A definition of SEL - use the CASEL framework to present key components of SEL and explain why SEL is important. You must explain what CASEL is too.

Case study analysis - AN EXAMPLE 

Introduction to the analytic commentary (up to 300 words): this should include:

A definition of SEL - use the CASEL framework to present key components of SEL and explain why SEL is important.  You must explain what CASEL is too.

Activity: Attempt to write a brief plan of what you will include in the introductio

What resources can I use to provide a definition of SEL and the CASEL framework?

For a definition of SELT and CASEL, as a starting point, you can use a combination of:

• the key textbooks by Humphrey, 2013 (Chapter 1) and Durlak et al., 2016 (Chapter 1). Both textbooks can be found in the resource list and under the Discover material of Week 1 as well as in the Resource list.
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2020) CASEL’s SEL framework: What Is the CASEL Framework? A framework creates a foundation for applying evidence-based SEL strategies to your community. Available at: https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/.

 (Accessed:  add date).

• van Poortvliet, M., Clarke, A., Gross, J. (2019). Improving social and emotional learning in primary schools: Guidance report. Education Endowment Foundation. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/SEL/EEF_Social_and_Emotional_Learning.pdf. (Accessed:  add date).

Case study 1

Nathan is 3, and has been attending his local nursery class for the last three months. He is an active child, and seems keen to please those adults who are working with him. Yet his enthusiasm often boils over into frustration and tears, if he begins something that he cannot immediately grasp. He is unable to concentrate on any activity for periods of time, even sitting in front of his favourite video at the end of the day. He is easily distracted and is often very aggressive with other children, who tend to avoid him if possible. Nathan has been asked to leave a previous child-minder, who found Nathan too demanding and his behaviour extremely difficult to deal with. She reported that he had on occasions bitten and hit the other children that she was looking after, and that he expressed no remorse or understanding of what he had done. This behaviour has also been observed within the nursery. Nathan’s parents have expressed their concerns to the nursery about his behaviour, saying that they do not know what to do. They do not understand why he is behaving in this way, as his older sister’s behaviour is fine and they have brought them up in the same way.

• Summarise the case study for the reader (about 50 words)

Activity: Attempt to summarise the case study

Example of a summary of the Nathan’s case study example:

Nathan is an enthusiastic, impulsive and highly active toddler. His activity levels seem to get in the way of his learning as he cannot sit still for sufficient amounts of time working on an activity and perhaps is not making the most of the educational experience. Furthermore, his overactivity and emotional outbursts are affecting his relationships with his peers and important adults in his life, for instance, his childminders and parents, who seem to find it difficult to support him. A definition of SEL - use the CASEL framework to present key components of SEL and explain why SEL is important. You must explain what CASEL is too.

• Use the CASEL framework of SEL to comment analytically on the child’s social and emotional learning profile (suggested word count: up to 300 - 400 words):
• The analysis of your commentary should focus on identifying some of the social and emotional skills presented in the CASEL framework that you think the child should be supported to develop. Once you identify these skills, find at least one reference to explain how the development of these skills is linked to positive outcomes in children and/or young people.

 

Activity: Make a list of the child’s behaviours and consider whether they reflect any of the SEL areas in CASEL, for instance:

• Frustration and tears – Self- management (e.g., emotion regulation)/self-awareness
• Aggressive - Self- management (e.g., emotion regulation)/social awareness/self-awareness
• Children/teacher avoid him – Relationships (e.g., positive relationships)
• Demanding/difficult - Self- management (e.g., emotion regulation)/social awareness/self-awareness
• Bits/Hits - Self- management (e.g., emotion regulation)/Social Awareness (e.g., empathy/ showing concern for the feelings of others)
• No remorse: Social Awareness (e.g., empathy/ showing concern for the feelings of others)

An example of commenting analytically on the child’s SEL profile:

Nathan appears to experience difficulties across a range of SEL areas outlined in the CASEL framework. For instance, he exhibits significant emotional outbursts when he is confronted with a challenging task, despite being initially highly enthusiastic. These behaviours suggest that he may find it hard to regulate his emotions. According to the CASEL framework emotional regulation is a manifestation of self-management competencies. The ability to regulate emotions is very important for social and emotional wellbeing, and academic success. For instance, children who find it difficult to be calm and positive when they are faced with frustrations fail to engage effectively with academic tasks and with teachers and peers (Denham and Brown, 2010; Ursache, Blair, Raver, 2012). […]

• Comment on a few factors that have potentially influenced the child’s social and emotional learning profile (suggested word count: up to 300 - 400 words):
•  First, identify a few factors, for instance family, parenting, peers, disability, teacher-child relationship. Once you identify the factors, use the literature to explain why and how these factors could have influenced the child’s social and emotional learning.

