Dubious Designs

Will Social Emotional Learning Save the World, or Will it SELout Our Future?

In 1994, the Fetzer Institute, whose stated mission is to help build the spiritual foundation for a loving world,1 hosted a meeting of educators to address a concern they had about ineffective and uncoordinated programming in schools. From that meeting emerged the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and a new framework for aligning and coordinating school programming, which they called social and emotional learning (SEL).2

Today CASEL continues to work toward advancing science, practice, and policy related to SEL. It defines SEL by reference to five core competencies: (1) self-awareness, (2) self-management, (3) social awareness, (4) relationship skills, and...