How schools can focus on important skills of life with academics:

Well, it is strongly agreed fact that traits like perseverance and collaboration are seen as key to success in college and the workplace. And employers are also reporting that fresh graduates lack these skills.

In many countries educators now pride themselves in preparing students academically for the next step of career, luckily with that the effort is also on to make people emotionally ready as well — with the social skills, like strength of character, resilience and integrity, needed to succeed.

Many researches are now showcasing the strong connection between the social and emotional skills of students and their cognitive development, more schools are emphasizing “soft skills” such as communication, collaboration, self-awareness and problem-solving as part of a trend known as social and emotional learning, or SEL.

Yes there are also many challenges in implementing SEL program. Like, big challenge is determining how to measure social and emotional development. Unlike math or history, there is no standard sheet by which to judge students’ soft skills, let alone evaluate their growth.

But, always there is a solution for a challenge:

One of the school (Capital City) is committed to putting these skills on par with homework and exam scores. In addition to traditional academic grades, student report cards include marks from 1 to 4 on qualities such as organization, timeliness and accountability.

Further at this school, social and emotional learning is woven into daily interactions between adults and students and integrated into classroom content.

For example:

After completing a challenging science project, students might be given the opportunity to reflect on not just the academic material, but on how they adopted strategies of perseverance or problem-solving to overcome obstacles that arose along the way.

Image source: vectormarketing.ca

What is the outcome:

Many students at this school, when reflecting on their time are quick to link outcomes like good grades to personal characteristics of persistence, self-confidence and the ability to manage their time wisely.

This schools has also designed advisory class concept, it is designed as a space where students are encouraged to discuss whatever’s on their minds — not just academic issues, but personal issues too. Sharing their stories, and listening to the experiences of their peers. Which will help them to succeed academically and socially.

Researches agree that grades should be used not as an end unto themselves, but as tool for helping students improve.

If effectively implemented, Social and emotional instruction will help rise student performance in academic areas too.

For detailed article read from source:

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/54286/how-a-school-prioritizes-character-as-much-as-academics?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=20190908MindShiftNewsletterSubscribers&mc_key=00Qi000001WzPZTEA3

Note:

This blog is an initiative of CLF to bring views on education in crisp form. This blog has visitors from more than 30 countries.

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