Social and Emotional Learning across the Mediterranean

Abstract

The rapid social, economic and technological changes taking place in the world today, have led to the rise of social and emotional processes as an essential requirement in positive human development and meaningful education. Children and young people need to grow and develop as autonomous, productive and healthy citizens in a fast-changing world. The term 'social and emotional learning' (SEL) captures both the intra and interpersonal core competences, namely self-awareness, self-management and regulation, social awareness and empathy, relationships and responsible decision making. There is consistent evidence that SEL has a positive impact on both cognitive and social and emotional outcomes in children and young people. The worldwide anxiety created by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, both amongst children and adults alike, underlined the need for such 'life competences' to help overcome our fears, manage our anxiety, maintain a sense of control and build our resilience to cope effectively with the psychological impact of the crisis. This introductory chapter describes the concept of SEL and provides a brief overview of the following chapters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)