Resources
Explore a wide range of valuable resources on GCED to deepen your understanding and enhance your research, advocacy, teaching, and learning.
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Singapore’s educational reforms toward holistic outcomes: (Un)intended consequences of policy layering Year of publication: 2023 Author: Dennis Kwek | Jeanne Ho | Hwei Ming Wong Corporate author: Center for Universal Education at Brookings In the transition from economic imperatives to holistic drivers, there has been a gradual move over five policy phases (from 1965 to 2022 and beyond) toward curriculum and school diversification to cater to different students, with more autonomy given to schools to innovate their pedagogy and improve instructional quality to meet their students’ unique needs. Importantly, there has been a shift in policy rhetoric from focusing on educational structures to focusing on pedagogy and instructional quality. To shift pedagogy from being mainly didactic in nature—with emphasis on preparing students for national examination—the Singapore government recognized the need to focus on school leaders’ and teachers’ capacity building to enable new curricula and teaching practices. The school cluster structure was initiated in 1997 to enable collaboration and learning among school leaders, key personnel, and teachers. Opportunities for collaborative teacher learning are provided at different ecological levels: professional learning communities (PLCs) within schools and networked learning communities (NLCs) across schools. Beyond the education system, the Singapore government works with other ministries and community organizations, such as ethnic self-help organizations, to tackle educational equity issues. Ultimately, even though the official policy narrative post-1997 has been a de-emphasis on examination results and educational infrastructure to help improve the instructional quality in schools toward holistic outcomes and improved student well-being have been developed, education systems building co-exists with an alternative underlying shadow education system valued by parents who continue to chase narrow academic outcomes. Tuition and enrichment centers in Singapore constitute the shadow education system. 
The Comprehensive Learning Diagnosis: Chile’s approach to assess socio-emotional learning in schools Year of publication: 2023 Author: José Weinstein | Juan Bravo Corporate author: Center for Universal Education at Brookings Education in Chile has important challenges of quality, equity, and social integration. For decades, policies tried to respond to these concerns with a high-stakes accountability institutional framework, which has not had success. The underlying vision of educational quality was limited. The assessment system in place privileged cognitive and academic dimensions of educational results. Socio-emotional learning had been neglected or considered secondary, without an infrastructure of assessment tools that allowed teachers and principals to diagnosis students’ situations and monitor their progress. The COVID-19 crisis was an opportunity for change: Students’ socioemotional needs were a main concern for schools and society, and the regular accountability system based on standardized tests was interrupted. Subsequently, the Comprehensive Learning Diagnosis (DIA) was launched by the Education Quality Agency. The DIA is a voluntary assessment tool made available to all Chilean schools. The DIA promotes the comprehensive development of students, providing timely information and guidance to internally monitor students’ learning in the academic and socio-emotional domains at several points during the school year. Specifically, with respect to socio-emotional learning, three areas were considered: personal, community, and citizenship. In each of these areas, a set of socioemotional skills were defined, operationalized, and became possible to monitor by school communities. The DIA also collects students’ opinions of school management practices regarding socio-emotional skills. The DIA has received a wide acceptance in school communities. Despite being voluntary, an ample majority of schools decided to participate. The information collected from the DIA allows for practical use by principals and teachers. Moreover, the DIA provides the opportunity for students to inform school management. The new Chilean government has decided to strengthen DIA as an important component in a four-year national plan for reactivating academic and socio-emotional learning in schools. The previous high-stakes accountability system, which involved external assessments, has been suspended and is under discussion. The DIA experience has shown that critical social and educational situations can provide fertile ground to motivate deep and rapid transformation, if an educational actor (in this case the Education Quality Agency) is capable of enacting a pertinent, timely, and practical response to school needs. The DIA is not only an example of productive uses of students´ assessment by schools, but also a demonstration that it is possible to build an institutional arrangement among local, intermediate, and national levels of school systems, where a vertical hierarchy is changed by a collaborative relationship based on local agency, mutual trust, and differentiated technical contributions. 
