Giving Compass' Take:

• Fusion 2018 aims to understand how social-emotional wellbeing can help advance personalized learning instruction by interviewing teachers who are well-versed in the learning style. 

• How will a focus on social-emotional wellbeing help foster classroom community and trust? 

• Read about how to incorporate social-emotional learning in literacy instruction. 

.As we’ve already mentioned, personalized learning should not and cannot be purely centered on technology. At Fusion 2018, we want to bridge the gap between theory and practice. This means not simply examining technology’s role in education, but exploring what learning sciences, community development and social-emotional research can teach us about the holistic picture of personalized learning.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a particularly challenging aspect of any educational plan, as it deals with the kind of character traits that are most difficult to monitor and measure in students—social awareness, self-efficacy, stress management, decision making, interpersonal behavior, and relationship building.

It is for this very reason that SEL hasn’t traditionally played a prominent role in curriculum design.  Over the past year, we’ve collected dozens of stories from educators and school leaders around the country working to implement personalized learning that truly emphasizes social-emotional wellbeing.

Jon Hanover, founder and executive director of Roots Elementary School, discovered, the physical learning environment is only one small part of the equation. In an effort “to provide every learner with the right content, at the right time, in the right way—regardless of grade level or arbitrary assignment to a classroom,” Hanover explains, “we knew we needed an innovative approach to both academic instruction and social-emotional development if we were to truly break the cycle of poverty and expand opportunity for all of our children.”

Engaging a student population that faces economic struggles, cultural and linguistic barriers, community violence, natural disasters, or any other kind of trauma-inducing experience puts social-emotional well-being front and center in the learning process. Building community to overcome hardship is a key factor in nurturing emotional health.

Meeting the needs of the whole learner requires a close examination of the full spectrum of human emotion and a balanced curriculum that effectively integrates both academic and non-academic skills.

Read the full article about social-emotional learning by Sam Peterson at EdSurge