The Downsides of Social-Emotional Learning
SEL programs have some benefits, but misusing them can be harmful
What is SEL?
Social-emotional learning is an intentional focus on the development of social and emotional skills and competencies in school. The five core competencies of SEL focus are:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Social awareness
- Relationship skills
- Responsible decision making
Seems fairly innocuous, even positive, right? What could possibly be harmful about teaching children these essential life skills?
There are many, but I’m writing an article not a book, so I’ll stick to three for today.
SEL programs are easily misused
A common structure for these programs is the Zones of Regulation, wherein there are four colours which identify categories of feelings and energy levels.
The blue zone is essentially feeling sad, sick, or tired. The green zone is supposed to indicate being regulated, but it’s often construed as calm (which is not the same thing) and “ready to learn”.
The yellow zone may indicate feeling overly excited, frustrated, irritated, annoyed, or slightly dysregulated. The red zone is meant to indicate feeling completely dysregulated, but is often (inaccurately) used interchangeably with very angry.
This colour-coding system is frequently (and incorrectly) used to convey that green is the “good” zone, while other zones are not ideal. Even worse, it’s used as a veiled threat when school staff ask students if they need to remove themselves from class activity because they might not be in the green zone.
This is a misuse of the system. This is using an SEL program for the purposes of controlling student behaviour, attempting to control or manipulate their emotions, and wielding the colours as a way of commanding compliance.
While I can certainly sympathize with a teacher in a classroom with too many students, many of whom are inadequately supported (both staff and students alike), and just needing to get through a lesson — this use of SEL, while not intended as such, is bordering on emotional abuse.
Manipulating a child for our own convenience, while it’s something we all occasionally resort to under times of stress, is wrong. It’s an abuse of power that strips kids of their autonomy.
This misuse of SEL is not something that should be commonplace (but certainly is), and most definitely should not be endorsed by school administrators.
Staff seen using these methods should be provided further training and support to ensure their lack of understanding is not causing harm to students.
SEL can create tunnel vision
When a student is upset, the primary focus is often helping them to “calm down”. Right, sure. Emotional co-regulation is a very important part of relationship-based education, and an excellent tool for helping children work through intense feelings.
However.
What if those “big feelings” are entirely justified?
“Providing coping mechanisms to help students overcome rightful anger or frustration is just another way we marginalize youth.” — Gorski & Swalwell
I’ve written previously about my son’s traumatic experiences during his early years in public education. He was struggling in the school’s rigid environment, and every time he showed this through his behaviour, the school staff’s response was to clamp down on him even harder.
The more they blamed, shamed, and punished him, the more he struggled. The less he felt cared about or welcome in the school, the less engaged he became. The more he was mistreated, the more his anger and frustration grew.
When I say early years, I’m talking grades one and two. At only 6 and 7 years old, our son was being held fully accountable while the school’s staff were not. This continued even after the school was notified of his ADHD diagnosis and given a full assessment report — complete with strategies for more effectively supporting him.
Yet whenever my son got angry because a peer was picking on him, someone was not following the rules, or because a teacher treated him unfairly, the entire focus was on him and his need to control his behaviour and emotions.
I understand the need to support students in ways that keep everybody safe, but there were never any attempts made to validate my son’s experiences, nor to acknowledge that what he was feeling was a very reasonable response to being mistreated.
Having everyone else’s needs considered while your own are dismissed does not create a sense of safety and belonging. Unfortunately our experience was not unique, and this happens to students on a very regular basis.
When we use SEL programs that focus entirely on the individual and their obligation to control themselves, we develop tunnel vision, neglecting the larger systemic factors that contribute to their strong emotions.
“SEL can be weaponized if schools emphasize self-regulation and ‘calming down’ as core skills rather than affirming that there are times to harness righteous anger.” — Alex Shevrin Venet
SEL may stifle self-advocacy
A fantastic article was published right here on Medium in the Communities for Just Schools Fund, written by Cierra Kaler-Jones, entitled When SEL is Used as Another Form of Policing.
The article talks about a number of very complex and intersecting issues, such as racism and the prioritization of white social norms. I highly recommend reading it for yourself, as any summary I could write would never do it justice.
I will, however, share a favourite quote from that piece:
“SEL encourages young people to stifle the very emotions that have long contributed to a history of resistance, so that they can contribute to society as a worker.” — Cierra Kaler-Jones
In the book “All Students Must Thrive”, co-author Patrick Carmangian suggests we add three new core concepts to the SEL framework. Those would be:
- Self-knowledge (including an accurate knowledge of our own history)
- Solidarity
- Self-determination
Yes.
Self-advocacy skills should be part of every student’s education. SEL programs should never be used to gaslight children and deny their right to express their own feelings.
As humans, when we are over-worked and stressed, we have a tendency to over-simplify things, and SEL programs are no exception. This is natural and understandable when we are stretched to our limits and don’t have the bandwidth for deeper exploration.
That said, we have an obligation to the children we care for, in whatever capacity. When we use SEL as a bargaining chip, a threat, or a tool of oppression, we are abusing our position of power. That is never okay.
No matter how nicely we package (or whitewash) marginalization and inequity, they’re still marginalization and inequity.
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
Whitewashed SEL
In an amazing article written by Dena Simmons, she outlines five strategies for teaching fearless (aka intersectional and anti-racist) SEL:
- Provide students opportunities to reflect on identity and equity to build self-awareness. Exploring how our parts of our identities come with privilege while others are marginalized.
- Enhance relationship skills through debate. Teach kids to argue!
- Develop responsible decision-making skills through community-based projects.
- Use current topics to foster social awareness. We all learn better when we can see how knowledge can be applied to real life. It’s important to address difficult subjects at developmentally-appropriate levels.
- Explore different expectations for self-management. Whether we realize it or not, different races and cultures have different expectations for regulating and controlling our behaviour and emotions. We must face this head-on if we are to change how we respond to marginalized groups and people.
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References
Gorski, P. & Swalwell, K. (2023). Fix Injustice, Not Kids: and other principles for transformative equity leadership. ASCD Books.
Howard, T.C., Camangian, P., Edwards, E.J., Tyrone C. Howard, Minkoff, A.C., Orange, T., Tunstall, J.D., Watson, K.T. (2019). All Students Must Thrive: Transforming Schools to Combat Toxic Stressors and Cultivate Critical Wellness. International Center for Leadership in Education.
Kaler-Jones, C. (2020). When SEL is Used as Another Form of Policing. Communities for Just Schools Fund.
Simmons, D. (2019). Why We Can’t Afford Whitewashed Social-Emotional Learning. ASCD.
Venet, A. S. (2021). Equity-Centred, Trauma-Informed Education. W. W. Norton & Co.
