The Future of Education

In a changing world, it is increasingly important to clearly articulate what are the social emotional competencies that students leaving secondary schools need to acquire in order to be effective learners and citizens and how schools can facilitate the acquisition of such competencies. There is an emerging consensus that CASEL has identified what are those five core competencies https://casel.org/core-competencies/.  They are a) self-awareness, b) self-management, c) social awareness, d) relationship skills and e) responsible decision-making. There is not a consensus as to how schools can facilitate the acquisition of these competencies.  This paper will argue that each community needs to articulate the competencies they expect from their children and ensure that their schools implement a program of developmental guidance that helps them acquire these competencies. Developmental guidance is a combination of curriculum that teaches these competencies, experiences through which students can put them into practice, and a systematic approach to developing and implementing a plan for post-secondary school accomplishment.  In the same way that competence in literacy and numeracy is developed over a child’s career in school through a series of increasingly complex coursework, we need to implement systematic developmental guidance in all schools so that we more effectively prepare our children to take their place in a world that is changing as a result of technological advances and social developments.  There are several barriers to implementing effective developmental guidance programs.  One is the lack of consensus as to the role of schools in providing such training.  Another is the lack of consensus as to what are those desired competencies.  A third is the lack of resources made available to support such implementation.

Keywords: Social Emotional Learning, Developmental Guidance;

References: 
[1] Coleman, H.L.K., (2008).  School counseling and student accomplishment.  In H.L.K. Coleman and C. Yeh (Eds.). (2008) Handbook for School Counseling.  NJ: Earlbaum Press.
[2] Lindwall, J.J., & Coleman, H.L.K. (2008).  The School Counselor’s Role in Creating Caring School Communities.  In H.L.K. Coleman and C. Yeh (Eds.). (2008) Handbook for School Counseling.  NJ: Earlbaum Press.