"I’m a math teacher, not a counselor. I’m here to teach math,” one teacher recently told a principal I was working with in an after-school program.

The principal recounted this story while reflecting on an effort to infuse more social-emotional learning into her school.

The concept of having to “add one more thing” to overburdened teachers is nothing new. To overcome this resistance, the education field must not view SEL as a separate curriculum but instead as what it is at its core: a set of skills, competencies, and principles that inform and guide how to interact with students. That is, rather than SEL being what educators teach, it is how they teach.

Here are the steps that districts and school leaders should take to create a system that supports SEL for teachers and students:

  • Prioritize and allocate funding to support SEL professional learning opportunities.
  • Invest in a training program specifically focused on helping educators develop their own social and emotional skills.
  • View classroom and teacher observations from an SEL perspective.
  • Encourage teachers, administrators, and staff to reflect on their interactions with students and how they might further incorporate SEL into their work.
  • Supplement professional development and training opportunities by sharing books about SEL and leading discussions with staff.

Read the full article by Bridget Laird about teaching social and emotional skills from The 74