SEL Development

As I was getting up this morning, I ran across this interesting article on the effectiveness of Social Emotional Learning (SEL).  I have mixed reviews on how I perceive the findings of a longitudinal study.  

One one side, I agree that SEL as a stand alone curriculum is not effective.  I've seen many traffic sign charts fail, because the teacher made a one-size-fits-all approach to self-monitoring behavior.  When we teach SEL as a curriculum, it sets up a false reality that only during "this" time do you focus on being empathetic, mindful, and caring.  We don't embody those characteristics while learning math, reading, and science.  This seems like quite a disconnect for me as a PYP teacher. 

On the other side, I do believe that we need to have a means for learners to express themselves on a regular basis through reflection.  How do we do this?  We leverage the language of the learner profile. 

Recently, a workshop participant made the connection that the learner profile attributes are actually skills learners need to develop in order to operate within the world.  This got me thinking deeper about their role.  

I concur that the learner profile are skills and dispositions that help young people to articulate how they are acting, thinking, and feeling.  It's about learning the correct definitions, instead of downloading the latest poster set from Teachers pay Teachers.  We've all done it, including me. 

How well do you know the language of the learner profile attributes?  Are you teaching them according to the definition outlined by the IB? 

For SEL in the PYP, we use the language of the learner profile attributes and the approaches to learning (ATL).  In partnership, they create dispositions of authentic thinkers, communicators, and so much more. 

What part of the learner profile attribute will you zoom into in your next unit of inquiry?