One of the hottest topics in recent years, driven by the National Common Core Curriculum (BNCC), which was implemented in 2018, is social-emotional skills.

It seems like a new topic, but in reality it is simply a topic that has been rediscovered and reframed in light of new educational technologies, since many of these competencies are already present in the works of various renowned scholars (albeit not under this specific name), ranging from Johann Pestalozzi to Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, David Ausubel, Henri Wallon, and many others, who address the topic of affectivity and its implications for learning from different perspectives.

What the works of these renowned scholars have in common is the theoretical foundation of social-emotional competencies, which can be briefly defined as a set of skills we develop to cope with the emotions that arise within us.

These skills are related to the development of the brain’s executive functions, which are directly linked to the interaction between the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. Although, at first glance, executive functions may seem devoid of emotion, in reality they are all integrated with and dependent on emotions.

Thus, functions such as attention, working memory, perception, planning, anticipation, control, decision-making, flexibility, execution, ideation, and metacognition are all necessarily dependent on emotions and their related aspects, such as motivation and empathy.

That being the case, although extremely important, social-emotional competencies are just one of the sets of competencies considered essential for education, as already described in the BNCC itself. However, in my opinion, they constitute the necessary—and fundamental—foundation for effective, high-quality education. It is no wonder that there has been such an emphasis on social-emotional skills over the past decade, so much so that they are directly or indirectly embedded in the BNCC’s General Competencies.

What are social-emotional skills?

In an excellent report produced by the Ayrton Senna Institute, seventeen competencies were categorized and described, organized into five broad competency areas. They are broken down as follows:

• Self-Management
  • Determination
  • Organization
  • Focus
  • Persistence
  • Liability
• Engagement with Others
  • Social Initiative
  • Assertiveness
  • Enthusiasm
• Kindness
  • Empathy
  • Respect
  • Trust
• Emotional Resilience
  • Stress tolerance
  • Self-confidence
  • Frustration tolerance
• Openness to the New
  • A desire to learn
  • Creative Imagination
  • Artistic interest

How can social-emotional skills be applied in school?

I always emphasize that no program can be successfully implemented in a school without proper planning that involves the entire school community and the active engagement of its members. Nor do I see success without the active participation of families.

Generally speaking, as a former school administrator, I can say that without an effective Pedagogical Policy—one that can be applied in school practice—any isolated attempt to implement social-emotional skills will yield only isolated results. The material referenced in link No. 6 of this article’s references can assist in this process, particularly in the section titled “How to Work in the Classroom?”

Another important point to emphasize concerns teacher preparation and training. This is vital for any teaching practice based on social-emotional skills to be successful. We cannot assume that teachers know what these skills are, much less how to work with them. Therefore, it is up to the pedagogical leadership and/or the education system as a whole to provide such training so that the work can be effective.

That said, we might ask: What are the recommended approaches for effectively applying social-emotional skills in schools? Here are a few suggestions.

- Foster a welcoming school environment by building connections within the school community and promoting healthy values and positive principles. This is achieved through dialogue and by listening to teachers and the school as a whole, thereby supporting students’ social development.

In this regard, the teacher’s role in using empathy and emotional sensitivity to foster a healthy and safe environment where students can express themselves as active and constructive participants in their own learning is essential.

- Use active teaching methods aligned with social-emotional competencies, in which teachers adapt their teaching and learning approaches (once again, this requires training) and employ methods and ideas that foster social-emotional competencies in students.

In this regard, I recommend reading the material from the Ayrton Senna Institute, cited in reference no. 3 of this article. At the end of the section titled “What Are Social-Emotional Skills,” it offers ideas for developing them.

It is a good starting point for thinking about skills in a practical way, as is the use of games, especially those based on ICT (Information and Communication Technologies).

- Plan your lessons based on social-emotional skills, incorporating activities that develop those skills alongside the subject matter to be taught, in a sort of cross-curricular approach.

Ideally, these activities should be conducted in groups, which provide an effective way for students to explore issues and discuss solutions, as in the models I present in my article in the Neurodidática column, available in reference no. 9 of this article.

Such activities, therefore, should move away from traditional teaching methods, and it is necessary for them to be implemented in all school subjects, especially in middle school and high school, where subjects are taught by different teachers.

In Elementary School, where the same teacher instructs various subjects, this need still exists, given the potential for collaboration between the homeroom teacher and teachers of subjects such as physical education, arts, foreign languages, and music. Of course, if the school is already using a different instructional system—one not based on subjects and/or grade levels—so much the better. But this is still rare in our current educational systems.

- Start by working on the most essential social-emotional skills, which clearly requires an assessment of the school's situation with regard to the most common problems.

For example, if bullying is a major problem at your school, you may choose to prioritize the development of empathy, assertiveness, social initiative, responsibility, self-control, and respect, in addition to taking specific steps to combat the passivity typical of bystanders to bullying incidents—especially those who turn them into a macabre form of “spectacle.”

In any case, it is always necessary to set priorities so that the selected competencies can more effectively achieve the objectives outlined in the assessment, thereby yielding more effective positive results.

Does developing social-emotional skills really work?

There are already quite substantial reports of results stemming from work on social-emotional skills in schools. An interesting (and lengthy) resource on this topic discusses various national and international experiences, as well as research findings, and can be found in reference No. 8 of this article. In general, we can summarize the results as follows, noting that students with more highly developed social-emotional skills tend to:

• To achieve better overall academic performance
• Being more open to new experiences, which enhances learning
• To achieve greater success in school and beyond, especially for those who are economically vulnerable
• Have more self-confidence to overcome your own challenges
• They interact more with adults and become capable of engaging in conversation

Considerations

As we study social-emotional skills and their potential applications in schools, it becomes clear that it is no wonder they are currently in vogue, given the wide range of mental health issues and lack of hope for the future affecting the entire school community—not just students—which have been greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These problems have been present in the school and its community for quite some time, and it is becoming increasingly urgent to address and tackle them, with a view toward the “Holistic Education” advocated by the BNCC. The primary goal is to prepare these students to be effective, productive, and engaged citizens in their society. Ultimately, it is about preparing them for life.

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