During the past decade and especially the last few years, social emotional learning’s (SEL’s) reach has expanded significantly. It is known that high-quality SEL instruction can support students’ general well-being and also lead to improved academic outcomes (Durlak et al., 2011; Zins and Elias, 2007). With multilingual learners comprising nearly 23% of the US student-age population (National Center on Education Statistics, 2022) and facing numerous challenges in receiving an equitable and excellent education (Staehr Fenner et al., 2024), we must question how inclusive SEL initiatives and programs are of multilingual learners. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines social and emotional learning as “the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions” (2020).
As well-known as CASEL’s SEL work is, the unique characteristics of MLs do not seem to have been considered in its SEL framework. Because of this, my co-author Mindi Teich and I decided to address this lack of inclusion of MLs in CASEL’s SEL framework by writing a book titled Social Emotional Learning for Multilingual Learners: Essential Actions for Success (https://supported.com/sel-mls), published by Corwin in 2024. We firmly believe that educators who work directly with ML students must adapt SEL programming to ensure it is culturally relevant and linguistically accessible and meaningful for diverse learners. In our book, we share a new framework intentionally aligned with MLs’ strengths and needs. Our framework is specifically designed to seamlessly integrate SEL into content instruction as a way to foster MLs’ well-being, increase engagement with content, and promote language development. We developed our SEL for MLs framework to complement CASEL’s model and ensure teachers will have practical guidance and support in integrating SEL into instruction instead of it being a separate program.
In this article, we will first give background on each CASEL SEL competency, then provide CASEL’s definition and then several questions for reflection. Next, we will share our ML considerations and describe one sample educator action that can provide MLs access to each SEL competency. Finally, we will leave you with a reflection tool that will allow you to prioritize how to incorporate culturally and linguistically relevant SEL into your instructional repertoire to empower your MLs. To frame this article, Figure 1 lists each of the five CASEL SEL competencies and provides an overview of a general ML consideration to support MLs’ access to that competency.
Self-Awareness
The first CASEL SEL competency is self-awareness, and when teaching students SEL, self-awareness is a typical starting point. This competency begins with students having a good understanding of themselves, and this self-knowledge will support and enhance students’ capacity in the other four SEL competencies. Building students’ skills in this competency will require careful thought and regular practice, as this competency expects students to truly understand what makes them who they are and what they value, and it asks them to delve into their emotions, strengths, and limitations.
CASEL definition: Self-awareness is the ability to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes the capacity to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.
- Thinking about the MLs you work with, what is your reaction to the definition of self-awareness?
- What have you observed related to students’ self-awareness in general in your context?
- What have you observed related to MLs’ self-awareness in particular?
ML considerations for self-awareness: MLs’ identities may be rooted in a collectivist culture that places more value on group interdependence rather than on the individual. This sense of group-rooted identity may result in MLs feeling uncomfortable or self-conscious in speaking about their strengths or using language of self-awareness.
One sample educator action to support MLs’ access to self-awareness is to teach, support, and practice MLs’ use of language of self-awareness. It may not come naturally to ML students to discuss individual personal strengths. They may still be developing the skills to express themselves in English or may feel their identity is more closely connected to a group. No matter their situation, educators will need to teach and support MLs’ language of self-awareness. Teachers can model using personal examples and help students talk or write about their own self-awareness, both personal and academic. Teachers can scaffold ML students’ work in this competency by providing sentence starters, intentionally grouping students, and giving them access to word banks.
Self-Management
It is worth noting that until students have the self-awareness to truly understand their emotions, including how to identify and name the precise emotions they are experiencing, they will not be able to successfully manage them. In classroom situations, it is natural to emphasize self-management skills connected to students maintaining control in highly charged emotional situations or controlling impulsive actions. For the sake of academic achievement, we also need to help students develop the self-management skills that will help them set and work toward goals, find motivation, and take initiative.
CASEL definition: Self-management is defined as the abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.
- Thinking about the MLs you work with, what is your reaction to the definition of self-management?
- What have you observed related to students’ self-management in general in your context?
- What have you observed related to MLs’ self-management in particular?
ML considerations for self-management: MLs may be unfamiliar with the dominant culture’s social norms, including self-management expectations, which may be different from social norms and self-management expectations MLs experience at home. Students’ potential disconnect between home and school expectations, as well as possible impacts from trauma, may manifest as an educator’s misinterpretation of students’ self-management skills at school. MLs may also experience conflicting messages around goals and aspirations from home and school.
One educator action to support MLs’ access to self-management is to directly teach expected social norms in a variety of situations while affirming MLs’ social norms and recognizing possible experiences with trauma. A step you can take to help MLs fully develop self-management is to directly teach MLs the unspoken social norms that are part of everyday expectations, especially focusing on the norms that stand out as different to you than MLs’ culturally bound norms. How you teach about the norms is key, as you must affirm the norms students bring with them while teaching them about expectations in the US school setting. One example of teaching about social norms might be to develop a lesson on cafeteria expectations, including the language needed to find a seat and order lunch. In preparing lessons that incorporate norms, it is also critical to consider MLs’ possible experiences with trauma and reflect on how those experiences may relate to behaviors and interactions MLs witness in the classroom as well as how MLs may respond to some of the expectations around the new social norms.
Social Awareness
The emotions or feelings related to the competency of self-awareness—empathy, compassion, gratitude, concern—are all emotions that students and adults express in relation to another person or group. As students develop social awareness, they are learning not only how to interact with people as individuals but also how to interact within larger groups or in specific environments that may have their own sets of social norms (e.g., classrooms, the cafeteria, pep rallies, sporting events, etc.).
CASEL definition: Social awareness is defined as the abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.
- Thinking about the MLs you work with, what is your reaction to the definition of social awareness?
