Social Emotional Learning (SEL): How Does Social and Emotional Learning Solve Learning Loss Problems

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has an effect on the education system extensively. Teachers and students changed their conventional learning approaches to learning through online. Due to the household economic inequality, students faced a limit to gain learning opportunities. This situation was considered a learning loss which had a negative impact on all education levels in Thailand. According to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Fund for Educational Equality, the research results showed that school closures reduced student learning abilities from the normal rate to merely at  1-2 per cent. Due to this drawback, students lacked the improvement of knowledge and abilities following different ages. Additionally, students found it difficult to develop skills required for language usage and communication, interpersonal relationships, self-discipline, responsibilities, appropriate personality, and passive learning. Therefore, students should be able to improve social and emotional learning skills, which refer to the learning process and social competencies according to the developmental principles and standards of social and emotional learning at different ages. Moreover, students were expected to enhance skills required for interpersonal interactions, self-awareness, empathy, self-controlled emotions and actions, and responsibilities for the consequences of self-decisions and actions. To address the expectations, five social and emotional characteristics were offered regarding self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsibilities for making a decision. In accordance with the characteristics, students can have successful learning opportunities because they were continually able to develop social and emotional learning skills, responsibilities for themselves, justification, and the understanding of individual differences.