Kernels of Learning

A new approach to social-emotional skills: flexible resources and bite-sized strategies.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is one of the biggest educational trends of the past decade. A number of experts quibble over what these soft skills are but the term generally refers to managing emotions, learning to set goals, and maintaining relationships. At present, the number of programs helping students to boost these skills at school are increasing. Some are for sale by curriculum publishers and cost many thousands of dollars. Others are offered for free, but require hundreds of hours of teacher training. It’s therefore pretty hard for schools to afford them, allocate the necessary time and teach the complicated lessons properly. 

Stephanie Jones, a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, is convinced that soft skills are very important for students. She has developed more than 40 social-emotional “kernels”, little routines that any teacher can do anytime. They can be done during a math class or while lining up students in the hallways. One great kernel is the belly breathing technique. This technique is intended to help students deal with stress and anxiety. Another good example is a five-minute brain game. Teachers can use this technique from the script Jones wrote. In a study conduced by Jones, she discovered that the students who participated showed the greatest improvements in cognitive areas that the games were targeting. A school can choose any kernel strategy based on their needs, and Jones and her team will provide training and technical assistance to launch the strategies into practice and then evaluate the outcome. 

The Kernels Approach

Kernels are specific activities that have been shown to bring about specific behavior changes. Here are three examples focused primarily on elementary school, taken from earlier published research by Dennis Embry and Anthony Biglan. 

• Turtle technique for calming down
  Description:
  Using a turtle metaphor, child holds self, breathes through nose, and engages in verbal or sub-verbal self-coaching to calm down
  SEL Domain:
  Managing emotions and behavior
  Behaviors affected:
  Reduces arousal and aggression against peers or adults

• Non-verbal transition cues
  Description:
  Visual, kinesthetic, and/or auditory cues to signal a need to shift attention or tasks in a specific, patterned way
  SEL Domain:
  Cognitive flexibility, attention, understanding social cues
  Behaviors affected:
  Reduces dawdling, increases time on task and engaged learning, gives more time for instruction

• Peer-to-peer written praise
  Description:
  Children write praise for peers on a pad, wall display, or photo album (and/or read them aloud)
  SEL Domain:
  Prosocial behavior, conflict resolution
  Behaviors affected:
  Social competence, academic achievement, violence, aggression, physical health, vandalism

Why Kernels?

The needs of individual schools vary, so social-emotional programs should be

adaptable to schools’ context, demands, capacities, and goals. Schools, organizations, and funders who want to invest in improving children’s SEL skills have few means of easily browsing to available options or comparing different SEL programs. A kernels approach can be a major key that contributes to a program’s effectiveness or the combination of the techniques can make the difference.

Kernels in Action

Jones and her team are working with HopeLab and four public elementary schools in South Carolina to implement and refine a set of “Brain Games.” These games, called SECURe, were originally developed by Jones and her colleges as part of a preK-3 SEL intervention. The games provide students opportunities to build their executive function and self-regulation skills in a fun, engaging, and consistent way. In terms of teacher, the games give the teacher specific language to use when talking with students about these skills (referred to as “Brain Powers”), including questions that will encourage metacognition and improve children’s internalization and transfer of skills.

What This Means for You and Your School

A series of partnerships to design and test SEL kernels are Jones’ plan over the next five years. The design and test will be worked to meet the needs of specific schools and other community organizations working with young children. To partner with Jones and her team, contact Rebecca Bailey at the EASEL Lab.

Meta Description: Kernels of learning is a new approach to social-emotional skills: flexible resources and bite-sized strategies. Kernels strategies help students deal with stress and anger, manage emotions and behavior, and reduce aggression against peers or adults. 

Reference: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/15/08/kernels-learning