Learning for Life: The Development of Socio-Emotional Skills and the Role of Teachers (Summary)
Date
Jul 2020
Children and youth need to develop socio-emotional skills to achieve personal and professional success in the 21st century. For this reason, education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean have implemented policies and programs to develop the socio-emotional skills of their students. This brochure presents a summary of the technical note “Learning for Life: The Development of Socio-Emotional Skills and the Role of Teachers, which analyzes the inclusion of socio-emotional skills in 12 education systems in the region and the training that teachers receive to develop these skills in their students.
While progress has been made, we highlight four challenges to develop socio-emotional skills in the region: (i) clearly defining in the learning standards what socio-emotional skills should be developed in each education system and the expected levels of achievement; (ii) developing measurements that allow establishing a diagnosis of students' socio-emotional skills and monitoring their progress; (iii) establishing guidelines and strategies to support the education community in implementing learning standards and developing socio-emotional skills in schools; and (iv) supporting teachers in developing their socio-emotional skills and the pedagogical practices to develop them in their students, through pre-service and in-service training.
In the face of constant social and technological change, the development of socio-emotional skills acquires even greater relevance, and education systems must continue to make efforts to develop these skills in all children and youth in the region.
While progress has been made, we highlight four challenges to develop socio-emotional skills in the region: (i) clearly defining in the learning standards what socio-emotional skills should be developed in each education system and the expected levels of achievement; (ii) developing measurements that allow establishing a diagnosis of students' socio-emotional skills and monitoring their progress; (iii) establishing guidelines and strategies to support the education community in implementing learning standards and developing socio-emotional skills in schools; and (iv) supporting teachers in developing their socio-emotional skills and the pedagogical practices to develop them in their students, through pre-service and in-service training.
In the face of constant social and technological change, the development of socio-emotional skills acquires even greater relevance, and education systems must continue to make efforts to develop these skills in all children and youth in the region.
