Dive Brief:
- Schools and districts should not water down or eliminate social-emotional learning in reaction to pushback and criticism, panelists said during a virtual discussion Tuesday hosted by Education Development Center, a nonprofit that focuses on health and education issues.
- Instead, educators should address false claims or misinformation, highlight the benefits of SEL and provide opportunities for community members to engage in a school's SEL efforts. "We need to communicate with each other and find common ground around this," said panelist Sheldon Berman, lead superintendent for social-emotional learning at AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
- Criticism of SEL, which some opponents say is used as a shield to teach critical race theory in schools or for schools to control the social and emotional health of students, has increased over the last few years. This should concern school systems, the panelists said, because SEL has been shown to contribute to positive student outcomes.
Dive Insight:
The panelists said SEL opposition is coming from a small subset of parents and community members in reaction to pandemic-related frustrations and based on hidden political agendas. Still, critical voices are spread out across the country.
Panelist Erica Buchanan-Rivera, director of equity and inclusion for the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township in Indianapolis, Indiana, said SEL has been criticized as child abuse and that ideological groups say it...
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