The Fabric of Equitable Learning and Cognitive Growth: SEL is the Missing Thread

Andrew Gallagher, Senior Director - Social Emotional Learning at NYC Department of Education

Andrew Gallagher, Senior Director - Social Emotional Learning at NYC Department of Education

The benefits of social and emotional learning (SEL) transcend its proliferation in response to COVID-19 disruptions. While the pandemic's legacy continues to underscore the importance of student well-being, a more comprehensive approach is necessary to move beyond a purely reactive stance to one that dismantles the artificial silos isolating SEL from core instruction. During students' critical neurodevelopmental stages, SEL is the cornerstone of fostering the enduring competencies necessary for navigating increasingly complex social and academic environments, thus ensuring equitable student outcomes and long-term success.

Pre-packaged SEL programs and curricula were a popular post-pandemic response, in large part because many purported to facilitate seamless integration of SEL into schools' equity-driven practices. However, their prevailing dominance as standalone activities has inadvertently facilitated the separation of students' social experiences from their broader academic foundation. Primarily operating on the periphery of students' core instructional experiences, such programs perpetuate the SEL/academic divide, creating cultural and neurological barriers that hinder students' development of skills necessary for navigating the intricacies of social dynamics, strengthening self- and collective efficacy, and activating cultural competencies.

SEL is often characterized by activities such as yoga, guided meditation, calming corners, Mindful Mondays, Wellness Wednesdays, and the Mood Meter, to name a few. However, these are typically employed using a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach targeting specific skills or traits such as emotional regulation, social etiquette, or conflict resolution. This may inadvertently perpetuate culturally biased mindsets that privilege prevailing cultural norms, thus marginalizing diverse social and emotional expressions that diverge from many students' experiences. Additionally, such activities inadequately leverage students' existing strengths or address their individual needs; some students already excel in identifying emotions yet struggle with time management, while others might grapple with decision-making but thrive in collaborative settings that develop relationship skills.

While standalone SEL programs can enrich students’ educational experiences and contribute to positive school environments, overdependence on their efficacy risks compartmentalizing social-emotional learning, limiting its contribution to long-term cognitive health and sustained academic success. It's important to clarify: these programs can be valuable and are not inherently wrong or invalid; however, from neurodevelopmental and cultural perspectives, restricting social-emotional learning to specific times of the day, isolated portions of lessons, or delivery by a limited number of trained individuals can, in turn, diminish SEL’s potential impact and prioritize convenience over authenticity.

Furthermore, the sequestered timing of such activities risks delaying the acquisition of essential skills because students will be required to wait for the next designated SEL lesson, segment, or session to practice and apply their learning. The additional factor of ongoing fiscal uncertainty jeopardizing schools’ ability to maintain standalone SEL programs cannot be overlooked and should prompt schools to explore viable and sustainable alternatives.

In recognizing the limitations of standalone practices, many schools are reevaluating their SEL programming; however, simply inserting or juxtaposing these activities into discrete periods of instruction further fragments and isolates SEL from academic domains, encroaches upon valuable instructional time, exacerbates its compartmentalization, and prioritizes short-term gains over fostering long-term, sustainable student development. Semantics are important, and the seemingly straightforward act of ‘integrating’ or ‘embedding'’ SEL neglects the complexities of child and adolescent brain science, especially related to the influence of students’ cultural contexts on their cognitive development and academic potential.

In my role within the nation's largest school system, I advocate for a paradigm shift in how we view and approach social and emotional learning: one that is informed by the growing body of research underscoring the reciprocal relationship between neural development and sociocultural influences. Neuroscientific studies highlight the extended development of the prefrontal cortex, emphasizing the need to simultaneously nurture academic and social-emotional competencies for optimal cognitive growth. Neural connections, forged through recurring activities that are culturally and linguistically relevant, will be strengthened over time (sprouting). Conversely, infrequent and fragmented engagement that overlooks students' cultural and linguistic diversity will result in the weakening and eventual elimination of these connections (pruning). While well-intentioned, reliance on standalone SEL activities may pose limitations in reinforcing the neural pathways, inadvertently contributing to the unwanted pruning process during the brain's maturation. As such, I argue that SEL demands a permanent residence within the academic core.

Educators can significantly influence prefrontal cortex development by optimizing SEL within culturally responsive, core instructional practices. By exposing students to recurrent activities that synergize academics and social-emotional well-being, validate cultural identities, and foster affirming environments, we can create affirming learning environments in which personal biases are assuaged and all student’s potential can be more equitably realized; in doing so, we shift from a deficit model to one that is asset-based. This reinforces and strengthens neural pathways, countering the dominance of the amygdala and hippocampus. Subsequently, students experience enhanced brain health, improved memory and focus, expanded capacity for learning, and an increased ability to adapt to evolving learning environments.

Language, culture, and identity are key components of academic, social, and emotional success.’

Core instructional strategies, agnostic of grade or content, offer tangible entry points for weaving SEL: analyzing the emotions and intentions of literary characters or historical figures (social awareness), participating in debates and group discussions (relationship skills), identifying and setting goals (self-management), acting on and providing feedback (responsible decision-making), and exploring personal narratives through culturally relevant primary sources (self-awareness). Further, when educators delve deeper into grade and content-specific needs and consistently apply these strategies, they nurture the neural pathways, cultivating well-rounded learners primed for diverse challenges.

Language, culture, and identity are key components of academic, social, and emotional success. As such, we must move above and beyond standardized, standalone SEL programs to a more nuanced approach that weaves SEL into the fabric of core academic experiences. Moving from a deficit model that overlooks students' strengths to an asset-based approach that values their unique social and emotional skills is particularly important for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who bring a wealth of untapped potential.

Weaving SEL into core instruction ignites a transformational shift, establishing a mutually reinforcing relationship between the two. No longer siloed concepts, they forge a potent synergy that dismantles the opportunity gap and empowers students to become the architects of not just their academic success but of their aspirations, identities, and untapped potential.

Author Bio –

Andrew Gallager is a senior director with the NYC Public Schools, the nation’s largest school district. He is currently overseeing the work of multiple schools and districts related to the intersectionalities of social, emotional, and academic learning.