Social, emotional, and behavioral health (SEBH) learning and growth is part of typical childhood and adolescent development. Missing opportunities to learn and practice these skills can contribute to interfering behavior in the classroom. These gaps can be larger for students who have experienced restricted educational access and/or opportunity due to trauma, economic hardship, foster care placement, and/or discrimination (based on race, disability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, and so forth). It is also likely the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on mental health, wellness, and learning of SEBH skills for many children and youth. When teachers plan their instruction and classroom practices to include teaching of SEBH skills, they can address these learning gaps and prevent most student interfering behavior.
Learning is inherently social and emotional…. Emotions and relationships can either motivate students to engage in learning, or, if unmanaged, interfere with attention, memory, and positive behaviors.74
School staff and leaders can and should operate from the understanding that:
- SEBH skills are learned, and thus can be taught – just like any other skill
- All students need SEBH teaching and learning for positive postsecondary outcomes,
- Some students also experience a greater need for SEBH teaching and learning compared to their peers
Section 3 describes practices for school leaders and staff to establish a culture of belonging for all at the classroom level, and strategies for educators to create organized and relational learning spaces that support all students to learn SEBH skills that make interfering behavior unnecessary.
74 OSPI (2024). Washington SEL implementation brief: For educators (p. 1).