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.

– CASEL

INTRO

Reflect on SEL Competencies for School Leaders and Staff – an activity of self-awareness.

OBJECTIVES

Encourage thinking about strategies to promote growth across areas of social competence

Individually reflect on your own self-awareness

RESOURCES

PDF: The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL Essentials

PDF: Self-Awareness Survey Questions

This activity is designed for school leaders, staff, and adults on the SEL team.

Schoolwide social and emotional learning (SEL) is a systemic approach to infusing social and emotional learning into every part of students’ educational experience — across all classrooms, during all parts of the school day and out-of-school time, and in partnership with families and communities.

This activity was designed for self-reflection. It should not be used to evaluate performance. Insights gained from this personal reflection tool can be effectively used during SEL professional learning.

Activity

Read each statement on the handout (Self-Awareness Survey Questions PDF linked in the resources section above — also on pages 36-39 of the complete CASEL Guide, also provided). Rate yourself on the statement by marking the appropriate box. If a statement does not apply to you, draw a line through the box.

When you finish, search for patterns of strengths and challenges to guide your personal social-emotional growth process. This information is for you, so answer accurately without judging responses as “good” or “not as good.”

After completing the worksheet, reflect on the results to draw conclusions:

A. If you consider that statements marked as “often” could be indicators of personal strengths:
1. How do these strengths affect your interactions with students and peers?
2. What competencies do your strengths relate to?
3. Which of your strengths do you believe will help you guide schoolwide SEL?
4. Which are you most proud of?

B. If you consider that statements marked as “rarely” could be considered as current challenges:
1. How might enhancing this area benefit your interactions with students and/or peers?
2. To which competency or competencies do your challenges relate?
3. Select one or two areas you believe would help you promote schoolwide SEL.
4. Develop a strategy to remind yourself to practice this new behavior, or bring it up as something to work on with a mentor or a coach.

When looking at your responses, were there things that surprised you? Were there things that confirmed what you already knew about yourself?

List ways you can model your strengths for others and embed them throughout the school day.

List ways you can improve on any challenges you currently face.

What is CASEL?

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is the country’s leading PreK-12 SEL practice, policy and research organization. For 25 years, CASEL has been a trusted source for knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) and has made the case for SEL as an integral part of education. Through research, practice, and policy, CASEL collaborates with thought leaders to equip educators and policymakers with the knowledge and resources to advance social and emotional learning in equitable learning environments so all students can thrive. Watch the below short video about CASEL to learn more.