School Mental Health Ontario undertakes collaborative culturally responsive social-emotional learning project
When we nurture social emotional skills at school, there can be significant positive mental health and academic benefits for students. Learning ways to cope with stress, identify emotions, develop identities, and solve problems can be a good step towards lifelong mental health. Taking time for high-quality learning about social emotional skills can help students be better prepared to learn and succeed socially and academically.
There are, however, legitimate and serious concerns about social-emotional learning (SEL) that must be addressed. Most importantly, SEL has been developed and tested from Western perspectives, and extra care is needed to ensure that it reflects and serves Ontario’s diverse student population in the way it is introduced and facilitated. For example, early work in SEL prioritized tightly scripted, manualized programs that lacked flexibility, making it difficult to tailor instruction in ways that acknowledge student strengths, culture, identities, and challenges. Further, individualistic approaches that focus on equipping students with skills for managing life’s challenges can create a sense of responsibility for situations that should not be left with a student to manage (e.g., instances of systemic racism, homophobia, exclusion, etc.). Also, when used in prescriptive ways, these approaches do not offer space for the important role of family, community, and culture in affirming identity and strengths. When introducing SEL, it is important for Ontario educators to be aware of these and other concerns, and to be supported in their reflective practice in this area. While SEL may offer many benefits to students throughout their life, the way that this is approached, and the context for this learning, is of utmost importance to ensure that all students benefit – in meaningful ways.
For many years, School Mental Health Ontario has worked with educators and mental health professionals to create evidence-informed, contextualized, and relational approaches to social emotional skill development, rather than relying on costly manualized programs that are difficult to adapt and sustain. Strong focus has been placed on support, community-building, and co-learning so that students explore a range of individual and relational strategies for coping with stress, holding space for students to decide which ones fit best for them. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health has highlighted the importance of this proactive work, particularly related to building coping skills and personal wellness during stressful and uncertain times. As instances of racism, social injustice, colonialism, white supremacy, and discrimination were laid bare in the past year, the critical need for SEL to be anti-racist, culturally responsive, and identity affirming was magnified. Young people who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic; and especially those impacted by additional layers of hardship due to racism, oppression, and marginalization, need access to high-quality, identity affirming programming that is delivered in culturally meaningful ways. SEL must be introduced so that educators are supported and well-prepared to nurture social emotional skill development in this manner. Further, wrapping around such reflective practice must be systems that take a strong anti-racism, anti-colonial, and anti-oppression stance and that actively work to disrupt discriminatory structures, and practices in schools.
Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning (CR-SEL) Project
School Mental Health Ontario is excited to share progress on a collaborative, provincial project on Culturally Responsive Social Emotional Learning (CR-SEL). We know there is a clear and urgent need to provide more guidance around how to implement SEL as an approach to skill development that supports students’ mental health and well-being. In this effort, the Ministry of Education has invited SMH-ON to facilitate the collaborative development of a learning resource for Ontario educators that sets the stage for explicit teaching of SEL skills, in a culturally relevant, responsive, respectful, and reciprocal manner. This resource will promote effective SEL implementation through an anti-oppressive lens that affirms and supports every student.
The exploration phase of this project began in the summer, under the leadership of a steering committee that included members with expertise in human rights, equity, mental health, and education. This steering committee guided a process of information-gathering, that included key stakeholder interviews, focus groups, a literature review, and a jurisdictional scan. An Advisory Committee will be convened this fall to guide the resource development phase of the project, to scope, review, and vet the resource. As part of this project, we have the privilege of collaborating with Tana Turner of Turner Consulting Group. Tana brings extensive experience in Ontario’s education sector and the intersections of equity and school mental health. The learning resource is expected to be available for the next school year.
SMH-ON culturally responsive review
Meanwhile, as this critical project progresses, School Mental Health Ontario also continues a rigorous culturally responsive review of all resources and materials. This review will ensure that our clinically informed resources align with the principles of anti-racism, anti-oppression, and anti-colonialism. We will also work to develop a renewed definition and set of materials for explaining SEL practice so that we can establish common language and understanding throughout the education system.
Staff at all levels of School Mental Health Ontario continue to engage in learning, unlearning and relearning around equity within school mental health. We will continue to reflect on how who we are impacts the work we do. We aim to enter into these projects and reviews with genuine interest and humility; not knowing all the answers but collaborating with many education and community stakeholders to co-create and adapt resources and materials in ways that are identity affirming, and truly supports the mental health and well-being of all Ontario students.