Opinion
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion

Resources to Support Social-Emotional Learning

By Kate Walker — November 28, 2018 6 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Editor’s Introduction: Kate Walker, a professor at University of Minnesota Extension, specialist in youth work practice, and the editor of the Journal for Youth Development, shares that cultural values have a strong relation to the development of social-emotional skills. Here are some resources focused on identity and culture to help youth develop these skills.

To be successful now and ready for college, careers, and civic responsibilities, today’s young people need to develop a range of skills intermittently referred to as social-emotional, global, 21st-century, or character skills. All young people, regardless of cultural background, need these skills to be aware of and manage emotions, navigate relationships, and thrive.

But personal identity and cultural values shape how each person defines success. Some cultures focus on the individual, others are more collective. Some people value direct forms of communication, yet others prefer indirect forms. Some cultures tend to restrain strong emotions, whereas others express emotions openly. Some members of a team may be more relationship-focused, while others are more task-focused.

To facilitate this kind of learning, adult staff need support to be aware of their own values and competencies and to have practical strategies to create conditions for all youths to practice these skills. Staff need to be aware of and counteract bias as well as burnout. They need to be versed in trauma-informed practices (which benefit all students) to understand, recognize, and respond to the behaviors and needs of their students. Related, staff need to understand how exclusionary discipline policies are often counterproductive.

Strategies and Resources to Support Students and Staff

Global competence is the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance and is broken into four domains: investigate the world, recognize perspectives, communicate ideas, and take action. Knowledge and skills that young people need in the 21st century are outlined below, along with free resources to support each domain. These tools and activities attend to the critical role of personal and cultural identity, values, and perspectives.

1) Investigate the World. Globally competent youths are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the diverse world around them. To do this, they need to develop and practice skills like curiosity, cultural awareness, and mindfulness.


  • The University of Minnesota Extension‘s SEL Toolkit includes a Mapping Cultural Values activity for staff to identify their own personal cultural values and preferences that influence social and emotional learning (SEL).
  • Teaching Tolerance’s My Multicultural Self lesson plan helps students identify and reflect upon facets of their multicultural selves and understand the many reasons that miscommunication can occur.
  • The Character Lab’s Curiosity Playbook includes information and activities as well as links to recommended books and videos.
  • Transforming Education’s Mindfulness Toolkit includes information on what mindfulness is and why it matters, strategies, a video, and a facilitator guide.

2) Recognize Perspectives. Socially and emotionally equipped youths recognize that they have a particular perspective and that others may or may not share it. This requires self-awareness to assess one’s strengths and limitations, as well as social awareness to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. This includes skills like perspective-taking, empathy, and gratitude.


  • Emotional Intelligence (or EQ) is defined as the ability to be aware of, understand, and manage one’s emotions. The University of Minnesota Extension’s SEL Toolkit includes a quick Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment for staff to use for personal reflection.
  • Transforming Education’s Social Awareness Toolkit includes information, resources, and strategies to support the development of students’ social awareness.
  • The Character Lab’s Gratitude Playbook includes information about gratitude as well as three activities (Gratitude Letter, Gratitude Journal, and Three Good Things).
  • The Center for Global Education’s Cultural Mandalas lesson plan by Sandra Makielski helps students identify the eight attributes of culture and to create a mandala and an “I Am” poem.

3) Communicate Ideas. Twenty-first century youths need to effectively communicate, verbally and nonverbally, with diverse audiences. This includes being able to establish and maintain healthy relationships with diverse individuals and groups and being able to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, and negotiate conflict constructively.


  • In a team of people from different backgrounds and with different skills, conflict is to be expected. Preparing Youth to Thrive offers a host of SEL resources including an activity on How to Mediate Conflict.
  • The Center for Global Education’s The Many Ways the World Communicates lesson plan helps students gain an understanding of the nature of human communication and learn that verbal language is only one way people communicate.
  • Teaching Tolerance’s Understanding Disabilities lesson plan helps students increase knowledge about people with disabilities and explore ways to sensitively communicate with people with disabilities.
  • The University of Minnesota Extension’s SEL Toolkit includes a Power of Empathy activity (for students or staff) based on an animated short of Dr. Brené Brown’s talk exploring the differences between empathy and sympathy.

