Atlas›Domain XV · Nature, philosophy, social & rites of passage›Guide 061
Guide XV-061

Social-emotional learning and character education

Daniel Goleman, Mark T. Greenberg, Eileen R. Growald, Linda Lantieri1994
A 25 · L 63 · M 1222 interventions in the Trinity explorer
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: the CASEL framework (the CASEL 5 competencies, the four settings of the CASEL Wheel and the SAFE criteria) and CASEL's Schoolwide SEL Guide for social-emotional learning (SEL); the Jubilee Centre Framework for Character Education in Schools, third edition (2022), for neo-Aristotelian character education; Character.org's 11 Principles as currently published for schools; PATHS and Second Step Elementary as independent programme registers profile them. Where these differ, the guide names which one it is following.

SEL and character education are school-based formation frameworks and programmes, not psychotherapies. CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) defines SEL as a process through which children and adults build knowledge, skills and attitudes to form healthy identities, manage emotions, reach personal and collective goals, show empathy, keep supportive relationships and make responsible, caring decisions, delivered through school, family and community partnerships [source: CASEL framework page]. CASEL reports that it was formed in 1994 by researchers, educators, practitioners and child advocates, who also coined the term "social and emotional learning"; its history page lists Daniel Goleman, Mark T. Greenberg, Eileen R. Growald, Linda Lantieri, Timothy P. Shriver, David J. Sluyter and Roger P. Weissberg (first CEO), and names the 1997 book Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators as the field's founding definition [source: CASEL Our History]. Character education, as the Jubilee Centre (University of Birmingham) states it, is "all explicit and implicit educational activities" that help young people develop virtues, with character defined as traits or dispositions that produce moral emotions, inform motivation and guide conduct [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.].

How change is held to happen: in SEL, through skills taught explicitly in sequenced, active lessons and reinforced across classrooms, the whole school, families and communities [source: CASEL framework page]. In the Jubilee model, character is "caught" through school culture and role models, "taught" through the curriculum and "sought" through experiences pupils choose, working towards practical wisdom (phronesis) [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. The psychotherapist rarely delivers these programmes. The work is mostly consultation with parents and schools; assessing a child's fit and difficulties within the setting; using the programme's shared language in individual or family work; referring for assessment when a universal programme is being used in place of assessing a child's learning or developmental needs; safeguarding; and, with adult clients, working with their own formative experience of moral and emotional education [synthesis].

Evidence status in one line: a meta-analysis of 213 school-based universal SEL programmes (270,034 students from kindergarten to high school) found improved social-emotional skills, attitudes, behaviour and academic performance (an 11-percentile-point gain in achievement), with school staff delivering programmes successfully and implementation problems moderating outcomes [source: Durlak et al. 2011, OJP abstract]. Programme-specific ratings are given in section 4.

2. Framework

SEL and character education have no therapy phases. Two frameworks set the structure the therapist will meet in schools, and a third, the therapist's own consultation sequence, is synthesis.

A. CASEL's schoolwide sequence [source: CASEL Schoolwide SEL Guide; Focus Area 3 overview]

  • Organize. Focus Area 1A, build foundational support (awareness, commitment and ownership); Focus Area 1B, create a plan.
  • Implement. Focus Area 2, strengthen adult SEL; Focus Area 3, promote SEL for students across four areas: school (schoolwide practices and policies including discipline, an evidence-based programme, youth voice, SEL in student supports), classroom (explicit SEL lessons, SEL integrated into academic teaching, a supportive environment with student-centred discipline), family partnerships (two-way communication) and community partnerships.
  • Improve. Focus Area 4, continuous improvement from data.
  • Moving on: the guide offers a rubric and indicators of schoolwide SEL. It does not give fixed time criteria for moving between phases [uncertain: not verified].

