Learning Objectives: Learn the definition social-emotional competence and list the components Explain ways that SEC fosters academic achievement and reduce challenging behaviors in children Identify five skills that foster SEC Increase awareness of what happens when it is used and when it is not Describe the online program and how it works
Open up conversation to attendees: Tell us what you do, your goals, and what challenges you face. Transition: Well, all of these issues are things that we hear all the time. The good news is that Mariposa is here to help. Our program is based on fostering social-emotional competence in children. Lets take a deeper look into SEC.
So what is Social Emotional Competence? Before we define it, let’s meet Dante –who will help us understand SEC in action Dante (12) is generally kind and outgoing kid. He gets along with his peers and is a hard worker. However, Ms. Snyder would not agree. In Ms. Snyder’s math class, Dante would be described as oppositional defiant, distracted, lazy, a class clown, and a trouble maker. He comes each class unprepared, refuses to complete his class work, completes no homework, and talks while Ms. Snyder is talking. Ms. Snyder has tried everything from being very kind to being very strict. No matter what she does, Dante seems to enjoy disrupting the classroom and trying to get attention for misbehaving in math class. The other children are also becoming exasperated with Dante and have started to shun him. One day, Dante becomes so defiant that he get up, throws his school work across the room, and walks walked out of classroom. Ms. Snyder quickly follows him and says: “I have had enough of this. If you don’t want to learn, I’m not going to force you. You may spend every math class in the principal’s office from now on!” Have any of you met a Dante? Yes, you’re right, we all have: Thousands of teachers across the country are dealing with children like Dante, every single day. At Mariposa, we have dealt with children from all backgrounds, ages, and with many different types of behavioral problems. Transition: How do we address this situation and how could the explosion have been avoided? Three words: Social-Emotional Competence.
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SEC involves the skills we all need to handle ourselves, our relationships, and our work, effectively and ethically. Transition: How can this help you and the children in your setting?
Bottom line: SEC promotes positive behaviors, academic achievement, resilience, and lifelong success. What does that mean? It means that without SEC, children are at risk in today’s society. In fact, Social-Emotional Competence has the ability to reduce negative outcomes associates with violence and behavioral problems in school. Lets consider the facts: School teachers rank behavior problems as the #1 challenge. Bullying is a national epidemic, and violence is at all-time high. In fact, every day, approximately 160,000 students stay home from school because of school based violence (Vail, September 1999). REPEAT: SEC has the ability to reduce negative outcomes associates with violence and bp in school.
There are five groups of skills that together represent SEC. By looking at them, these skills relate to how we get along in world, manage behaviors, make decisions, and how, when we meet an obstacle, we figure out how to move through it. This figure illustrates the 5 groups of skills… Self-awareness: Recognizing and understanding our emotions Social awareness: Developing care and concern for others – being able to read their social cues and understand others perspectives. Responsible Decision Making: not only problem solving, and problem solving skills, but making decisions that are responsible and ethical Relation ship skill: how do we create and establish positive relationships Self-management: managing one’s behaviors All described as skills related to executive functioning, which leads to resilience, lifelong academic success AND: ALL OF THESE SKILLS CAN BE taught and learned Discussion question: In thinking about Dante – which of these competencies was he lacking?
Thank you for your time and we cant wait to see how Mariposa’s PSEC Program can help you and your students.