Summary: In this article from the New York Post, David Adams, CEO of the Urban Assembly Schools, addresses the issues that are behind the attacks on schools, educators, and board members concerning Social-Emotional Learning. He describes the source of many of these attacks and provides insights into how SEL is an essential part of human development which supports academic achievement and other school issues.
Source: David Adams, The New York Post, December 5, 2021
Excerpt: “It’s always disheartening to observe education debates that would be best informed by evidence, research and the lived experience of teachers, parents and students instead beset by partisan agendas. The latest effort is to frame social-emotional learning as part of a liberal conspiracy to brainwash our kids. Inspired by the troubling crusade to stifle dialogue about race, some groups are now targeting an educational approach that recognizes the connection between a student’s academic achievement and his or her social and emotional skills. This agenda is especially troubling as research has demonstrated the severe impacts of the pandemic on student social and emotional well-being. What seems to have some people concerned is that the social-emotional learning community overtly affirms that its work can be a lever for “equity.” Some critics go so far as to suggest that social-emotional learning is a cover for “progressive indoctrination.”