Self-awareness is a critical emotional and logical skillset necessary in building a healthy functioning ego in all individuals. In the classroom environment, differing levels of self-awareness amongst students may aid or hinder their learning progress. Using the technique of social emotional learning (SEL), educators can support healthy emotional growth in students, thereby improving their academic performance and inner confidence.
Impact of Student Self-Awareness in Learning
The perceptive skill of self-awareness enables individuals to comprehend their inner thoughts and emotions and how these interact with their behaviors and choices. This skill translates into the ability to ‘think about thinking,’ a critical aspect of student competency in the classroom.
Self-awareness develops at different rates in children, being naturally influenced by their innate abilities, family and social environments. Limited self-awareness can affect relationships with classmates and teachers, getting in the way of positive learning. Focusing on lessons can be difficult for children full of physical energy, as well.
Self-awareness education methods enable students to meet these demands and are essential for social emotional learning (SEL).
The Importance of Self-Awareness Education
The impact of SEL in the classroom has been extensively researched, and the results found to be overwhelmingly positive. The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an internationally recognized organization, has developed a competency model to develop SEL curriculums. The five components are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
Training in SEL improves student’s emotional intelligence skills. In turn, this improves academic performance. In addition, making strong connections with classmates, peers, and teachers enhances mental and emotional resilience. These positive impacts carry through to adulthood. Clearly, self-awareness education is a vital component to focus on in developing SEL skills in students.
Methods for Developing Self-Awareness
Teachers can support children in developing better self-awareness through positive techniques that help them understand the link between their emotions and behaviors. Simple methods include:
- Encouraging students to keep emotion journals
- Developing age-appropriate case studies that can be played out in class, and
- Fostering student belief in their abilities with goal setting practices.
Goal setting, in particular, has proven to be a particularly effective technique. It creates feelings of hope and control, helping students stay motivated on the path to achieve education and life goals.
Hope Rising SEL’s Program: My Best Me
At Hope Rising, we base our SEL curriculum on the CASEL competencies, and we focus very strongly on the science of teaching hope as part of those competencies. We believe so strongly in the benefits of hope in driving student learning that we have developed the first Hope-Certified SEL curriculum, called My Best Me.
The primary steps to building hope in students are:
- Setting goals
- Identifying pathways
- Developing willpower
Please get in touch with a member of our sales team or explore our website for further information on our Hope-Certified SEL curriculum and the benefits for educators, teachers, and students alike.
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