody goes hungry within 200 meters of the school’. It is a student-led program under which students of all classes and all sections take turns bringing home-cooked meals and provisions that they deposit in the ‘Happy Fridge’ so that the underprivileged can take it. Another successful initiative has been ‘promoting a culture of reflection’. We use introspection and reflection as tools to deal with any case of undesirable behaviour by a student instead of using harsh or exclusionary punishments with the hope of creating a better and gentler world.
In every class, we also identify children with high EQ and assign them the role of ‘Empathy Managers’ who help in conflict resolution or in identifying instances of bullying. These ‘Empathy Managers’ also lend a patient ear to their peers and help assimilate new students so that each learner feels heard and cherished. We have ‘Peer Educators’ as part of our Guild who take sessions on crucial topics like ‘Anger Management’ & ‘Stress Management’.
A ‘Good-will Piggy Bank’ to celebrate little acts of kindness.
How does SEL contribute to a positive school climate and foster a sense of belonging among students, teachers, and staff at your School?
I think the ‘Aatmiyata Diwas’, which we celebrate every year, is a very good example of how SEL positively impacts all stakeholders. Our teachers and students create a special day with activities and games for the support staff; students cook and serve meals to them, and give them tokens of gratitude to make them feel valued and appreciated. Or say, the ‘Sneh-Bhoj’ we had as a mark of celebration of our school’s 28th birthday this year, which was a community feast. Every student and teacher contributed to it by bringing the provisions, cooking the meals, eating together and also serving the food to not just all the members of the school community, including the administrative and housekeeping staff, but also the underprivileged of the neighbourhood. These are ways of building a sense of ownership and belonging in each child and strengthening a sense of community. In the classrooms too we celebrate little acts of kindness shown by learners through the ‘Good-will Piggy Bank’ installed in each classroom.
A Peer Educator taking a session.
In what ways does your School assess and measure students’ social and emotional competencies? How do you ensure that SEL is effectively integrated into academic and co-curricular activities?
For the last 28 years, ever since we started the school, our ‘Progress Card’ has had checklists to measure and track life skills, which include SEL. In our Progress card, we give equal value to measuring the progress in all areas of growth such as physical, ethical, social and emotional. There are elaborate rubrics under each head that help us assess how the child is doing on multiple counts such as peer-to-peer interactions, attitude towards the house-keeping staff, ability to respect the views of others, etc., and how the child responds to the various initiatives that the school undertakes to ensure ‘SEL’. Each Class Teacher also has a participation chart that again tracks the individual participation and contribution of each child in the class, in all these initiatives, so that no child is neglected. Most of these practices have been woven into the daily and weekly schedules. For example, there is a well-defined schedule for each class contributing to the ‘Happy Fridge’.
What role do teachers and staff play in promoting SEL among students at your School? How do you support their professional development in this area?
Teachers play an extremely critical role, as ultimately they drive all the SEL initiatives and have the strongest influence on the learners. Therefore, it is equally important that the teachers be empowered with all the information and tools they need to impart Socio-emotional learning. All our teachers undergo regular empowerment sessions conducted by experts and our Head Counsellor. I myself have headed numerous sessions on the subject from time to time, as it is close to my heart. Recently our Senior Wing Coordinators completed a PG Diploma in Guidance and Counselling. The ‘Awakening Program’ and ‘Awakened Citizen Program’, under the aegis of Rama Krishna Mission, have also been made an integral part of the curriculum. The first beneficiaries of this program were our teachers who then further cascaded it to the learners. Our non-teaching staff also undergo regular sensitization sessions; we also have dedicated time for them to use the school library so that they can take charge of their own growth.
What advice would you give to other educators or schools looking to prioritize Social and Emotional Learning in their educational programs and practices, based on the experience at your School?
The pandemic in many ways was a turning point that made us acutely aware of the vital importance of SEL for each one of us, not just for children. But children need it all the more because they are vulnerable and now exposed to a barrage of stimuli. I feel schools still underestimate the role of counsellors. Every school must have an adequate number of counsellors and must also empower its counsellors. There must be emotionally safe spaces like the ‘SEL Cells’ we have in our school, where children can have an open-hearted one-to-one conversation with the counsellors without the fear of being judged. It is important that they develop habits that promote mental, emotional, and social as well as digital hygiene – and as educators, it is incumbent upon us to insist on these as much as we insist on physical hygiene. The world around us is becoming increasingly polarized, there is too much noise. We need to teach our children to become ‘bridges instead of wedges’. My friendly advice to other educators is to start small. For example, during the pandemic, we made a decision to start every class with a small conversation about emotional well-being and we used the ‘Feeling Wheel’ to help children identify and name their feelings. We also created ‘SEL Toolkits’ that had an assortment of activities of ‘Head, Heart and Hand’, such as ‘Happiness Jar’, ‘Comfort Box’, ‘Gratitude Journal’, etc., to deal with any sense of isolation that the child may feel.
