Host & Guests
Host: Lucas Held, Director of Communications, The Wallace Foundation
Stephanie Jones, Gerald S. Lesser Professor in Early Childhood Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Thelma Ramirez, Research Associate, EASEL Lab, Harvard Graduate School of Education
We know from two to three decades of research that if we spend time explicitly, even if it's short periods of time building children's SEL skills, we get a boost to their SEL skills, their wellbeing, their mental health, and their academic skills. So the time even small is worth it.
— Stephanie Jones
About the Series
The field of social and emotional learning (SEL) is rapidly expanding as educators sharpen their focus on helping children build skills beyond academic knowledge. School climate initiatives, anti-bullying work, positive behavior supports and other SEL efforts are now steering programs in schools and out-of-school time (OST) settings across the country. Building children's SEL skills has taken on even more urgency in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new podcast series from The Wallace Foundation looks at the history of SEL, its practice, some recent developments and its future. The three episodes feature the authors of an updated guide Navigating Social and Emotional Learning from the Inside Out, Looking Inside and Across 33 leading SEL Programs: A Practical Resource for Schools and OST Providers; Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition (Preschool and Elementary Focus). This episode discusses the history of SEL, how the field has evolved and its place in the classroom today.