Schools as Hubs for Social and Emotional Learning Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: OECD Schools are perfect hubs for social and emotional learning, but are they ready for this task? To address this question, this Spotlight reports previously unpublished findings from the OECD’s Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) and discusses their implications for education policy and practice. Both an active promotion in schools and extensive learning opportunities for teachers on relevant topics provide a fertile ground for an effective social and emotional education. They boost teachers’ self-efficacy and use of active learning pedagogies, as well as quality relationships at school. The Spotlight also points to important differences for teachers of 10- vs. 15-year-old students that can explain higher skills at a younger age. Younger students benefit more often from key elements of an effective social and emotional education in school, i.e. the evaluation of their social and emotional skills and teachers teaming up with parents to reinforce skill promotion. Teachers of 10-year-olds are also more intensively trained and requested to promote social and emotional learning in their work. 
Why SEL is the foundation of Future Schools Year of publication: 2023 Author: Kevin Hogan Corporate author: eSchool News https://www.eschoolnews.com/podcast/why-sel-is-the-foundation-of-future-schools/ One of many post-pandemic truths exposed and emphasized is that learning outcomes suffer without proper student mental health measures.In this episode of Innovations in education host Kevin Hogan has a conversation with Sonny Thadani, CEO of Robin, to explore how SEL can be integrated into district policies and school curricula. The key? Get everyone involved. Author: Kevin HoganKevin is a forward-thinking media executive with more than 25 years of experience building brands and audiences online, in print, and face to face. He is an acclaimed writer, editor, and commentator covering the intersection of society and technology, especially education technology. You can reach Kevin at KevinHogan@eschoolnews.com © Copyright 2023 eSchoolMedia & eSchool News. 
Social-Emotional Learning in Authentic Ways: Generating Solutions for the Early Childhood Program Year of publication: 2023 Author: Nicole Nesheim Corporate author: Hatch Early Learning In the post-pandemic field of education, the inclusion of social-emotional learning into early childhood education has been stressed as highly important. But what is social-emotional learning, exactly, and why is it so important now? Social-emotional learning is the practice of teaching the whole child, not simply core subjects and the arts. 
Nurturing the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of Children and Young People During Crises (UNESCO COVID-19 Education Response: Education Sector issue notes; No.1.2, 2020) Year of publication: 2020 Corporate author: UNESCO The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated lockdowns, school closures, physical distancing and loss of familiar environments. The restriction on movement, disruption of routines, curtailment of social interactions and deprivation of traditional learning methods has led to increased pressure, stress and anxiety for young people, their families and communities. Parents and adult care-givers are struggling to meet the challenges of home schooling while juggling work and community obligations, caring for family members and maintaining individual well-being. Teachers are having to rapidly adapt to new and untested teaching methods. Young people are concerned about their education as national examinations are cancelled and are grappling with the insecurity of isolation and uncertainty. In poor households where income is a first priority, children are left on their own to home school or are pulled into other tasks. The stress and anxiety of the pandemic is compounded by the circulation of dynamic information - both accurate and false, often fuelled by sensationalist media reporting. This not only increases insecurity but also acts as fertile ground for the spread of intolerance, racism, xenophobia and hate crimes. To address and counter the social anxiety, emotional upheaval and fearful insecurity unleashed by COVID-19, it is urgent and necessary that families and communities build vital coping skills and emotional resilience. Social and emotional skills are well established, evidence-based practices, that can be adapted to help equip children, young people, parents and teachers with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours they need to stay healthy and positive, navigate emotions, practice mindful engagement, exhibit pro-social behaviour and cope with daily challenges. 
Happy Schools Guide and Toolkit: A Resource for Happiness, Learners’ Well-Being and Social and Emotional Learning Year of publication: 2021 Corporate author: UNESCO | UNESCO Bangkok The Happy Schools Guide and Toolkit is designed to support teachers and school leaders in primary and secondary schools across the Asia-Pacific region, in thinking about how they can create their own Happy School. It has therefore drawn from aspects of the Happy Schools Framework, which can be most readily addressed at the school level. While the Happy Schools Guide is targeted towards school leaders and teachers at the school level of administration and pedagogy development, the Happy Schools Toolkit is conceived for teachers at the classroom level. 
