How We Do It?
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
Social and Emotional Learning is complex and it is the processes by which children acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to recognise and manage their emotions, increase self-esteem and positive self image, demonstrate caring and concern for others, learn to establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions and finally, learn to constructively handle challenging social situations. The mastery of these skills requires a student to acquire knowledge related to 5 core competencies (CASEL, 2003). These competencies have been identified as the core elements and essential core skills to be developed by students at Yarra Me.
These competencies are listed and described below:
SEL Curriculum Model: Personalising the Victorian Curriculum According to the Students from Yarra Me
According to DE, schools are able to personalise the Victorian Curriculum according to the learning needs of their school, and to structure their curriculum around an integrated approach to the delivery of the curriculum. Yarra Me has achieved this by undertaking the following actions and is in illustrated Figure 2:
Social and Emotional Learning is complex and it is the processes by which children acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to recognise and manage their emotions, increase self-esteem and positive self image, demonstrate caring and concern for others, learn to establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions and finally, learn to constructively handle challenging social situations. The mastery of these skills requires a student to acquire knowledge related to 5 core competencies (CASEL, 2003). These competencies have been identified as the core elements and essential core skills to be developed by students at Yarra Me.
These competencies are listed and described below:
- Self-awareness
- Focuses on identifying and recognising emotions; accurate self-perception; strengths, needs and values and self-efficacy.
- Self-management
- Includes impulse control and stress management; self-motivation and discipline; goal setting and organisational skills.
- Social awareness
- Addresses perspective taking; empathy; difference recognition and respect for others.
- Relationship skills
- Encompasses communication; social engagement and relationship building; working cooperatively; negotiation refusal; conflict management; and help seeking.
- Positive decision making
- Includes problem identification and situation analysis; problem solving; valuation and reflection; and personal, social and ethical responsibility.
SEL Curriculum Model: Personalising the Victorian Curriculum According to the Students from Yarra Me
According to DE, schools are able to personalise the Victorian Curriculum according to the learning needs of their school, and to structure their curriculum around an integrated approach to the delivery of the curriculum. Yarra Me has achieved this by undertaking the following actions and is in illustrated Figure 2:
- The Foundation of the Yarra Me curriculum is made up of two separate layers that provide a base for program planning:
- The first Foundation is the Essential Core Curriculum that focuses on the pre-requisite or ready to learn skills essential to social-emotional learning and which also provide a direction in What to teach. Three core elements guide program development into learning how to interact with Others, with my immediate Environment and with the Self. Figure 1 shows the overlap of these core elements and that all three need to be addressed as early as possible in order to get students onto the right social-emotional path.
- The top layer aligns with the Victorian Curriculum which has involved the personalising of the Personal and Social Capability Curriculum by using the DE Elaborations Resource. The Elaborations was converted into Long Term Goals, Annual Goals and Sub-goals, providing a further extension in What to teach. It also shows the close alignment with the Yarra Me Essential Core Skills and Personal and Social Capability layers.
- The How of the curriculum has been further personalised. This section includes strategies that are sensitive to the needs of the student who is referred to the Yarra Me program. While every learner is an individual, the strategies also need to reflect the diversity of students referred to Yarra Me. The strategies have been organised to reflect the 3 Tiers of learners.
- The first Tier is the universal set of strategies which are being drawn from a range of materials and resources.
- The second Tier includes the strategies that have been developed for targeted students, therefore further individualisation is necessary to achieve the PLP goals.
- The third Tier includes strategies that have been developed for students who require a more intensive approach in achieving their PLP goals.
The SEL Toolkit supports the Yarra Me teacher to deliver teaching and learning practice which is consistent with High Impact Teaching Strategies (DE, 2017). The Toolkit provides teachers with a direction to apply evidence-based practices that are supported by SMART goals. Like HITS, the Toolkit is a clear link with FISO V.2.0 and classroom practice, as it enables the Yarra Me teacher to plan and adjust their practice in response to student engagement and learning outcomes. By using a repertoire of approaches dedicated to the learner profile of Yarra Me, the Toolkit embeds instructional strategies so that a “whole of practice” (p.17) is maintained in teaching and learning.
