Why Corporations Should Support Student Well-Being

As our world grows more connected and complex, health and wellness are needed more than ever to support students and educators. Research from The Centers for Disease Control shows that 1 in 3 high school students experience negative mental health, something exacerbated by the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.?

In the words of U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona: "Amid the pandemic, we know that our students have experienced so much. We can't unlock students' potential unless we also address the needs they bring with them to the classroom each day. As educators, it's our responsibility to ensure that we are helping to provide students with a strong social and emotional foundation so that they also can excel academically."?

When talking about the holistic approach to the well-being of students, you may have noticed the term social-emotional learning (SEL) come up. Here are the three things you need to know about SEL in K-12 education:?

1. SEL is best known through the five competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.?
2. SEL is a matter of equity in education in order to best promote healthy emotional, social, and academic development for each student across all social, economic, racial, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, ability, ethnicity, and other factors.?
3. Schools and educators can’t support students alone. The private sector has a special responsibility and unique opportunity to come together in support of holistic educational solutions and tools designed to empower individuals and communities that need access to these resources.?

Educators know firsthand the importance of social and emotional wellness for their students. In fact, recent research shows that 81% of teachers are spending more time than ever on SEL in every classroom. We know that focusing on academic outcomes alone doesn’t allow a child to reach their full potential and instead embedding these core SEL concepts into instruction builds stronger learners and enables them to maximize their potential.?

Yet, as we gear up for another back-to-school season, educators are the most burnt-out professionals in the United States and continue to struggle to balance their own needs and growing well-being issues of their students. We know SEL is important, but we want to make it easier to integrate into every classroom and not another thing teachers must do. Too often, it falls upon the responsibility of the individual teacher to implement wellness activities and supports in teaching when SEL is not implemented on a schoolwide and programmatic basis.??

In order to achieve equity in education, schools need support. It’s critical that the private sector continue stepping up for students and educators, and they are. Corporations are here to help: 2022 data from Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose shows that investments in social topics – like education – have risen substantially, including in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and global racial inequity. An example of this type of investment in SEL is the Social-Emotional Learning Coalition, a collection of organizations united by Discovery Education driving lasting change in education through SEL. To date, the Coalition has reached over 5 million students nationwide through timely, standards-aligned content.?As a collaborative network of industry-leading organizations, the Coalition ensures continuous educator support to help guide academic success, maintain emotional wellbeing, and develop a culture of collective care in communities.?

As one of our newest partners, Michael Tyler, recently shared with me: “The goal in SEL is to promote diversity as a humanistic opportunity rather than perpetuate it as a begrudging obligation. This is how we move beyond the tolerance of one another and learn to truly accept and celebrate each other for who we are. That is the true opportunity we have.”?

In short, an investment today in SEL is an investment in the future on all levels. In fact, research from Columbia University concluded that SEL programming is a wise financial investment, demonstrating that for every dollar invested in SEL programming, $11 is saved on interventions, remediation, dropout prevention, and recovery. Investing in SEL isn’t only the right thing to do socially and emotionally, it’s the right thing to do financially.?

Join us at the Social-Emotional Learning Coalition as we build strategic partnerships and engaging thought leadership across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to bring holistic resources and content designed to empower students, educators, and communities.?