Toolbox for Educational Institutions: Lines of Action of Socio-Emotional Skills Vocational and Professional Orientation Year of publication: 2017 Corporate author: ENEL Foundation | Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) This toolbox is aimed at educational agents who are motivated to articulate in their pedagogical work actions aimed at facilitating the decision-making of young people during their life path, by strengthening socio-emotional skills and vocational and professional guidance, in order to enable transformations, whether personal, family or social, and with a view to sustainable development. 
Asia-Pacific Early Childhood Care and Education: Teacher Training Handbook for Social and Emotional Learning Year of publication: 2022 Author: Monisha Singh Diwan Corporate author: UNESCO Bangkok The handbook was initiated by UNESCO Bangkok. This effort is in response to the widespread recognition of social and emotional learning (SEL)’s importance and the lack of robust and more contextually relevant and culturally sensitive SEL programme for teachers to effectively deliver SEL. With this, UNESCO Bangkok aims to support the Member States in the Asia-Pacific to equip their early childhood care and education (ECCE) teachers with SEL knowledge and skills, and to ensure that children develop pro-social and emotional skills and positive relationships within the early stage of the learning process, particularly in enhancing (1) knowledge about student SEL and classroom management; (2) strategies to apply in the classroom; and (3) teachers’ own social and emotional competence.The handbook provides the context and foundation for the programme. The background of the initiative that led to the regional handbook and training modules (Chapter 1), the introduction of the purpose and use of the handbook (Chapter 2), an overview of ECCE (Chapter 3), SEL (Chapter 4), teachers’ professional education, learning and development (Chapter 5), and APETT-SEL conceptual framework followed by an overview of the four themes and ten modules (Chapter 6). The Glossary provides definitions and/or explanations of key educational terminologies used to provide greater clarity. The ten comprehensive training modules aim to build capacity of pre-primary and early primary teachers, both pre- and in-service, across four themes. The first theme focuses on teachers and their well-being; the second equips teachers in building pro-social and responsive classrooms; the third focuses on diversity, inclusion, cultural responsiveness, and equity; and the fourth focuses on SEL measurement and assessment. Each training module consists of scripted sessions and activities, as well as reference materials included as handouts and additional readings. 
How an SEL Podcast Saved My Carpool Year of publication: 2023 Author: Laura Wheatman Hill Corporate author: Medicinal Media | Committee for Children The Imagine Neighborhood Podcasthttps://www.imagineneighborhood.org/ The Imagine Neighborhood™ podcast helps children and grown-ups grow their social-emotional skills, and talk about the things that matter with the people that matter most.Has your child ever been so angry that they wanted to smoosh something? Have they ever been scared of the babysitter? Have they ever had a hard time calming down? The Imagine Neighborhood is the show for your family. Each episode tells a story that’s amazing, fantastical, and maybe a little bananas, while it tackles the big feelings that come with growing up. And The Imagine Neighborhood gives you and your kids fun activities to do at home, in the car, or anywhere you talk to each other. How an SEL podcast saved my carpool 25 May 2023 (by Laura Wheatman Hill) My kids’ school is 15-20 minutes from our house and there is no bus.I drive my two kids, ages six and nine, and a neighbor, eight, to and from school three days a week and I let them rotate who picks what we listen to every ride. After I had to veto their picks several days in a row because they were testing the limits of what’s appropriate for all parties, even with a “radio edit” version (I’m sorry, but no Eminem for the kindergartner), I found a kid’s podcast that teaches social emotional learning (SEL) called The Imagine Neighborhood.After the first listen, which featured characters like a vampire robot vacuum and a princess dinosaur, and a world containing dangers such as lava, pixies, and an evil hamster, my kindergartner declared, “This is the greatest podcast of all time!” We proceeded to listen to every single episode available over the next few weeks and now play a new episode the minute it drops. Why teach social emotional learning in a podcast?According to Committee for Children, which helps create programs to assist children in developing life skills, including The Imagine Neighborhood, SEL is “the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success.” Research over time shows that kids who have