Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Social and Emotional Learning and Writing
Remember the reading we had at the beginning of the semester--Powerful Learning by Linda Darling-Hammond? Darling-Hammond is clearly one of the leaders in the field of education, and her emphasis here on the importance of social and emotional learning taps directly into writing instruction. What kinds of writing instruction nurture the development of social and emotional learning? What kinds hinder it?
When a writing assignment is designed well, with an authentic task, choice within the limits of the learning objective, and clearly scaffolded instruction that helps the student move from one level of competence to another, then we assume the assignment will be meaningful and full of learning opportunities for the student. But if we don't allow for the social and emotional learning that happens through writing, then we've neglected an important part. What can we do to address social and emotional learning in the classroom?
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Linda Darling-Hamilton’s descriptions of the New York City charter school seem ideal in creating an environment that caters to social and emotional learning. The school she describes contains many differences from the public school norm including changing the high school layout so that students stay with the same teacher and classmates for two years, giving each student a counselor, limiting the counselor to at most fifteen students and ensuring they meet with the parents several times a year. These changes seem ideal for creating a collaborative classroom where students can enhance social and emotional learning, but right now, these changes are not possible on a national level within our public schools. As teachers we can start this change as Darling-Hamilton suggested through project-based learning. With projects, teachers can create small groups and create an environment that has children learn with more hands on experience. With this type of learning in classrooms children can participate in constructivist learning, learning through experience, and develop their social and emotional intelligence through collaboration, problem solving, learning from mistakes in a safe and supportive environment… and there are many more benefits, watch the video!
ReplyDeleteHI Amy,
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post! You've done a great job of synthesizing so many of the elements here and for arguing so well for an informed approach to teaching. Great points!
Gerri