B. Programme format (as registers profile them)

  • PATHS (kindergarten to grade 6): lessons three times a week, 20 to 30 minutes each, in units on readiness and self-control (12 lessons), feelings and relationships (56), interpersonal cognitive problem-solving (33, usually from grade 3 or 4) and optional supplementary lessons (30). Staff are trained, with regular observation and team meetings, and booster sessions are recommended after year two [source: Public Safety Canada, PATHS profile].
  • Second Step Elementary (Committee for Children; ages 5 to 11): four core units taught in order (Skills for Learning, Empathy, Emotion Management, Problem Solving) plus optional Bullying Prevention and Child Protection units. There is about one 25- to 40-minute lesson a week, around 22 lessons per grade, and brief daily practice on the other days. Training is three online modules, with a recommended home element of a parent letter and take-home activities [source: NHS Scotland Early Intervention Framework, Second Step].
  • Character education: the Jubilee Centre gives no fixed sequence ("no blueprint") and offers a Character Teaching Inventory of 70 strategies grouped as caught, taught and sought [source: Jubilee Centre framework page]. Character.org sets out 11 principles. The last of them is an annual assessment of the character initiative [source: Character.org 11 Principles].

C. The therapist's consultation sequence [synthesis]

  1. Referral and consent: who is asking (parent, school, young person), the young person's assent, what may be shared with the school.
  2. Map the setting: which programme and version is used, how it is delivered, the behaviour policy, and how the school links to student support.
  3. Assess the child, not the programme: development, learning, mental health, family and safeguarding. Decide whether specialist assessment is needed.
  4. Shared formulation in the setting's language (for example the CASEL 5 or the school's core values), agreed with parents and staff.
  5. Intervention: individual or family work that uses and extends the programme's strategies, plus consultation with staff.
  6. Review against agreed observable goals using several informants. Move on (step down, refer on, or close) when goals are met or when the review shows that assessment or a more specialist service is needed.

Session counts for the therapist's own work are not set by any of these sources. Plan them clinically [synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

  • SEL is systemic, not a single lesson [source: CASEL framework page]. Ask how a skill is practised in class, at playtime and at home before blaming the child for not using it.
  • SAFE: sequenced, active, focused, explicit [source: CASEL framework page]. Teach one named skill at a time, practise it actively and build on earlier steps, in sessions as in classrooms.
  • Four settings: classrooms, schools, families and caregivers, communities [source: CASEL framework page]. Consultation goes in every direction, and families are partners in decisions, not just recipients of reports.
  • Culturally responsive, equity-focused relationships [source: CASEL framework page; Focus Area 3]. Check whether a "skills deficit" is really a mismatch between a family's norms and the school's, or an unfair norm.
  • Adult SEL comes before student SEL (CASEL Focus Area 2) [source: CASEL Schoolwide SEL Guide]. Consultation includes the stress and regulation of the adults around the child.
  • Character is caught, taught and sought [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. Look at culture and role models, not only lessons, and leave room for the young person's own choices.
  • Phronesis integrates conflicting virtues [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. A child's dilemma (honesty against loyalty) is a chance to reason, not a rule breach.
  • Parents are the primary educators of character [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. Work with the family's own values rather than over them.
  • Character is "not exclusively religious" [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.], and core values should transcend religious and cultural differences [source: Character.org 11 Principles]. Notice when a setting's values language carries a particular faith or culture, and explore what it means to the family.
  • Intrinsic over extrinsic motivation (Character.org Principle 7) [source: Character.org 11 Principles]. When consulting on behaviour plans, explain rules in terms of values and reduce reliance on rewards where possible.
  • Measure with caution [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. The Framework advises caution with self-report measures and against aggregating individual character profiles. Use several informants and observable behaviour, and never treat a "character score" as a diagnosis.
  • Universal programmes are prevention, not assessment or treatment [synthesis]. Taking part in SEL never substitutes for assessing suspected ADHD, autism, dyslexia, other special educational needs, or mental disorder.
  • Safeguarding overrides programme fidelity and confidentiality limits [synthesis]. Follow local child-protection procedures and mandatory reporting law. Never name minors in records shared beyond need.
  • Consent and assent [synthesis]. Parents consent to the therapy, and the young person's assent and views shape what is shared with school.
  • Clear roles [synthesis; APA Ethics Code Standard 3.05, https://www.apa.org/ethics/code]. A therapist who also trains staff, runs an SEL group or works for the school holds multiple relationships, so agree in advance who the client is, what is confidential and who owns records.
  • Competence [synthesis]. Deliver a branded programme only after its required training (for example PATHS staff training with observation; Second Step's online modules) [source: PATHS and Second Step profiles].