access to SEL interventions have positive developments both academically and socially in the short and long term. However, teaching these skills in a classroom or at home in an academic, abstract way isn’t shown to work to help your child integrate them into their lives. “You need to use stories for social emotional learning because it’s how a child can see another person’s point of view,” says Dr. Cindy Hovington, a neurologist who created Curious Neuron, a community for parents who want to learn more SEL tools, and co- founder of Wondergrade, an app that supports SEL in young children. She says empathy is much easier to convey in a story rather than a lesson because of the back and forth aspect of dialogue and character. “Someone else in the story has a consequence. Through a narrative, the child will understand both sides, how a certain event or action made a character feel and how it made the other person in the story feel,” she says. When it happens to someone else, a child can see it play out without the heightened emotion of being involved, and the empathy piece is easier to identify. The narratives are the magic of The Imagine Neighborhood. They have tapped into the problems of little kids in such a way that addresses many common issues kids face without being too overt, which would cause many nine-year-olds to roll their eyes and beg for Daft Punk. Mia Doces is the vice president of the Committee for Children. Doces says they have designed this balance of story and lesson very carefully. She explains, “Every episode has wild situations, very unique characters, and humor that ranges from slapstick to cultural references to your basic fart joke — all of which keep listeners hooked to the story. But our writers make sure that no matter how crazy things appear on the surface, the story is rooted in universal human experiences and the everyday social-emotional skills we use to navigate our emotions and cope with challenges.” Some episodes that resonated with my carpool, myself included, have been about big worries, boredom, disappointment, and loss. The parents are in on itThe host of the podcast frequently speaks directly to the parents and asks them to tell the child listeners about a time something happened to them like what is happening in the story. My carpool of sassy, smart kids usually avoids listening to what I have to say, but they actually lean in when Scotty asks me to contribute. Parental participation is also an intentional part of the design. Even if schools are teaching SEL skills, Doces says, “school-based SEL works best when kids are also learning these life skills at home with their families.” According to Hovington, “There is a misconception that SEL learning happens on the playground. SEL skill-building happens with the parent. Practice happens on the playground.” She says the best opportunities to learn new SEL skills are not in times of crisis or when problem solving, but on calm car rides home from school or before bed — the exact times we listen to The Imagine Neighborhood. In the future, Hovington says, “When a child comes back from school with a problem, that’s an opportunity for a parent to recreate or recall the story.” This resonates with audiences of The Imagine Neighborhood. Doces says, “We get letters from parents who tell us they refer to certain characters or use certain SEL-based catchphrases from the show as shorthand to help their kids draw parallels between something that’s happening to them in real time and a tool that a character learned on the show.”I haven’t sent a letter (yet), but I quote the show frequently. SEL is good for all of usTurns out, The Imagine Neighborhood, and the skills it teaches isn’t only for kids. SEL wasn’t taught in schools when most of us were kids and Doces says, “when adults listen along with the children, they’re also picking up the SEL techniques we’re sharing, and learning positive phrasing and other tools to empower them to have these family discussions in impactful ways.” Since the kids do have SEL in school, these stories provide a good segue for the students to become the teacher, and to tell us how they talk about their feelings. Parents can use the shared SEL language from curriculums and narratives like The Imagine Neighborhood as a vehicle to foster better communication in the family. Doces says parents don’t have to be masters of SEL, but “when they help children name and process their feelings, and acknowledge and support children’s positive behaviors, they’re teaching their family SEL and building a stronger, kinder future for their families.” We know positive reinforcement is successful and the message of The Imagine Neighborhood is one we can all agree on: be kind to those around you.We were driving a third-grader home from a playdate one day and The Imagine Neighborhood was playing. I heard the friend from the backseat ask, “What is this? Because I like it!” Got another one!