Emotional literacy: a whole school approach

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Emotional literacy a whole school approach

• Connect E.L. with the central concerns of
  education
• Outline kind of holistic approaches we need to
  promote E.L.

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Objectives to explore

• Context of increased interest in EL
• Key areas of education that relate to it
• Key competences
• Rationale for a whole school approach
• Successful LEAs

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Overlapping terms
literacy
well being
intelligence
learning
mental health
competence
emotional
behaviour
social
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Use whatever terms...

• Work
• Are appropriate
• Make sense
• Bring people together

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Some key terms that work currently
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Emotional literacy is

• The ability to understand ourselves and other
  people, and in particular to be aware of,
  understand, and use information about the
  emotional states of ourselves and others with
  skill and competence.
• It includes the ability to understand, express
  and manage our own emotions, and respond to the
  emotions of others, in ways that are helpful
  others and to ourselves.

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Emotional and social wellbeing

• Broad concern with whole person
• Concern with underlying determinants
• Focus on context and environment

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Growth of research evidence in education
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Changes in Education

• Realisation that effective learning and pursuit
  of standards demands EL too
• Development of effective programmes of emotional
  and social competence/ literacy
• Inclusion demands EL
• Growth in interest in managing behaviour through
  positive approaches and contextual determinants
• Healthy schools movement - emotional and social
  at centre

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Gardners intelligences include

• Logical
• Spacial
• Verbal
• Kinaesthetic
• Intra-personal (understanding self)
• Inter-personal (understanding others)

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Golemans work on impact of emotional
intelligence on...

• Work
• Education
• Personal life

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Emotional and social competence missing key to
many educational problems, e.g.

• Learning difficulties
• Behaviour problems
• Exclusion and disaffection
• Teacher retention

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Some emotions block learning

• Cannot think straight e.g. when angry
• Chronic emotional problems make learning
  difficult
• Low self esteem makes us feel incompetent
• Lack of attachment to others makes it hard to
  take direction

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Some emotions aid learning

• Pupils learn better with self esteem, sense of
  optimism
• Teachers more effective when feel respected

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Links between emotions and learning

• Need to feel relaxed, calm safe to use whole
  brain approaches to learning
• Whole brain approach based in the emotional
  centre of the brain
• Need to feel safe to use a range of learning
  styles

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Emotions are essential for rationality we need
them to

• Direct attention to what matters
• Prioritise
• Plan
• Anticipate our actions and those of others
• Determine value

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Emotional and social competences

• that are essential to educational and personal
  success

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Self understanding and belief

• Accurate self concept
• Self esteem
• Optimism
• Resilience
• Awareness of own power
• Ability to change and grow

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Self control

• Thinking clearly and rationally
• Managing the emotions
• Impulse control
• Self motivation
• Deferring gratification
• Taking responsibility for own actions

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Emotional awareness and expression

• Developing emotional complexity through language
• Impact of emotions on the body
• Impact of self on others
• Awareness of emotion/ feeling deeply
• Expressing self, through language and action
• Expressing -ve e.g. fear, guilt, anger
• Expressing ve e.g. happiness, having fun, going
  with the flow

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Social competence includes.

• Communicating effectively
• Making relationships
• Empathy
• Genuineness/ authenticity
• Respect for others
• Sociability/ reciprocity
• Balancing needs of self and others

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Social competence also includes...

• Anger management
• Negotiation
• Co-operation
• Conflict resolution
• Mediation
• Active listening
• Tolerating/ celebrating difference

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A whole school approach
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Whole school/ holistic approach also called.
comprehensive
universal
environmental
health promoting school
healthy school
safe school
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Holistic e.g. whole school, approach means

• Focus on organisation not individual
• Includes all aspects, not just curriculum
• Focus on environmental causes, not outcomes e.g.
  behaviour
• Seeing the school in its community
• Involving all parties at all levels
• Coordination, congruence between the parts
• Teamwork, multi professional working

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Who/ what is emotional and social education for?

• Traditional view
• Pupils
• Special needs
• Those with problems
• Focus on behaviour change
• EL worked on for its own sake only

• Whole school
• And teachers
• And mainstream
• All of us
• Focus on emotional growth and self empowerment
• EL linked with mainstream learning

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Why use whole school approach?

• All of us need EL links with wellbeing and
  effective learning for all
• Demonstrably more effective in producing change
• Less stigmatising for those with problems
• Causes of problems often environmental anyway
• Emotional and social problems are extremely
  widespread and on a continuum
• Processes which help some shown to help all
• Herd immunity/ critical mass to help those with
  problems

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Whole school approach to special needs

• Same strategies work for all pupils - and promote
  wellbeing and learning of all and prevent
  problems
• Same teaching programmes work, if level and
  amount of input is adjusted
• Need early identification and help for all
• Support teachers to keep students in mainstream
  schools where possible
• Withdrawal units and rest of school should use
  same clear, warm strategies

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Whole school approach produces higher levels of...

• Learning
• Attendance
• Results e.g.examinations
• Pupil and teacher effectiveness
• Morale of teachers and pupils
• Self esteem
• Sociable behaviour

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Some key areas for a whole school approach
Management Policies
Relationships Communication
Curriculum Methods
Community Parents Agencies
Physical environment
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4 key features

• Relationships
• Participation
• Autonomy
• Clarity

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Relationships based on

• Social competence
• Empathy
• Respect
• Genuineness
• Listening the listening school?

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Participation means

• Bottom up approach
• Open and transparent
• Consultation and involvement
• Shared goals, values, power
• Whole ethnic and social mix
• Slower and difficult pupils

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Clarity means having clear and positive.

• Boundaries
• Structures
• Rules
• Roles
• Expectations

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Autonomy means...

• Self determination
• Independence
• Having control
• Personal responsibility
• Independent thinking
• Critical awareness

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Need a balance

• Relationships
• Participation
• Clarity
• Autonomy

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Unbalanced.

• Clarity only cold, rigid environment
• Relationships only laissez faire
• Relationships clarity participation
  brainwashing

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Effective programmes of teaching and learning

• High profile
• Support at the top
• Whole school experience
• Involve all subjects and all pupils
• Explicit and planned
• Spiral, developmental and long term
• Start early

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An effective curriculum for EL

• Integrated
• Planned
• Developmental
• Active methods
• Teaches skills as well as attitudes and knowledge
• Generalises to real life
• Culturally appropriate

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Working with parents to promote EL

• Parents welcome and comfortable
• School listens actively to parents interests and
  concerns
• Parents involved in school life, decision making,
  learning
• School and home support one another

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DFES project

• What works in developing emotional and social
  competency in children and young people?
• Review of evidence
• Case studies of best practice in 5 successful
  LEAs

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Successful links and locations for this work in
LEAs

• Behaviour support teams
• National Healthy School Standard
• CAMHS

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Successful LEAs.

• High priority
• Holistic approaches
• Multiprofessional teams
• Inclusive framework
• Explicit teaching programmes
• Staff development