Activity: identify possible factors and explain why. For instance,

The family context?

The school context?

Peer -relationships?

Child – factors?

Teacher – child relationships?

An example of commenting analytically on the factors that that have potentially influenced the child’s social and emotional learning profile:

According to the case study Nathan finds it hard to concentrate for a sustained period of time and gets easily distracted. Poor concentration and inattention are common in young children and are associated with restlessness, frustration, and lack of patience (Glazzard et al., 2015). Therefore, factors that pertain to early childhood attention skills could influence Nathan’s SEL profile. It is suggested that often children outgrow difficulties in concentration and distractibility, so it may not be wise to label their behaviour as ‘difficult’, ‘problematic’ or ‘disruptive’. However, as Glazzard and colleagues note (2017), between 15-65% of children with inattention will probably continue to carry the condition in adult life. Hence, although Nathan may eventually outgrow some of his difficulties with concentration and attention span, it may be better to adopt a proactive approach to his education and care and identify ways to strengthen these areas as they might be getting in the way of his SEL. A definition of SEL - use the CASEL framework to present key components of SEL and explain why SEL is important. You must explain what CASEL is too.

Further ideas on possible factors that have potentially influenced the child’s profile with supporting literature:

Additionally, Nathan may not have had enough opportunities to learn from interacting with his peers because according to the case study they avoid him [ … ] if you would like to expand on that for your own commentary you may find the section on play in Chapter 11 for the following book useful:

Keenan, T., Evans, S., & Crowley, K. (2016). An introduction to child development. Sage.

[…] Nathan’s early childhood care and education experiences may have also contributed to his SEL profile. His previous childminder was not successful at providing the support he required to develop important social and emotional competencies.

Nathan’s parents may do not know how to help him develop social and emotional competencies. […]

Additionally, you may find the following resources useful to develop your analysis around the caring environment at school and home:

Lindon, J., & Brodie, K. (2016). Understanding Child Development 0-8 Years 4th Edition: Linking Theory and Practice. Hachette UK. Read Chapter 5: Social and emotional development.

Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Smith, D. (2019). All learning is social and emotional: Helping students develop essential skills for the classroom and beyond. ASCD: Read Chapter 5 Social Skills.

• Comment on what type of intervention approach or strategy would benefit the child and why (suggested word count: up to 400 words):
• To answer this question, you can consider the following questions: What are some ways to support the social and emotional learning of the child? What type of intervention or teaching strategy could benefit the child and why, for instance, targeted, universal, parenting support? Support your choice with evidence/literature.

An example:

Considering Nathan’s difficulties in emotional regulation and its important impact on SEL and academic achievement, his nursery carers/teachers can help him learn how to regulate his emotions. One of the ways to achieve this is to provide a more consistent and organised environment, for instance clear rules, predictable routines, such as work on the same table and in the same seat, so that he can predict what is expected from him (Glazzard, Stokoe, Hughes, Netherwood, Neve, 2019). Teaching ‘delaying gratification’ is another strategy that contributes to emotional regulation and involves setting reasonable and attainable classroom goals that lead to a reward (Frey, Fisher, Smith, 2019). Developing an appropriate reward system may be another strategy to support Nathan’s behaviour successfully. For instance, […].

The above strategies could be delivered as part of a universal classroom management programme [ … ].

You will find the following research useful to understand the integration of universl practices with more specialist support: Nye, E., Gardner, F., Hansford, L., Edwards, V., Hayes, R., & Ford, T. (2016). Classroom behaviour management strategies in response to problematic behaviours of primary school children with special educational needs: views of special educational needs coordinators. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 21(1), 43-60.

