Thanks to all those that have been thinking through the draft of the Virginia Social and Emotional Learning Standards. I can imagine it is quite difficult coming to a consensus on the wording and scope of each of these proposed standards.

I welcome common language and expectations regarding social, emotional, learning in schools. The practices of recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating our emotions help with facilitating academic success, developing and maintaining relationships, and building skills for success in work and life. In my opinion, all schools should have a SEL program/curriculum to help all students build these skills. When implemented well, it can help prevent mental health problems. There is most certainly a role for schools, communities, and parents to play in helping kids learn these skills.

I appreciate that the draft includes standards that show a progression of skills using the 5 areas of SEL identified by CASEL. I wonder what expectations will be put on schools, teachers, and students to meet these standards. I also wonder if there might be ways to make the standards more concise. While the language in the document does not seem problematic to me, it appears that some of the language is problematic to some which takes the focus off of the ultimate goals of SEL, which is most definitely not about forcing people to think a certain way, rather help each person understand and express their individual feelings, thoughts, and beliefs while also allowing others to do the same.