Self-Centered Civic Engagement? A Systematic Literature Review of Social-Emotional Learning in Civics Education Research

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Methodology, Measurement, and Mechanisms to Social Emotional Learning

Abstract

This quantitative systematic literature review investigates how social-emotional learning (SEL), primarily concerned with individual development, is integrated civics education, which centers collective aims. Analyzing 581 peer-reviewed publications, we examine the prevalence of three mechanisms (self-engagement, self-growth, and self-discipline) through which SEL is framed to advance civic goals, and how these negotiate tensions between the self and society. Findings reveal an overwhelming emphasis on self-engagement, enabling scholars to sidestep such tensions. While concerns about SEL’s individualizing effects are partially valid, its alignment with Foucauldian claims of advancing civic order through self-regulation is limited. This research contributes a robust empirical and theoretical framework to understand how SEL reshapes civics education, illuminating unresolved tensions between cultivating student agency and a democratic shared fate.

Authors

• Tom Nachtigal, Stanford University

• Ariana Zetlin, University of Pennsylvania