Teacher-child relationships are important for child social and emotional wellbeing. […]

Nathan’s school can work with his parents to identify ways to support the development of his SEL at home. […]

• Lindon, J., & Brodie, K. (2016). Understanding Child Development 0-8 Years 4th Edition: Linking Theory and Practice. Hachette UK. p. 234 – 239 – Building partnerships with parents

Useful titles for this section:

• What Does Evidence-Based Instruction in Social and Emotional Learning Actually Look Like in Practice? A Brief on Findings from CASEL’s Program Reviews - https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED574862.pdf

• Frederickson, N., & Cline, T. (2015). Special educational needs, inclusion and diversity. McGraw-Hill Education.

Chapter 15: Behaviour in school - read the intervention section on page 468.

• Glazzard, J., Stokoe, J., Hughes, A., Netherwood, A., & Neve, L. (2019). Teaching and supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities in primary schools. Learning Matters.

Chapter 3: Understanding behavioural, emotional and social difficulties A definition of SEL - use the CASEL framework to present key components of SEL and explain why SEL is important. You must explain what CASEL is too.

• Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Smith, D. (2019). All learning is social and emotional: Helping students develop essential skills for the classroom and beyond. ASCD.

Chapter 7. Creating an SEL School

Case study 2 – An example

• Summarise the case study for the reader (about 50 words)

An example of how you can summarise Ahmed’s case study:

Ahmed is a quiet boy and does not make friends easily. He is a poor attendee at school, and often appears to be very anxious about starting new projects or learning new subjects. He has a slight stutter. He is an academically able child, yet the quality of his schoolwork has recently begun to deteriorate slightly. His class teacher, being concerned about his attendance and his academic progress, invited Ahmed’s parents into school to discuss her concerns with them. They reported that Ahmed often experiences stomach problems in the morning – and that he has told them that children in the class are teasing him.

• Use the CASEL framework of SEL to comment analytically on the child’s social and emotional learning profile (suggested word count: up to 300 - 400 words):
  • The analysis of your commentary should focus on identifying some of the social and emotional skills presented in the CASEL framework that you think the child should be supported to develop. Once you identify these skills, find at least one reference to explain how the development of these skills is linked to positive outcomes in children and/or young people.
  •  

Activity: Make a list of the child’s behaviours and consider whether they reflect any of the SEL areas in CASEL, for instance:

Examples include:

• Does not make friends easily: communication/relationships
• Anxiety starting new projects/withdrawn/avoiding tackling the situation/lack of confidence: self-awareness and self -management
• Feeling unwell, anxiety, poor attendance - difficult to handle the situation: self-awareness/self-management
• Children tease him – poor peer relationships

 

For this section you may find helpful to explore chapter 2 on identity with focus on self-confidence/efficacy and growth mindset in Frey, N., Fisher, D., & Smith, D. (2019). All learning is social and emotional: Helping students develop essential skills for the classroom and beyond. ASCD.

• Comment on a few factors that have potentially influenced the child’s social and emotional learning profile (suggested word count: up to 300 - 400 words):
  •  First, identify one or two factors, for instance family, parenting, peers, disability, teacher-child relationship. Once you identify the factors, use the literature to explain why and how these factors could have influenced the child’s social and emotional learning.

 

Activity: identify possible factors and explain why. For instance,

• Bullying
• Child’s self-confidence, help-seeking behaviour, coping with anxiety
• Parental support and awareness of child’s worries/anxieties

 

• Comment on what type of intervention approach or strategy would benefit the child and why (suggested word count: up to 400 words):
  • To answer this question, you can consider the following questions: What are some ways to support the social and emotional learning of the child? What type of intervention or teaching strategy could benefit the child and why, for instance, targeted, universal, parenting support? Support your choice with evidence/literature.

Activity: identify potential strategies:

• Address the bullying that takes place
• Address issues around confidence
• Help parents understand the child’s needs
• Address the child’s slight stutter
• School to work in partnership with the family

v  You may also find the following resource helpful if you want to find out more about the association between stuttering and child social and emotional skills. The resource below is included in the key textbook list: Cline, T., & Frederickson, N. (2009). Special educational needs, inclusion and diversity. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Chapter 10 on Language, p. 292 ‘Problems of communication associated with emotional and social difficulties’