4. Intervention inventory

The programme sources describe classroom and schoolwide practices. They do not describe therapist procedures. Items 1 to 4 and 15 to 21 are therapist procedures built around these frameworks and are marked [synthesis]. Items 5 to 14 use the strategies the programme bodies publish, adapted for individual, family or small-group work. Branded lesson content (stories, scripts, posters, games) is licensed: refer to the school's copy or the programme's own training, and do not reproduce it [synthesis].

1. Mapping the setting's SEL or character approach

  • Purpose: know what the child is being taught, in what words, and how behaviour is handled, before formulating. Use at the start of any school-related referral [synthesis, structured by the CASEL Wheel and Focus Area 3].
  • Steps: (1) With consent, ask the school which programme and edition it uses (for example PATHS, Second Step, or the school's own character framework) and who teaches it, how often. (2) Ask for the shared vocabulary: named feelings, calming steps, problem-solving steps, the school's core values. (3) Ask how SEL connects to the behaviour policy, the pastoral or student-support team and the special educational needs lead. (4) Ask how families are told about lessons (for example a parent letter). (5) Note gaps between what is taught and what the child experiences at playtime and at home.
  • Example language (illustrative): "So I can back up what your class already does, could you tell me what the calming steps are called here, and what happens when a child can't use them?"
  • Watch for: schools that use the programme name but not its lessons (an implementation problem: Durlak et al. 2011 found implementation problems moderated outcomes [source: OJP abstract]); a behaviour policy that contradicts the programme's message. It is working when you can describe the child's school day in the school's own terms.

2. Shared formulation in CASEL 5 terms

  • Purpose: turn a vague complaint ("won't behave") into specific competencies that parents, teachers and therapist can agree on. Use after assessment, when a school speaks SEL language [synthesis; competencies from CASEL framework page].
  • Steps: (1) List the observed difficulties with concrete examples. (2) Sort each under self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills or responsible decision-making. (3) Separate skill (cannot yet) from performance (can, but not under stress, in this context, or with this adult). (4) Add the contexts: classroom, playground, home, community. (5) Add your clinical formulation (development, anxiety, trauma, learning difficulty), which the CASEL 5 does not replace. (6) Agree one or two priority goals written as observable behaviour.
  • Example language (illustrative): "In school language, the hard part seems to be self-management when he's told 'no' at playtime. In class he can name the steps. Out on the playground they disappear. Does that fit what you see at home?"
  • Watch for: competency labels hiding a diagnosis or a safeguarding concern; competencies used to blame the child; mismatched cultural expectations (for example eye contact, assertiveness). It is working when everyone uses the same one or two goals.

3. Assessment and referral when the setting's approach delays assessment

  • Purpose: make sure SEL or character work is not standing in for assessing ADHD, autism, dyslexia, language disorder, other special educational needs or mental disorder [synthesis].
  • Steps: (1) Screen developmental history, learning profile, attention, social communication, sensory needs, mood, anxiety, trauma and family stress. (2) Ask how long the child has had universal SEL and what changed. (3) If difficulties persist across settings despite good-quality universal input, or are disproportionate, recommend assessment. That means the school's special educational needs process, a paediatrician or child psychiatrist, an educational psychologist, or speech and language therapy, as local systems provide. (4) Write a short consultation note with your reasons. (5) Keep supporting the child while assessment is pending.
  • Example language (illustrative): "The class programme is a good base, and it teaches every child the same thing. What we're seeing goes beyond what it's designed for, so I'd recommend an assessment alongside it rather than waiting for it to 'kick in'."
  • Watch for: "he just needs more character" or "more resilience" framing; long waits justified by programme participation; families blamed for difficulties. It is working when a referral is made and the child's plan reflects the assessment.

