The Turning of the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Tide

Are you old enough to remember when the Marlborough Man appeared on his horse in cigarette ads in magazines? Some of us are old enough to remember this and the day that such cigarette advertising became illegal. It was a turning of the tide. We better understood something about our health and things changed.

This turning of the tide with respect to societal views on smoking occurred to me as I was thinking about where we are in the field of social and emotional learning. From our vantage point, the tide is definitely turning for SEL. It is no longer being thought of as a “would be nice to do” subject or something we hope to squeeze in at the morning meetings. Rather, it is increasingly recognized as our modus operandi as educators. Love as pedagogy. Awareness as pedagogy. Understanding as pedagogy. Always starting with ourselves.

The evidence of the turning tide is everywhere. Congress and school districts are allocating more funding for SEL. The theme of the 2021 National Conference on Education was SEL and the Whole Child. Leaders recognize that we as educators can’t pour from an empty cup. Adult SEL is just as needed as children’s SEL.

Today we are honored to join with more than 3,000 other organizations around the world to celebrate and accelerate the turning of this tide. #SELDay.