Social-emotional Learning in multi-ethnic countries: developing national SEL frameworks with community input in Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone

• In Event: Supporting children’s mental health, psychosocial wellbeing, social, emotional and academic learning outcomes in crises

Proposal

Presenters: Janella Nelson, Education Director, ChildFund International
Children’s socio-emotional learning (SEL) and psychosocial well-being are key precursors to academic learning and to creating conducive environments for children’s development (OECD, 2021). For social-emotional learning interventions to be effective, however, the design must be culturally relevant, consider context-specific needs, and include consultations with communities (Dietz, 2021).
This presentation will describe a strategic partnership with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education and Sierra Leonean Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education to mainstream SEL into education reforms through a culturally responsive approach with communities, teachers, Ministry representatives, and academics. There will be particular emphasis on the process of conducting community-based research on SEL and co-creating a locally relevant and culturally appropriate SEL framework. This process is promoting exploration of what skills are deemed most relevant to communities with a history of adversity, where SEL is found in the national curricula, and how it is aligned with national educational goals. We will present the community-based research findings from both countries and show how the locally led process has facilitated a conversation on SEL with teachers at a community level and within the Ministry of Education in various departments.
The panelist will detail the collaborative effort being undertaken with multiple actors within the Government of Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone, local civil society partners, and academics to develop the SEL framework and design SEL teacher training for greater sustainability and local ownership. We will share experiences using hybrid modalities for SEL training and the Ministries’ plans to integrate digital SEL for teachers at a national level, specifically into pre-service training with the National Education Institute in Sri Lanka, and the challenges both countries face to ensure all ethnicities are represented in the SEL framework and teachers have access to digital teacher training.

Author

• Janella M Nelson, ChildFund International