4. Consultation meeting with teachers and pastoral staff

  • Purpose: align your work with the classroom so the child meets one consistent approach [synthesis; CASEL calls for common language and strategies across settings, source: CASEL framework page].
  • Steps: (1) Agree the agenda and what you may share (consent and assent). (2) Open with the child's strengths. (3) Share the agreed goal in the school's vocabulary. (4) Agree one prompt staff will use, one place the skill will be practised, and how success will be noticed. (5) Ask about staff capacity and stress. (6) Set a review date and a channel for concerns, including safeguarding.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Could we pick one phrase that you, his parents and I all use when he's starting to boil over? Ideally one from your programme, so it isn't something new to learn."
  • Watch for: sharing more clinical detail than needed; the meeting becoming a complaint session about the child; the therapist being recruited into discipline decisions. It is working when staff report using the prompt and the child hears the same words at home.

5. Reinforcing "stop and calm" self-control (PATHS turtle approach)

  • Purpose: support self-regulation for a child in a PATHS school. The programme teaches it through a story about a young turtle who learns to stop, take a breath, and name the problem and the feelings it causes [source: Public Safety Canada, PATHS profile].
  • Steps: (1) Ask the child to teach you what they learned in class (this checks understanding and builds mastery). (2) Practise the stop, breathe, name sequence in session using the school's own cue, starting with a calm rehearsal and then a mildly frustrating game. (3) Link it to a real recent incident. (4) Share the cue with parents for home. (5) Review where it worked and where it did not.
  • Example language (illustrative): "You're the teacher today. Show me what the turtle does when it gets really cross. ... Great. Now let's try it while this tower keeps falling down."
  • Watch for: the cue being used as a punishment ("go do your turtle"); a child whose dysregulation stems from trauma, sensory overload or anxiety and needs more than a cue. It is working when the child starts the sequence with fewer prompts and incidents shorten.

6. Control signals and step-wise problem-solving (PATHS)

  • Purpose: structure problem-solving with the programme's traffic-light signal (red, calm down; yellow, slow down; green, try the plan) and its formal problem-solving steps, which run from stopping and calming down through to evaluating the plan and trying again [source: Public Safety Canada, PATHS profile].
  • Steps: (1) Pick a real, low-stakes problem the child brings. (2) Red: calm first, using item 5. (3) Yellow: name the problem and the feeling, and think of more than one solution and its likely result. (4) Green: choose and rehearse one plan through role-play. (5) Next session: did it work, and what would they try instead. Use the school's version of the steps, not your own list.
  • Example language (illustrative): "We're on red right now, so no plans yet. Let's get calm. ... Okay, yellow: what's the problem, and how many different things could you do?"
  • Watch for: skipping straight to green under stress; adult-generated solutions; impulsivity that persists with good teaching, which may point to an attention difficulty (item 3). It is working when the child produces options independently and uses "red" spontaneously.

7. Feelings vocabulary linked to values and thoughts

  • Purpose: build CASEL self-awareness: naming feelings and linking them to values and thoughts, and recognising personal and cultural strengths [source: CASEL framework page]. Also the PATHS feelings and relationships unit and Second Step's Emotion Management unit [source: PATHS and Second Step profiles].
  • Steps: (1) Find out which feeling words the class programme uses and start there. (2) Use recent events to name the feeling, where it showed in the body, the thought, and what mattered (the value). (3) Widen the range of words gradually. (4) Practise noticing feelings in others (social awareness). (5) Invite home practice with parents, using the family's own words and languages.
  • Example language (illustrative): "When your friend got picked and you didn't, what was the feeling? ... And what does that tell us you care about?"
  • Watch for: alexithymia, autism or language difficulties that need adapted methods; feelings talk that is unsafe at home; cultural norms about emotional expression. It is working when the child names feelings at the time rather than only afterwards.