4) Take Action. Globally competent youths have the skills and knowledge to make a difference in the world. This requires responsible decisionmaking, problem-solving, and perseverance. This includes dealing effectively and ethically with daily tasks and challenges, with consideration for the well-being of oneself and others.


  • Teaching Tolerance’s Where We Stand lesson plan guides students to examine how they face everyday moral dilemmas and consider who and what influences their reactions when conflicts arise.
  • Character Lab’s Grit Playbook information on grit as well as activities (Goal Pyramid, My Values, Two Stories, and Expert Practice for Classrooms).
  • Transforming Educations’ Growth Mindset Toolkit is a self-contained professional-development session.There is also a version en Español and for parents.
  • The University of Minnesota Extension’s SEL Toolkit includes a Goal Sandwich activity to help youths identify a short-term goal and create concrete steps to complete it.

Across these domains and activities, identity and culture are central.The social and emotional skills that are most important for youths to develop will vary based on their own understanding of success. Understanding how one’s own cultural background, values, and identity shape one’s worldview will equip you to identify global competence goals that are appropriate for youths in your context.

As a first step toward examining your own values, competencies and practices, reflect on these questions:


  • Given your personal identity and cultural values, which SEL skills are most important to you?
  • How might your cultural values and preferences be similar or different from the youths you work with?
  • What can you do to be more culturally responsive as you support global competence among your students?

Follow Kate, the University of Minnesota Extension, Heather, and the Center for Global Education on Twitter.

Image created on Pablo.

The opinions expressed in Global Learning are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness These High School Graduates Earned a Diploma—and a $74,000 Teaching Contract
This district's 'grow-your-own' program includes an extra incentive: a generous starting salary for graduates who come back to teach.
6 min read
Leonellys Rodriguez, a graduate of University High School in Newark, N.J., and recipient of a conditional teaching job offer from the Newark Public School District, poses with Principal Genique Flournoy-Hamilton on June 24, 2025.
Leonellys Rodriguez, a graduate of University High School in Newark, N.J., and recipient of a conditional teaching job offer from the Newark Public School District, poses with Principal Genique Flournoy-Hamilton on June 24, 2025. The district's grow-your-own, dual-enrollment partnership will bring high-achieving students back to the district as teachers.
Courtesy of Newark Public School District
College & Workforce Readiness Summer Jobs for Teens Are Now Scarce. Some Schools Are Trying to Change That
From on-campus job fairs to partnerships with local programs, these high schools are finding teens summer work.
5 min read
Hannah Waring, left, a student at Loudoun Valley High School, and Abby McDonough, a student at Liberty University, work in the strawberry stand at Wegmeyer Farms in Hamilton, Va., on May 23, 2017. Waring and McDonough worked at Wegmeyer Farms for the summer. Summer jobs are vanishing as U.S. teens spend more time in school and doing extra curricular activities, and face competition from older workers.
Hannah Waring, left, a student at Loudoun Valley High School, and Abby McDonough, a student at Liberty University, work in the strawberry stand at Wegmeyer Farms in Hamilton, Va., on May 23, 2017. The teen summer employment rate is down this year, but some schools are trying to create opportunities for their students.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
College & Workforce Readiness College for Students With Intellectual Disabilities Faces an Uncertain Future
Inclusive higher education programs benefit students with intellectual disabilities. But funding challenges are threatening their growth.
8 min read
Students in the TerpsEXCEED program celebrate in their caps and gowns with a photo on McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.
Students in the TerpsEXCEED program celebrate in their caps and gowns with a photo on McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland in College Park. Inclusive postsecondary programs offer education and opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities, but uncertainties around federal funding threaten their growth.
Photo Credit: Feldy Suwito, Image of Life Photography
College & Workforce Readiness Q&A 'Adulting 101': The High School Class Teaching Real-Life Skills
Beyond core academics, what skills should high school students master before they graduate?
6 min read
Unrecognizable woman using mobile phone while calculating the amount of her bills at home. Focus is on hand and cell phone.
E+/Getty