Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
The structured teaching of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making — alongside academic content.
The five SEL competencies
Social and Emotional Learning, defined by CASEL, identifies five core competencies — self-awareness (knowing your own feelings), self-management (regulating them), social awareness (reading others), relationship skills (working with peers), and responsible decision-making (choosing actions ethically). These are taught directly through structured lessons and indirectly through classroom culture.
Why SEL matters academically
A child who cannot regulate frustration cannot learn algebra. A child who cannot collaborate cannot engage in group work. SEL is not separate from academics — it is the precondition for them. Schools that take SEL seriously consistently see better academic outcomes alongside lower behaviour issues.
SEL at Yajur
Wellbeing is a defined strand in the Oxford International Curriculum at Yajur Public School. Each week includes structured SEL time — circle conversations, mindfulness practice, problem-solving discussions. Teachers also embed SEL language into everyday teaching.
Related terms
Mindfulness in School
Short structured practices — breath awareness, body scans, quiet observation — that help children build attention, reduce reactivity and develop emotional regulation.
Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
Carol Dweck's distinction between believing abilities are improvable through effort (growth) versus believing they are fixed traits (fixed) — a difference that shapes how children approach challenge.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
A framework for designing lessons that work for the widest range of learners from the start — using multiple ways to present information, multiple ways to engage and multiple ways to demonstrate understanding.