From Addressing Barriers to Learning,
Vol. 2 (2), Spring, 1997
Lessons Learned
Curriculum Content for Enhancing
Social and Emotional Functioning
With the burgeoning of programs focused on preventing and correcting
social and emotional problems, it helps to have a synthesis of fundamental
areas of competence. W.T. Grant Foundation (in the 1980s) funded a five
year project that brought together a consortium of professionals to
review the best programs and create such a synthesis.* The following is
their list of core social and emotional competence:
Emotional
- identifying and labeling feelings
- expressing feelings
- assessing the intensity of feelings
- managing feelings
- delaying gratification
Cognitive
- self-talk -- conducting an "inner dialogue" as a way to cope with
a topic or challenge or reinforce one's own behavior
- reading and interpreting social cues -- for example, recognizing
social influences on behavior and seeing oneself in the perspective
of the larger community
- using steps for problem-solving and decision-making -- for instance,
controlling impulses, setting goals, identifying alternative actions,
anticipating consequences
- understanding the perspectives of others
- understanding behavioral norms (what is and is not acceptable
behavior)
- a positive attitude toward life
- self-awareness -- for example, developing realistic expectations
about oneself
Behavioral
- nonverbal -- communicating through eye contact, facial
expressiveness, tone of voice, gestures, etc.
- verbal -- making clear requests, responding effectively to
criticism, resisting negative influences, listening to others,
helping others, participating in positive peer groups
The W. T. Grant consortium list is designed with prevention in mind. It
can be compared and contrasted with frameworks suggested for training
children manifesting behavior problems. Below is the set of skills
prescribed by M.L. Bloomquist (1996) in Skills training for children
with behavioral disorders. After stressing the importance of
(a) increased parental involvement, (b) greater use of positive
reinforcement, and (c) enhanced positive family interaction skills,
Bloomquist details the following as areas parents should focus on
with their children.
- compliance (listening and obeying adults' directives)
- following rules (adhering to formal rules)
- social behavior skills (making and keeping friends)
- social and general problem-solving skills (stopping and
thinking before working on a problem, thinking and doing in a
step-by-step manner)
- coping with anger (stopping outbursts)
- self-directed academic behavior skills (organizing work,
budgeting time, self-monitoring and staying on task, using study
skills)
- understanding and expressing feelings (increasing one's
"feelings vocabulary," observing and practicing awareness and
expression of feelings
- thinking helpful thoughts (identifying
one's negative thoughts, understanding how they influence one's
emotions, strategies to change negative thoughts in order to
experience more positive emotions)
- self-esteem (coming to evaluate oneself positively as a result
of developing skills, experiencing positive feedback, and positive
family interactions)
With increasing interest in facilitating social and emotional development
has come new opportunities for collaboration. A prominent example is the
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
established by the Yale Child Study Center in 1994. CASEL's mission is to
promote social and emotional learning as an integral part of education in
schools around the world. Those interested in this work can contact Roger
Weissberg, Executive Director, Dept. of Psychology, University of
Illinois at Chicago, 1007 W. Harrison St., Chicago, IL 60607-7137.
Ph. (312) 413-1008.
*W.T. Grant Consortium on the School-Based Promotion of Social Competence
(1992). Drug and alcohol prevention curriculum. In J.D. Hawkins, et al.
(Eds), Communities that care. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
