Taking Decisive Action - School Counselors as Leaders in SEL

Social/emotional learning (SEL) has long been championed by school counselors, researchers, mental health workers and even many legislative bodies. Notably, parents are also calling for SEL as a top priority for their children in school. A recent study released by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute indicates that “most moms and dads want their children to acquire social and emotional skills and think that schools have a role in making that happen, even as they recognize the key role that they and other family members play.”

Up until the spring of 2020, the voices calling for strong SEL supports were often ignored, or when schools implemented SEL, the work fell largely on shoulders of overwhelmed counselors to support overwhelmed teachers who had competing interests including statewide testing scores.  The general educational vibe consistently has been that SEL is important, but not as important as just about everything else in the education ecosystem.

As champions of whole child well-being, school counselors have overwhelmingly advocated for SEL while often challenged to find school leaders who will listen and take decisive action to allocate time and funding to bring this work at its highest level. We know SEL is a smart strategy that improves many aspects of a child’s well-being and their and social/emotional and academic development.

The uncertainty of the last 18 months has changed the dynamics in schools and the long-awaited and hard-won credibility has come. Voices of school counselors are being heard and their expertise is being relied on. Money is flowing, decision makers at every level are voicing the need and this is our moment, stretched as we are, to seize the long-awaited opportunity.

School counselors are critical leaders in every aspect, catalysts for whole-child healing across education systems as they grapple with continuing pandemic insecurity and all it means for students, staff and families. In this unprecedented time, school counselors also need the support they are called on to offer everyone else. They perhaps need it most, because it is impossible to pour vibrantly from a depleted cup.

Striking balance over long-term uncertainty is exhausting and unnerving. We are seeing the impact in declining mental health and all the comorbidities that go with it, like the dramatic rise in drug addictions and clinical mood disorder diagnoses of youth. School counselors are pulled in so many directions and often without the backing they need and deserve.

Seeing this alarming direction and lack of support to my community of school counselors, and educators in general, I created and co-produced “A Trusted Space™, Redirecting Grief to Growth” (ATS), a docu-training film and SEL curriculum. Recognizing that the mental health needs of our youth – and all those who serve them – were increasing exponentially, the ATS team interviewed internationally acclaimed experts who have long called for SEL delivery and relationship building to be a top priority.  ATS meets the needs for tangible programming and emotional support for all who serve youth. Representing voices from counseling, teaching, administration and classified staff, and including students and parents, ATS offers a breadth of information that starts with recognition and ends with hope. The arc offers a real-time understanding of trauma and emotional stressors, current urgencies in education and solutions that everyone on campus can use immediately. This helps make a school counselor’s job easier because there is no longer a need to “sell” the value of SEL, it does this for you. From here, you can bring your personal expertise to open-minded and eager listeners. 
 
Both the film and curriculum highlight what counselors have been saying for decades. If students do not feel safe and supported, especially our most underserved populations, they cannot learn optimally, and their behaviors can be challenging to redirect.

As leaders, school counselors have the unique opportunity to be the change. You do not have to do it alone. ATS offers well deserved respite and inspiration. It is a free tool you can use for yourself, with your staff and with the families you serve. It will make the journey into this next year easier and more rewarding for everyone, starting with you as the heart of your school. Access the film and curriculum here

Lori Woodley, MS, PPS is a public speaker, trainer, and author in SEL/emotional intelligence, communication, experiential education, parenting and social impact. She is co-founder and CEO of All It Takes and will be a featured keynote presenter at “Finding Pathways and Healing Hearts” (CASC virtual conference), taking place October 28-29, 2021.