Book Review Essay

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, social and emotional learning (SEL) was in high demand. From multiple fields, including education, psychology, and economics, research has demonstrated SEL’s effectiveness for supporting students’ academic performance and long-term success. For decades, secular educators have been focused on SEL while Jewish educators’ interest has lagged. Now with a pandemic that has greatly affected the lives of children and family members across the US, both secular and Jewish educational institutions are searching for ways to support learners during and after this emotionally difficult time. SEL is being appreciated as a way of caring for students as well as a way of helping learners in their growth as individuals and as members of a community. A new book, Nurturing Students’ Character: Everyday Teaching Activities for Social-emotional Learning, by Kress and Elias (2020), offers a straightforward guide for teachers to support learners’ emotional, moral, and relational needs. It is rare to find a resource that is grounded in theory, integrates across the subdisciplines of education and developmental psychology, and provides excellent strategies for practitioners. Nurturing Students’ Character is not intended exclusively for a Jewish audience, and yet, it has much to teach Jewish educators. As a former special education teacher and inclusionbehavior specialist, and as a current researcher in Jewish educational studies, I was intrigued by the authors’ approach to SEL as a lens through which all learning ought to be viewed.