The Changing Climate for Social-Emotional Learning

Giving teachers a chance to use their expertise can have stellar results

By Rick Hess

I spent a decent chunk of 2019 writing about social and emotional learning (SEL): both endorsing the idea that schools need to take SEL far more seriously and examining whether advocates are going to push a healthy intuition into an inept, ideological ditch. I commissioned various papers and hosted many discussions on all this. At the year’s final dinner, Johns Hopkins University’s inimitable Hunter Gehlbach sought common ground in the value-laden questions that arise when we get deep into the heart of SEL. As a razor-sharp social psychologist and former high school teacher, Hunter always leaves me interested in hearing more. So, I asked him if he’d jot down a few thoughts about what he had in mind. He was kind enough to do so, with the assistance of Hopkins doctoral student Claire Chuter. Anyway, I thought the result, on “The changing climate for SEL” was well worth sharing. Here’s what they had to say: