Social-Emotional Learning: K-12 Education as New Age Nanny State. White Paper No. 192

Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research. 185 Devonshire Street, Boston, MA 02110. Tel: 617-723-2277; Web site: http://www.pioneerinstitute.org

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Social Development; Emotional Development; Elementary Secondary Education; Student Characteristics; Personality Traits; Values; World Views; Common Core State Standards; Early Intervention; Educational Objectives; Alignment (Education); Curriculum; Competency Based Education; Global Approach; Evaluation Methods; Academic Achievement; Academic Standards; Educational Policy; Educational Change; Federal Legislation; Educational Legislation

Goals 2000; No Child Left Behind Act 2001; Every Student Succeeds Act 2015

This paper analyzes the history, current practice, and dangers associated with Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). With roots in American progressive education and particularly in the movements for Outcome-Based Education and Self-Esteem, SEL is now pushed onto state and local education systems by the federal government and even international governmental entities. Other progressive-education forces, including the purveyors of widely used preschool standards, are equally enthusiastic. SEL is interwoven into education movements such as the Common Core State Standards and Competency-Based Education. SEL proponents present their product uncritically as the transformational tool that will propel students into greater academic achievement and personal fulfillment. But as this paper shows, and as admitted by numerous experts in SEL and related fields, the evidence for these claims is thin--and the risks to students' privacy, health, and even their very futures are significant. The paper analyzes the scientific research support for SEL claims and finds it much less persuasive than advertised. The paper further addresses the numerous problems in assessing SEL--problems that are acknowledged even by the experts and most dedicated proponents of the movement. It turns out there is no reliable, objective way to measure a student's personality, values, and mindsets. These experts cannot even agree on a uniform definition of SEL. The paper then explores the use of technology as a means of overcoming these problems. With the backing of the federal government, the education-technology industry is creating sophisticated software that supposedly can determine the most sensitive personality traits of students via their interaction with digital platforms. But this software--and especially software for video gaming--can go beyond assessing traits and in fact reshape the child to fit the desired mold. Finally, the paper discusses the fundamental philosophical and ethical objections to having the government, through the public schools, delve into this realm at all. [Foreword written by Kevin Ryan.]

ERIC

2019

ED593789