Illustrating the need for centering student identity in universal school-based social and emotional learning

Abstract

Can centering student identities in universal school-based social and emotional learning promote the conditions for all students to thrive in school? Universal schoolbased social and emotional learning programs include learning materials and practices that are intended to be delivered to the whole school or entire learning community. Centering in education refers to the degree to which learning materials and pedagogical practices are organized to around particular identity groups to support or affirm them. Centering in the context of a universal SEL program would require the SEL program to consider all possible student identities within the program's learning materials and practices. Despite the exponential growth of SEL programs concurrent with the increasing diversity of student identities to be served by universal programming in the United States, the SEL experiences of students at the intersections of their identities is largely under articulated in the field to date. To support the evolution of accessible and relevant social and emotional learning for all youth, and the necessary methods and intentions across research and practice therewithin, this manuscript provides illustrations demonstrating the criticality of centering student identities in SEL. Illustrations were developed from five years of field work documenting the experiences of students in elementary and secondary school across the United States as they engage with their respective school-based SEL programs. In doing so, we highlight the ways in which USB SEL programs can improve to address the unique and differential needs of all students, and provide recommendations for future research practices thereafter.