Social-Emotional Learning Day Highlights Importance of Focusing on Student Wellbeing

On March 8, 2024, Childhood Education International recognizes and celebrates International Social-Emotional Learning Day.

What is Social-Emotional Learning?

Social-emotional learning (SEL) helps children and adults develop the skills they need for life. SEL promotes the development of lifelong skills, attitudes, and behaviors that enable people to identify and manage emotions, regulate behavior and make responsible decisions, build and maintain healthy relationships, set and achieve individual and collective goals, express empathy and tolerance, identify and solve problems, and more. 

Why is SEL Important?

SEL supports success in many key areas of development. As children gain skills through SEL, their capacity for academic engagement and success increases. SEL also strengthens students’ sense of belonging in school, improves mental health outcomes, and reduces behavioral issues such as bullying and violence in schools. 

Our Work

At CE International, we focus on the holistic development and wellbeing of children and youth around the world, and SEL is an important component of our commitment to build bright futures for all children. We’re working with partners in various countries around the world to support their work to strengthen SEL skills and provide social-emotional growth opportunities in schools.

SEL in Action

This Social-Emotional Learning Day, we are excited to share videos from some of the educators working with us in Serbia and Ukraine.

Mary is a fourth-year student of Kolomyia Pedagogical College in Ukraine, majoring in elementary education and English. She attended a CE International course of English language teaching methods and grew interested in the topic of SEL. She is currently doing her pre-degree internship and is incorporating SEL into her daily teaching. Hear from Mary about why she believes SEL is important:

Jelena Basta is a Serbian language teacher at Ivan Goran Kovačić Elementary School in Serbia. She believes it is important to be aware of the changes pre-teens and teens experience as they grow so that educators can support them through difficult times of change. Hear more from Jelena:

Danijela Petkovic Stepojevac is an educator in Serbia. In honor of SEL Day, Danijela shared a beautiful set of verses about the importance of supporting children’s as a way to enable them to flourish:

Julia Bogachenko is a student of Kolomyia Pedagogical College in Ukraine. She took one of CE International’s SEL courses on English language teaching methods. In this video, she shares her learnings and why SEL is important to her:

Svitlana Smolina is a teacher educator at T. H. Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Colehium” in Ukraine. She talks about the importance of SEL during war and the value in building a peaceful future:

Jelena Svilar Pavković is a teacher at an elementary school in Serbia. She has noticed that focusing on SEL has enabled teachers and children to grow in mutual connection and communication:

Jelena Vukadinovic is is a teacher at the elementary school Jovan Jovanović Zmaj in Serbia. She discusses the importance of SEL in created a relaxed atmosphere and happy, satisfied students:

Mirjana Valaško works at Radoje Domanovic Elementary School in Serbia. She has been using SEL concepts to support her first grade students:

Snezana Bojović Turija is a teacher at Veljko Dugošević Elementary School in Serbia. She believes in the importance of SEL to support children as they navigate their emotions in a changing world:

Social-emotional learning is important to many teachers. A group of educators in Serbia joined together to make this video sharing the importance of SEL. Words they use include “cooperation, “love,” “joy,” and “safety,” among many others:

We extend our gratitude to these educators for sharing their experiences and perspectives with us in honor of Social-Emotional Learning Day.

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