Unpacking holistic learning – defining and measuring socio-emotional learning

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (the Education Commission) predicts that by 2030, 825 million children in low- and middle-income countries will reach adulthood without the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in work and life. This challenge has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, whose global disruptions to education affected more than 600 million learners due to full or partial closures at the start of 2022 alone (UNICEF, 2022).

When discussing measures of learning outcomes, the education community often uses measures of literacy and numeracy, such as the Learning Poverty indicator (World Bank and UNESCO) and Foundational Learning Skills understood as basic literacy and numeracy. There is, however, increasing evidence that in addition to academic skills, social and emotional learning (SEL) is key for children and young people’s development, while also contributing to poverty alleviation and promoting sustainability. (Jones, Bailey, Meland, Brush and Nelson, 2019). Research also shows that SEL contributes to many areas of development, including learning, health and well-being, especially for children in vulnerable situations due to poverty, violence, discrimination and other adverse factors (ibid).

The OECD Skills for 2030 Learning framework (OECD, 2018) offers a useful holistic conceptualisation of education and skills for addressing the long-term challenges to education in better equipping children and youth for the future. The framework is premised on the importance of promoting positive attitudes to learning and lifelong learning, preparing learners for the world of work while also supporting them to become responsible citizens. Learners, therefore, need to develop their cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, social and emotional skills, and practical and physical skills in order to thrive in and shape the future for better lives and well-being.

The Schools2030 programme was launched in 2020 as a globally informed, locally-rooted 10-year longitudinal action research and learning improvement aiming to improve learning for children and youth in marginalized contexts. Following OECD’s holistic conceptualization of education and skills, Schools2030 seeks to enhance the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed for learners to live fulfilling lives and become contributing members of society. Working with 1000 pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools across 10 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, the programme is working with teachers and school stakeholders to co-design, implement, measure and showcase new school-level solutions to identify what works to improve students’ holistic learning outcomes for in three age cohorts (ages 5, 10 and 15).

Holistic learning is at the heart of Schools2030. Holistic learning includes academic, physical, social and emotional learning. It provides learners with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values they need to interact effectively with the world and become contributing members of society. Using the 27 learning domains selected at the global level, which are aligned to the OECD Skills for 2030 Learning Framework (OECD, 2018), each of the ten countries has selected three non-academic learning domains for each age group along with literacy and numeracy domains. Organised around knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, these domains undergo a rigorous and participatory process of selection and refinement so that they are country and age-relevant. Learning assessments are then developed in line with these domains and constructs, ensuring they are valid, reliable and context-specific.

The aim of this panel is to bring together different actors working on assessment across the Schools2030 partnership. This includes:
• National Assessment Partners, who are the forefront of developing contextually-relevant holistic assessment tools and are working with teachers in the ten Schools2030 countries and provide direct support in assessing their students’ progress in line with the selected innovations.
• Global Assessment Partners, the organisations that have provided technical support and guidance on assessment tool development and ensured that the tools used to measure student progress are valid, reliable and contextually appropriate.
• Schools2030 research partners: a constellation of research organisations working on the topics of how holistic skills are taught and learned at classroom level; what factors can explain variability in holistic learning outcomes; and how school-driven innovations in holistic learning can lead to wider systems and policy change. In line with the objective of this panel, we have invited research partners who focus on assessment.
• Schools2030 group of donors: the overall Schools2030 programme is made possible through the generous support of a large group of donors with a vested interest in quality education and improving learning outcomes. Our donors also contribute to other efforts and have the mandate to share and disseminate learning across projects and investments as well as inform the global conversation about education. From this perspective, they are an important voice in conversations about assessment, innovation, up-scale and up-take of novel approaches.
• Schools2030 Secretariat as the global convener and coordinating body of the overall programme, ensuring the coherence of all Schools2030 actors and an important conduit in sharing the Schools2030 approach, learning and innovations with a broader audience.

This panel will bring together partners working on holistic assessments and discuss from their respective angle:
• What do we mean by measuring socio-emotional learning in the context of holistic learning? What does this look like in the context Schools2030?
• What are some of the emerging complexities of measuring socio-emotional learning in practice?
• What has Schools2030 learned so far about measuring socio-emotional learning in the context of holistic learning?

By bringing together partners involved in the different aspects of the Schools2030 programme, this discussion will contribute to the global evidence and understanding of approaches to holistic learning and in particular, measuring SEL outcomes. Drawing from the experience from five country contexts, the panel will offer country-specific insights and contribute to the methodological and practical considerations for measurement, roles of different actors and opportunities to leverage outcome data for improved learning. In addition to sharing the panel members’ perspectives, we will invite contributions, reflections and questions from the audience to elicit further areas for research and evidence building.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Lydia Marshall, Oxford Measured

Individual Presentations

• Assessing holistic foundations for learning, inclusive schools, systems and societies - Baela R Jamil, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA); Saba Saeed, Idara-E-Taleem-O-Aagahi (Ita)

• Defining and measuring context-specific socio-emotional learning skills: Experiences from Tanzania - Vendelin Simon, UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM

• Defining and measuring context-specific socio-emotional learning skills: Experiences from Afghanistan - Ahmad Rashed Hayati, Aga Khan Foundation

• Defining and measuring context-specific socio-emotional learning skills: Experiences from Portugal - Ana Camacho, University of Porto