8. Empathy and perspective-taking practice

  • Purpose: build CASEL social awareness (taking others' viewpoints, empathy, compassion) [source: CASEL framework page], which is a Second Step core unit [source: NHS Scotland, Second Step].
  • Steps: (1) Recall a conflict. (2) Retell it from the child's view, then the other person's. (3) Name each person's likely feeling and need. (4) Brainstorm a caring response. (5) Role-play it with roles swapped.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Let's freeze the story. If you were Sam right then, what might you be feeling? What might you be hoping would happen?"
  • Watch for: perspective-taking demanded of a child who has been bullied or harmed. Do not ask a victim to empathise with an aggressor; address safety first [synthesis]. It is working when the child volunteers the other person's view unprompted.

9. Inclusive welcome (CASEL signature practice)

  • Purpose: open a group, family or consultation meeting in a culturally and linguistically respectful way that builds community and connects to the work ahead [source: CASEL SEL 3 Signature Practices].
  • Steps: (1) Decide the session's purpose. (2) Choose a brief opening that everyone can join (a one-word check-in, a name and a strength), with the option to pass. (3) Link it explicitly to the work that follows.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Before we start: one word for how this week has been, and you can say 'pass'. ... Several of you said 'busy', so today we'll look at stress."
  • Watch for: openings that expose a young person or force disclosure in front of peers or parents; an opening that is a time-filler (CASEL warns against this). It is working when participants arrive ready and opening contributions feed the session.

10. Engaging strategies within a session (CASEL signature practice)

  • Purpose: embed a mix of interactive and reflective activities so participants understand content and connect it to their own lives [source: CASEL SEL 3 Signature Practices]. This is the "active" element of SAFE [source: CASEL framework page].
  • Steps: (1) Name the session's intended outcome. (2) Alternate doing (role-play, a game, drawing) with reflecting (what did you notice). (3) Vary complexity for age and ability. (4) Check with participants what helped.
  • Example language (illustrative): "We've talked for a while, so let's act it out. Then we'll pause and you can tell me which bit felt most real."
  • Watch for: activities that overstimulate, or that are inaccessible because of disability; reflection that becomes lecturing. It is working when the young person can say what they learned in their own words.

11. Intentional close (CASEL signature practice)

  • Purpose: end with reflection, a sense of accomplishment and a bridge to the next step [source: CASEL SEL 3 Signature Practices].
  • Steps: (1) Leave time for it. (2) Choose a closing that fits the session's purpose: one thing learned, one thing to try, or an appreciation of someone present. (3) Name the practice task and who will support it (a teacher or parent). (4) In family or group work, end on something shared.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Before we finish: one thing you'll try this week, and who's going to help you remember it."
  • Watch for: sessions that end in distress with no settling. If a session raises risk, the close is replaced by safety planning [synthesis]. It is working when practice tasks are recalled at the next session.

12. Virtue literacy using the Jubilee building blocks

  • Purpose: give a young person words for their own strengths across the four groups of virtues in the Jubilee Framework: intellectual (for example curiosity, critical thinking), moral (for example honesty, compassion, courage), civic (for example service, civility) and performance (for example perseverance, resilience, teamwork) [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. Useful for low self-worth, identity work, or when a school's values language is part of the child's world.
  • Steps: (1) Ask for a recent moment the young person felt proud of, or wished they had acted differently. (2) Name together the virtues shown or missing, using the four groups. (3) Explore each virtue across its components as the Framework lists them (perception, knowledge and understanding, emotion, identity, motivation, reasoning, action and practice): did they notice the situation called for it, did they feel it, did they act? (4) Choose one virtue to practise and a situation to practise it in.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Sticking with that maths problem after three wrong tries, that's perseverance. Telling your friend the truth when it was awkward, that's honesty and courage together."
  • Watch for: virtue language turned into self-criticism ("I'm not a good person"); perfectionism; the school's values used to shame. It is working when the young person names their own strengths unprompted.

