{"id":1489,"date":"2021-03-16T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/education\/blog\/2021\/03\/16\/navigating-disruption-spotlight-on-social-emotional-learning\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T22:40:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T06:40:25","slug":"navigating-disruption-spotlight-on-social-emotional-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/education\/blog\/2021\/03\/navigating-disruption-spotlight-on-social-emotional-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating disruption: Spotlight on social-emotional learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
Just over a year ago, COVID-19 disrupted the educational journeys of 1.6 billion students around the globe and changed how we live, work, socialize, and learn. Today the world continues to navigate the economic, public health, and humanitarian challenges the pandemic caused. Throughout the disruptions, the incredible efforts of K-12 teachers and higher education faculty and staff have rapidly accelerated innovations and advances in hybrid and remote education that seemed years away. Meanwhile, the social-emotional aspect of learning has come into the spotlight.<\/p>
Educators have long recognized that social-emotional skills are fundamental for academic achievement, creativity, citizenship, and workforce readiness. Research conducted by McKinsey & Company, \u201cThe Class of 2030 and life-ready learning<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d found that students will be better prepared for future challenges if they have strong social-emotional skills. \u201cEmotion and Cognition in the Age of AI<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, likewise highlighted the importance of emotional well-being for student success, and showed that approaches to support it are in high demand but low supply. A majority of teachers (64 percent) wanted to support student well-being through social-emotional learning (SEL), but they felt they lacked resources and time to do so.<\/p> Now, after a year of disruption and change, a new\u00a0<\/strong>survey from YouGov<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0shows that teachers consider social-emotional learning an even higher priority than ever before.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> As education is being reimagined for the future<\/a><\/strong>, education institutions are bringing several key elements together into a holistic approach, the \u201c5S framework,\u201d that:<\/p> To help students navigate the challenges of remote and hybrid learning, teachers report that they need information about what complexities students face, their emotional state, and what motivates them.<\/p> Education technology can help teachers connect with and better understand their students, as well as facilitate students\u2019 development of social-emotional skills.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Communication tools such as Flipgrid and Microsoft Teams are social by design, secure, and provide creative and fun ways for students to express themselves. Features in Teams such as Praise badges<\/a><\/strong> give teachers and students more ways to recognize and celebrate one another, Education Insights<\/a><\/strong> helps teachers and educators understand and respond to student needs, and Reflect<\/a><\/strong> in Teams helps students to identify and label their emotions.<\/p> Reflect can build students\u2019 emotional vocabulary and improve their ability to recognize and understand how their emotions may impact their learning. In addition, it can help teachers better identify the needs of individual students.<\/p>
than ever before<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>