Strengthening social and emotional education as a core curricular area across the EU : a review of the international evidence

Abstract

Many children and young people in contemporary Europe are unfortunately coming to school carrying heavy social and emotional burdens, which are, of course, unfavourable to their learning and psychological wellbeing. Amongst the many challenges they may face that affect their education are: poverty and social inequality, bullying and cyberbullying, family conflict, consumerism, media exploitation and technological addiction, academic pressure and stress, loneliness and social isolation, migration, human trafficking, mobility, and changing family and community structures. Policymakers and educators across the world are increasingly coalescing around a specific approach to address these many challenges, namely, social and emotional education (SEE). SEE is intended for children to develop competences in both self-awareness and self-management, and to raise social awareness and improve the quality of their relationships. These competences combine to enhance their ability to understand themselves and others, to express and regulate their emotions, to develop healthy and caring relationships, to empathise and collaborate with others, to resolve conflict constructively, to enable them to make good, responsible and ethical decisions, and to overcome difficulties in social and academic tasks. Social and emotional education is something that can be offered by schools to all children, including those affected by the additional challenges arising from various forms of disadvantage. There is mounting evidence that social and emotional education is also related to positive academic attitudes and higher academic achievement, to increased prosocial behaviour, and to a decrease in anti-social behaviour, anxiety, depression and suicide. More broadly, it contributes to harmonious relationships, to social cohesion and inclusion in communities, to positive attitudes towards individual and cultural diversity, and to equity and social justice. In light of this, the objective of this report is to make recommendations — on the basis of international research, EU policy, and current practices in Member States — for the integration of social and emotional education as a core component of curricula across the EU. More specifically, the report seeks to: • Define and identify the key competences within social and emotional education; • Review the literature to assess the effectiveness of SEE across the school years and to identify key conditions for its effective integration into curricula; • Discuss how the universal provision of SEE may accommodate children and young people from different socio-economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds; • Explore how SEE is integrated into the school curricula of Member States, and to identify examples of existing good practice from several countries; • Make recommendations at EU, national and school levels, for the effective, sustainable and feasible inclusion of SEE as a core feature of regular school curricula across the EU.