Nurturing Social and Emotional Skills (SES): Developing and using a school-wide ecosystem approach in Uganda

• In Event: Changes required in nurturing life skills and to produce global citizens in a rapidly changing and interconnected global village.

Proposal

Social and Emotional Skills (SES) have for long been known for improving students’ learning and socio-emotional wellbeing (OECD, 2015). The impact of Covid-19 pandemic which disrupted schooling globally, further revealed the significance of these skills due to increased physical and psychosocial distress, not only for students but the entire learning ecosystem (Centre for Effective School Practice, 2022). With1.6 billion learners out of school during the pandemic, “Virtually all schools have been paused and teaching has been re-organized in various ways” (Zhao, 2020, p. 1). In Uganda alone, more than 15 million learners and 500,000 teachers were impacted (Ministry of Education and Sports, 2020). By treating Covid-19 as a short-term crisis, however, it has been proposed that an important opportunity to change schools and school systems for the better will be missed (Zhao, 2020). This calls for a systemic approach, not only to equip learners with the skills they need to navigate the current post-Covid-19 challenges, but more importantly to create an ecosystem that will continue to empower and nurture young people to thrive within their respective environment.

Inspired by the need to respond to these challenges, JM Education and Research Centre (JMERC) commissioned a study in 2021 with the aim of exploring the contextual understanding of the adolescent girls about their SES and wellbeing and the support they needed to develop their social and emotional wellbeing. This study employed a Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) methodology that included 158 adolescent girls of Yakwe Seed Secondary School in Uganda to understand the skills they needed for their social and emotional wellbeing, learning, and their Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and the supports they needed to develop and or improve these skills. This study was guided by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework which organizes and defines SES in five interrelated core competences notably, Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness, Relationship and Responsible decision-making skills (CASEL, 2015; Elias, Zins, Welssberg, Haynes, & Shriver, 1997; Oberle, Domitrovich, Meyers, & Weissberg, 2016).

The study revealed that while participants identified SES such as self-management and self-awareness which they needed for their wellbeing, learning and SRH, they faced interlocking challenges such as lack of agency to utilize the skills, inhibiting gender norms and power inequalities, and general lack of supportive ecosystem. They lacked supportive ecosystem at both family/community, school levels and policy levels. Based on the study findings, JMERC developed a two-year pilot school-wide ecosystem support model (2023-2024). The program envisions to engage 200 teachers, 3000 students, 30 school leaders and 500 parents/community members.

Authors

• John Mary Vianney Mitana, JM Education and Research Centre

• Jean Mary Wendo, JM Education and Research Centre