How social and emotional learning can contribute to the promotion of gender-equitable norms, the prevention of SRGBV and improved educational outcomes

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session (English)

Proposal

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Though the international development field has long supported skills development among children and youth to influence a broader set of cross-sectoral outcomes, in the past five years the use of SEL as an education intervention is gaining more visibility within USAID’s education sector. Social and emotional skills are a priority learning outcome under the new USAID Education Policy and have been highlighted in the newly published Social Emotional Learning and Softs Skills USAID Education Policy Brief.

The Policy Brief demonstrates how social emotional skills can contribute to a wide range of positive children and youth outcomes, including increased positive behaviors (social-emotional skills), reduced trauma, improved academic performance, and contributes to the prevention of many forms of violence. The brief also describes how social and emotional skills can serve as protective assets for young women, leading to decreased risky sexual behavior, improved health outcomes, delayed marriage, and improved future livelihoods.

This panel will explore this growing body of evidence on how SEL can contribute to the transformation of gender norms, the prevention of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) and increase in protective assets, which contributes to improved educational outcomes for children and youth. In addition to providing a landscape review of existing evidence on the relationship between SEL, SRGBV, gender equitable norms and educational outcomes, the panel will highlight three projects focusing on SEL, Gender and SRGBV and their impact on the learning and development of children and youth.

Dr. Meridith Gould will present a forthcoming USAID-funded white paper on the role of social and emotional learning in transforming gender-equitable norms and preventing SRGBV. This paper will provide a conceptual mapping of the relationship between SEL, gender equitable norms, and SRGBV, as well as a summary of literature and evidence on the impact of social-emotional skills in promoting gender equitable norms, preventing SRGBV and improving educational outcomes for children and youth in both in-school and out-of-school settings.

Gustavo Payan will discuss DAI’s Asegurando la Educacion project (Asegurando) in Honduras, which uses SEL for students, teachers, and administrators to address challenges related to SRGBV, gender biases, gender norms and social inclusion. Asegurando uses a whole-school approach by infusing SEL through a sports-based learning program for students, an innovative 80-hour teacher professional development program, and an Educational Leadership Executive program for school principals. Aseguarando also works with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to institutionalize SEL into the national education curriculum and teaching practices.

Peter Muyingo will discuss RTI’s Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA) integrated approach to establishing a positive and supportive school culture, nurturing student’s social and emotional skills, and preventing SRGBV in Uganda. This presentation will introduce a “blended approach” to SEL and SRGBV prevention, which integrates programming to help schools establish a safe and welcoming school and classroom culture and has been adopted by the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES). The presentation will also provide illustrative examples of activities that are designed to help schools, community members and students establish safe, welcoming and supportive learning environments and nurture students’ development of social emotional skills through a child-centered curriculum.

Tricia Koroknay-Palicz of the World Bank Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) will discuss the findings of the evaluation of IRC’s Sisters of Success (SOS) program in Liberia. The SOS program (IRC) aimed to empower adolescent girls by helping them develop the social and emotional skills (SES) to more effectively address the demands and challenges of everyday life, have healthier relationships, and achieve more positive outcomes, such as avoiding school dropout and early pregnancy. The intervention package combined mentorship and girls-centered empowerment groups using SEL curriculum. The evaluation yielded significant improvement in the quality of girls’ inter-personal relationships, improved communication skills, reduced relationship problems at school or home, and improved educational attainment.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Julie Hanson Swanson, US Agency for International Development (USAID)

Individual Presentations

• Overview of the relationship between social & emotional learning (SEL) in transforming gender equitable norms and preventing school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) - Meridith Gould, Independent Consultant

• Social-emotional learning (SEL): a successful strategy to promote safe learning and gender equity in Honduras - Gustavo Payan, DAI

• An integrated approach to establishing a positive and supporting school culture, nurturing student social and emotional learning, and preventing SRGBV - Peter Muyingo, RTI International

• The impact of social and emotional learning: experimental evidence from adolescent girls in Liberia in the Sisters of Success (SOS) program - Tricia Koroknay-Palicz, World Bank

Discussant

• Nikhit D'Sa, University of Notre Dame