Identity-affirming approaches to social-emotional skill development: resources for mental health leadership teams
This collection of resources is designed to help mental health leadership teams plan, introduce and sustain identity-affirming approaches to social-emotional skill development across Ontario schools and classrooms. It includes:
- an info brief
- a reflection tool
Why are these resources important?
Social-emotional skill development is a cornerstone of education in Ontario and foundational to mental health, well-being and academic achievement. Identity-affirming approaches to social-emotional skill development help staff in Ontario schools to support student social-emotional well-being and development in ways that reflect student identity and lived experiences.
How might I use this these resources
The Info brief for mental health leadership teams outlines the core principles of social-emotional skill development in schools.
The Reflection tool for mental health leadership teams builds on these principles, supporting teams by guiding reflection, resource selection, and implementation.
These resources complement each other and are intended to be used alongside each other.
- Bailey, R.F., Raisch, N., Temko, S., Titus, B., Bautista, J.M., Eniola, T.O., & Jones, S.M. (2021). Innovations in Social and Emotional Learning Research and Practice: Building from Evidence and Applying Behavioral Insights to the Design of a Social and Emotional Learning Intervention in Northeast Nigeria. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18.
- Cipriano C, Strambler MJ, Naples LH, Ha C, Kirk M, Wood M, Sehgal K, Zieher AK, Eveleigh A, McCarthy M, Funaro M, Ponnock A, Chow JC, Durlak J. The state of evidence for social and emotional learning: A contemporary meta-analysis of universal school-based SEL interventions. Child Dev. 2023 Sep-Oct;94(5):1181-1204. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13968. Epub 2023 Jul 13. PMID: 37448158.
- Clarke, A., Sorgenfrei, M., Mulcahy, J., Davie, P., Friedrich, C. & McBride, T. (2021). Adolescent mental health: A systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based interventions. Early Intervention Foundation.
- Jones, S.M. (2023). The Science of Learning and Development: A Translational and Transactional Science in Service of Human Development and Well-Being. Review of Research in Education, 47, 185 – 193.
- Ouellette, R.R., Strambler, M.J., Genovese, M.A., Selino, S., Joyner, L., Sevin, S., Granzow, E., & Connors, E.H. (2024). Selecting, Adapting and Implementing Classroom Kernels for Student Social and Emotional Development and Resilience in Local Elementary Schools: A Community–University Partnership Approach. School Mental Health.
- Yoder, N., & Skoog-Hoffman, A. (2021). Introduction: Motivating the SEL Field Forward Through Equity. Emerald Publishing Limited. 10.1108/S0749-742320210000021001.