13. Dilemma discussion for practical wisdom (phronesis)

  • Purpose: practise integrating virtues that conflict. The Jubilee Framework calls phronesis the meta-virtue of knowing what is desirable when two or more virtues conflict and turning that into an acceptable course of action [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. Use with older children and adolescents facing real moral conflicts (loyalty against honesty, kindness against fairness).
  • Steps: (1) Take the young person's own dilemma, or a close fictional analogue if theirs is too raw. (2) Name the virtues pulling each way. (3) Explore consequences for each person involved (CASEL's responsible decision-making) [source: CASEL framework page]. (4) Look for an option that honours both values. (5) Rehearse it and agree what to do if it goes badly. (6) If the dilemma involves harm to anyone, safeguarding takes precedence (item 19).
  • Example language (illustrative): "So part of you wants to be loyal to your friend and part of you wants to be honest with the teacher. Both of those are good things. Is there a way to be fair to both?"
  • Watch for: dilemmas that are really disclosures (a friend self-harming, abuse); moralising by the therapist. It is working when the young person can hold both values without collapsing into one.

14. Supporting character "sought": chosen experiences and service

  • Purpose: help a young person pick experiences inside or outside school that reflect their own freely pursued growth (Jubilee "sought") [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.], including the repeated practice and reflection through activities such as service that Character.org Principle 5 describes [source: Character.org 11 Principles]. Useful for isolation, low mood or lack of direction. Cross-refer 062 (mentoring) and other formation entries such as scouting, guiding and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in this family.
  • Steps: (1) Explore interests and values. (2) List accessible options, considering cost, transport, disability access and safety. (3) The young person chooses. (4) Plan the first step and possible obstacles. (5) Debrief afterwards on what they did, felt and learned about themselves.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Out of everything on this list, which one would you pick if nobody was watching or grading it?"
  • Watch for: activities chosen to please adults; an activity that becomes a source of pressure or exclusion; unvetted adults or organisations (check safeguarding policies) [synthesis]. It is working when participation is self-sustaining.

15. Consulting on behaviour plans and intrinsic motivation [synthesis]

  • Purpose: bring behaviour plans in line with the principle that pupils "do the right thing" for intrinsic reasons and that rules are explained in character terms (Character.org Principle 7) [source: Character.org 11 Principles], and with CASEL's call for discipline policies that support SEL and equitable outcomes [source: CASEL Focus Area 3 overview].
  • Steps: (1) Review the child's current plan: rewards, sanctions, exclusions. (2) Identify what the behaviour does for the child (its function) and which skill is missing. (3) Propose that each rule be explained by the value behind it, that the replacement skill be taught, and that rewards be phased down as the skill becomes established. (4) Check for patterns of disproportionate sanctions. (5) Agree how the plan is explained to the child.
  • Example language (illustrative): "The sticker chart got him through the first fortnight. What would it look like to start telling him why the rule matters, so the stickers aren't carrying all the weight?"
  • Watch for: removing structure too fast for a child who needs it (for example with ADHD); disagreement within staff about discipline. It is working when the behaviour holds as external rewards are reduced.

16. Family partnership sessions [synthesis]

  • Purpose: support two-way communication between home and school about the child's social-emotional development (CASEL family partnerships) [source: CASEL Focus Area 3 overview], respecting parents as primary educators of character [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.] and the home practice Second Step recommends [source: NHS Scotland, Second Step].
  • Steps: (1) Ask the parents what values they hope the child grows into, and how they were raised. (2) Show them the school's skill language (for example a parent letter, if the school issues one). (3) Decide together which strategies fit the family's culture and language, adapting where needed. (4) Coach one strategy (for example co-regulation before problem-solving). (5) Plan how parents and school update each other.
  • Example language (illustrative): "The school uses its own words for this. What do you call it at home? Let's find a version that makes sense in your family."
  • Watch for: parents who feel judged by the school's framework; parents' own regulation difficulties, mental health or domestic abuse (screen and support) [synthesis]. It is working when parents use the strategy and report back to school.