- What have you observed related to students’ social awareness in general in your context?
- What have you observed related to MLs’ social awareness in particular?
ML considerations for social awareness: MLs’ unique backgrounds and life experiences may position them to have significant strengths in understanding and empathizing with individuals from diverse backgrounds, as well as the capacity to navigate across cultures. However, MLs may need assistance in recognizing and developing these cross-cultural skills. Educators may need to provide guidance in order for MLs to understand the perspectives of the dominant culture and share their own perspectives.
One educator action to foster MLs’ access to social awareness is to create a safe, welcoming environment where all students feel comfortable sharing their perspectives. For MLs to put themselves into a potentially vulnerable position to share their perspectives and eventually empathize with others, it is crucial for educators to first ensure ML students feel safe and welcome as an integral part of the classroom and school community. It can be challenging enough for non-MLs to share their perspectives, but MLs doing so in a language in which they are gaining proficiency while trying to navigate cultural norms presents additional layers of complexity. One way to promote MLs feeling comfortable is for educators to intentionally create a safe and welcoming environment—both physically and emotionally—to set the stage for MLs’ access to this competency. We recognize that often, teachers don’t have agency in choosing their physical classroom environments. However, we suggest some physical arrangements that teachers may be able to provide, such as positioning desks in groups and posting talk moves to support student discussions. Some nonphysical suggestions to create a safe space include intentionally building relationships with MLs, establishing trust, and consistently providing linguistic supports.
Relationship Skills
Relationships, both teacher–student and student–student, are an essential part of the school experience for all students, including MLs, and these relationships are what students remember for years to come. Many teachers recognize the value of the relationships they build with students, but they should also be very aware that the words and actions they use to build these relationships are important models for peer-to-peer relationships.
CASEL definition: Relationship skills are defined as the abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.
- Thinking about the MLs you work with, what is your reaction to the definition of relationship skills?
- What have you observed related to students’ relationship skills in general in your context?
- What have you observed related to MLs’ relationship skills in particular?
ML considerations for relationship skills: MLs’ patterns of interaction and communication, including nonverbal communication, may be different than those of their peers and teachers. These differences can be extra challenging if students are learning English, leaving room for potential misunderstandings and misinterpretations of interactions and attempts at relationship building.
One educator action to foster MLs’ access to relationship skills is to model, practice, and scaffold self-advocacy skills while recognizing self-advocacy may not be expected in students’ cultures. In the US, it is expected that students advocate for themselves with teachers, especially as they progress from elementary to secondary school. Educators typically want students to take ownership by speaking up for themselves if they don’t understand something or need to make up an assignment. However, expectations for self-advocacy may be different or nonexistent in MLs’ cultures. Therefore, it is helpful to learn about cultural expectations for MLs’ self-advocacy and intentionally teach them the concept of self-advocacy as well as provide the linguistic supports necessary for it. In addition, educators can simulate self-advocacy through role plays and reflections.
Responsible Decision-Making
This final SEL competency goes beyond simply choosing between options, as it also involves thinking through consequences of decisions, evaluating their impact on others, and aligning choices with personal values and social norms. In supporting students in this competency, it is necessary to take into account the range of possibilities that encompass the concept of a “responsible decision.”
CASEL definition: Responsible decision-making is defined as the ability to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.
- Thinking about the MLs you work with, what is your reaction to the definition of responsible decision-making?
- What have you observed related to students’ responsible decision-making in general in your context?
- What have you observed related to MLs’ responsible decision-making in particular?
ML considerations for responsible decision-making: MLs’ potential uncertainty about social norms, possible experiences with inequity and trauma, and stress of acculturation may challenge their sense of agency and impact their perception of what constitutes caring and constructive choices.
One educator action to support MLs’ access to responsible decision-making is to intentionally group students to foster interactions that support decision-making skills. We have found that giving thought to ML student grouping is a move that can reap large rewards in classroom interactions. To group MLs, educators can consider factors that go beyond their levels of English and home languages, such as their background knowledge on the topic, their interests, individual strengths, personality traits, and preferences. For example, in grouping MLs on a math lesson in which students will need to make several decisions as a group, teachers can intentionally group students based on these criteria to promote comfort and engagement with the topic.
Final Reflection
Figure 2. SEL Areas of Strength and Need for MLs and Educators
Now, it’s time to reflect. Considering all five SEL competencies, complete Figure 2, SEL Areas of Strength and Need for MLs and Educators.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we have presented the five CASEL SEL competencies, ML considerations, and an educator action to provide MLs’ access to the competency. We offered you space to reflect on ways to incorporate SEL with MLs into instruction and hopefully gave you some food for thought. It is especially imperative for teachers to create safe spaces in which MLs know they are valued members of our school communities. And being intentional in making students feel valued and affirmed is more important than ever.
References
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2020). “CASEL’s SEL Framework: What are the core competence areas and where are they promoted?” https://casel.org/casel-sel-framework-11-2020/?view=true
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., and Schellinger, K. B. (2011). “The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions.” Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
National Center on Education Statistics (NCES). (2022). “English Learners in Public Schools.” https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/2022/cgf_508.pdf
Staehr Fenner, D., Snyder, S., and Gregoire-Smith, M. (2024). Unlocking Multilingual Learners’ Potential: Making Content Accessible (2nd ed).Corwin.
Zins, J. E., and Elias, M. J. (2007). “Social and Emotional Learning: Promoting the Development of All Students.” Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 17(2–3), 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/10474410701413152
Diane Staehr Fenner, PhD, is a former ELD teacher and the author of eight books on multilingual learner education. She is the founder and president of SupportEd, a woman-owned small business based in the Washington, DC, region that provides professional learning, coaching, and technical assistance to empower MLs and their educators. She grew up on a dairy farm in Central New York State and is a first-generation