Growth mindset, resilience, effective teamwork and cognitive flexibility are skills employers such as Apple, Delta Airlines, Microsoft, and Southwest Airlines want schools to instill in the future workforce, according to an Education Week article.
Social and emotional learning skills are very much the skills employers are seeking today, says Karen VanAusdal, senior director of practice for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a national organization that advocates for social-emotional learning.
She says research shows these skills also enable students to succeed in college.
“I think, especially in this era of AI and technology, (SEL skills) become all the more vital, and that we will be looking for folks who can truly think critically, who can collaborate with others, who can take others’ perspectives.”
To be sure, some parents today are pushing back on social-emotional learning as a distraction from core academic subjects, potentially hindering students’ overall academic performance. Critics sometimes claim that the effectiveness of SEL programs is not fully supported by evidence or that the specific content and methodologies used in SEL are not transparent enough.
Still, senior executives at many major American companies advocate the need for SEL skills such as empathy, persistence and problem solving.
More families may support SEL approaches and initiatives if they understand how it can help students prepare careers, says Trish Schaffer, the director of multi-tiered systems of support for Nevada’s Washoe County school district.
“For as long as we’ve been talking about SEL in schools, we’ve been connecting it to employability and successful life outcomes,” Schaffer says. “These are the skills that [students] need to engage in life.”
Education Week