17. Consultation on adult SEL and staff stress [synthesis]

  • Purpose: strengthen the regulation and wellbeing of the adults around the child (CASEL Focus Area 2, strengthen adult SEL) [source: CASEL Schoolwide SEL Guide].
  • Steps: (1) Ask staff what situations with this child are hardest for them. (2) Normalise the stress. (3) Plan a brief adult self-regulation step before responding to the child. (4) Discuss how adults can model the skills the child is learning. (5) Signpost staff wellbeing support. Do not turn consultation into therapy for staff (role boundaries).
  • Example language (illustrative): "Working with him on a hard day sounds exhausting. What helps you get back to calm before you respond?"
  • Watch for: blaming individual staff; slipping into personal counselling; systemic problems (staffing, workload) that call for management action. It is working when staff responses become calmer and more predictable.

18. Monitoring progress with several informants [synthesis]

  • Purpose: judge change without over-relying on self-report or global character ratings. The Jubilee Framework advises caution with self-report measures, judges aggregating individual character profiles neither feasible nor desirable, and recommends multiple data sources when assessing specific strategies [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. Character.org Principle 11 asks schools to assess their initiative every year using surveys, interviews, focus groups and reflections [source: Character.org 11 Principles].
  • Steps: (1) Define the one or two observable goals (item 2). (2) Collect brief observations from teacher, parent and child at baseline and review. (3) Add validated clinical measures for symptoms where indicated, used under their licences. (4) Review together and decide whether to step down, continue or refer.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Let's each keep a quick note of how many times this happens in a week. Then we can compare what home and school see."
  • Watch for: reports that differ between informants (explore the context rather than choose one); a school using SEL ratings to label a child. It is working when informants agree on direction of change.

19. Safeguarding when SEL lessons or sessions surface disclosures [synthesis]

  • Purpose: respond safely when emotion-focused teaching, or a programme's child-protection unit (Second Step has an optional Child Protection unit [source: NHS Scotland, Second Step]), prompts a child to disclose abuse, neglect, self-harm or bullying.
  • Steps: (1) Listen calmly and do not promise secrecy. (2) Use open, non-leading questions and record the child's words. (3) Follow the setting's and your own child-protection procedures and mandatory reporting law without delay. (4) Tell the designated safeguarding lead or the local statutory service. (5) Assess suicide risk using standard practice where self-harm is raised, and give crisis contacts (988 in the US; Samaritans 116 123 in the UK and Ireland). (6) Agree follow-up support for the child.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Thank you for telling me. You've done the right thing. I can't keep this just between us, because it's my job to make sure you're safe. Here's what happens next."
  • Watch for: pressure from a setting to handle matters internally; group settings where disclosure exposes the child. It is working when the referral is made and the child stays connected to a trusted adult.

20. Working with parental concerns about SEL [synthesis]

  • Purpose: help parents who object to or are anxious about SEL decide what they want for their child, without taking sides politically. In the US, NBC News reported that some conservative critics call SEL a "Trojan horse" for critical race theory and progressive views on race, gender and sexuality, and argue that it takes time from core subjects and weakens accountability. It also reported that several state legislatures had considered bills to ban SEL, while supporters cite research and its bipartisan origins, including a 2019 Texas law requiring threat assessment and SEL programmes [source: NBC News].
  • Steps: (1) Ask what specifically worries them: content, values, data, time. (2) Help them get the actual materials and policy from the school, including any opt-out arrangements. (3) Separate the child's needs from the wider dispute. (4) Respect the family's values and keep the child's wellbeing central. (5) If the family withdraws from SEL, plan how the child's goals will still be met.
  • Example language (illustrative): "You've heard a lot about this in the news. Shall we look at what your daughter's class is actually doing, and then you can decide what you're comfortable with?"
  • Watch for: the therapist's own political views entering the work; the child caught between parents and school. It is working when parents make an informed decision and the child's plan continues.

