Mind over Matter: The Rise of Social and Emotional Development in the Global Education Discourse, 1998-2023

• In Event: 30260 - Joint Roundtables: Section on Social Psychology and Section on Sociology of Emotions
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 6: Social Psychology of Education

Abstract

Social-emotional development (SED) has increasingly become a key focus of education policy worldwide, seen as vital for enhancing academic achievement, prosocial behavior, and life success. This study provides empirical evidence of the rising prominence of SED in the global education discourse between 1998-2023. It examines the discursive shift in educational publications by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), particularly UNESCO and the OECD, through changing frequency of SED-related terminology. The findings indicate a rising attention to SED, contrasted with stagnating emphases on traditional values-oriented educational goals, including moral, civics, and character education, and with declining emphases on globalized versions such as human rights and global citizenship education. These findings mark a cultural shift away from educational socialization of explicit social values and towards further expansion of individual agency in society through emotional growth. Thus, the inner-mental state of the individual is constructed as a space for social change through education policy.

Author

• Tom Nachtigal, Stanford University