What is Social Emotional Learning?

Social Emotional Learning is the process of developing strong interpersonal and self-awareness skills. These skills are vital for everyone who navigates through life. Moreso, for growing children and professionals as they work in teams, and it helps them better understand the way other people respond to different dynamics.

Having a good Social Emotional understanding can greatly benefit the outcome of a project, as it ensures harmony and teamwork among peers.

Brief description of the skill, scientific reasoning, pedagogy behind it etc

Social-emotional learning, as a skill is often overlooked during traditional schooling as it doesn’t directly fall as part of the curriculum. This results in children often having to learn these valuable lessons much later on, and often through real-life situations where they could have coped much better. By teaching these skills at an early age, the students build a better sense of self-awareness and are able to express their emotions and handle others’ emotions much better.

What are the skills developed with it

Teamwork and empathy are two skills that are highly developed as a result of good Social Emotional Learning. By understanding other people's viewpoints, and placing themselves in others’ shoes, individuals can greatly benefit by being great team players, as well as being empathic, as they realize that the way they treat others, directly has an impact on the way others treat them.

What careers match these skills

A career in teaching, counseling, or managerial science would be a good fit for someone with a good Social Emotional understanding. This can also extend to project management and any position that requires working in teams. Good leadership in any field can be attributed to great social-emotional learning.

Best skills that complement it

Since social-emotional learning has much to do with working within teams, and with peers, the natural complementary skill set would be to have good communication skills, as well as good leadership skills. Social-emotional learning can form the base and work well for individuals with different skill sets ranging from analytical, scientific, creative, artistic.

Everyday applications / how the skills help generally in life

Good Social Emotional Learning would not only help in the professional front but also in one's personal life. Having a sense of compassion and empathy is crucial in building good and lasting relationships, be it with friends, family, or even with partners.

Notable people with these skills

Known for her compassion and warmth, Michelle Obama is one of the most influential people in the world. In the vast amount of projects she has been involved in, she is known to have had a great understanding of her team, transparency, open communication, and overall a good understanding of the people she works with. This is evident in the results she has produced, as many who have worked with her have said it was the most rewarding project they were a part of.