21. Delivering or co-delivering a programme as a clinician [synthesis]

  • Purpose: run an SEL group in a school or clinic setting with fidelity and clear roles.
  • Steps: (1) Complete the programme's required training: for PATHS, staff training throughout delivery with observation and team meetings, and boosters after year two; for Second Step, three sequential online modules [source: PATHS and Second Step profiles]. (2) Deliver lessons in order and at the published frequency, since Second Step's units build on each other and PATHS sets lesson frequency [source: same]. (3) Use SAFE and the signature practices (items 9 to 11). (4) Agree in writing with the school who the client is, what is confidential, how concerns are escalated, and the insurance and liability cover for the setting. (5) Monitor fidelity and outcomes (item 18).
  • Example language (illustrative): "In this group we'll practise the same steps your class uses. What's said here stays here, unless someone might not be safe. Then I'd have to tell someone who can help."
  • Watch for: multiple relationships, for example a child in the group who is also your individual client (APA Ethics Code Standard 3.05); delivering adapted, unlicensed versions while using the brand name. It is working when fidelity checks are met and goals improve.

22. Working with an adult's own formative experience [synthesis]

  • Purpose: explore how an adult client's schooling in values, emotions and character shaped them, for example pride in a values-based school, or shame from values language used to discipline them. Also useful for a parent choosing a school for their child.
  • Steps: (1) Invite the story of their school's ethos and key adults (character "caught" through role models and culture, as the Jubilee Framework describes it [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]). (2) Separate the values they still endorse from those imposed. (3) Explore emotions about it: gratitude, grief, anger. (4) Link it to current patterns (perfectionism, self-criticism, people-pleasing, strengths). (5) Help them name their own values now. For a client whose distress centres on loss of a religious or moral framework from their schooling, the DSM-5-TR category Religious or Spiritual Problem may apply, coded Z65.8 in ICD-10-CM, which lists religious or spiritual problem under its Includes [source: ICD-10-CM Z65.8 (Unbound Medicine)]. DSM-5-TR wording is [uncertain: not verified].
  • Example language (illustrative): "Your school had its values on every wall. Which of them feel like yours now, and which ones still feel like someone else's rules?"
  • Watch for: abuse in school settings, which needs trauma-focused care and, where relevant, reporting; idealising or demonising the school. It is working when the client can describe their own values in their own words.

5. Handling problems

The programme sources say little about clinical difficulties. Apart from the cited points, this section is [synthesis].

  • Child knows the steps but never uses them. This is a performance gap, not a skill gap. Practise under graded, mild stress in session (items 5 and 6). Check that prompts happen in the hard moments (playground, transitions). Look for anxiety, sensory overload, attention difficulty or trauma reactions that block access to skills, and assess where indicated (item 3).
  • "He's had SEL for two years, so it must be the family." Reframe: universal programmes teach every child the same content. Persistent difficulty calls for assessment, not more of the same. Durlak et al. (2011) note that outcomes depend on implementation [source: OJP abstract], so ask how the programme is actually delivered.
  • The setting's ethos delays assessment (for example a belief that character or resilience work will resolve suspected autism, ADHD or dyslexia). Write a clear consultation note recommending assessment with your reasons, give the family the referral routes, and keep a dated record. Escalate through the school's special educational needs process if needed (item 3).
  • Resistance from the young person ("SEL is babyish", "I'm not doing feelings"). Drop the programme vocabulary and use their language. Work from their goals (friendships, avoiding trouble, sport), use activities over talk (item 10), and offer choice (item 14).
  • Overwhelm in session (feelings work triggers distress or traumatic memories). Stop, ground, and return to regulation first. Move to trauma-informed assessment, and do not continue perspective-taking or dilemma work about the trauma itself (items 8 and 13).
  • Non-adherence to home practice. Shrink the task to one prompt in one situation, attach it to an existing routine, and check whether the strategy fits the family's culture and language (item 16). Ask about practical barriers (shift work, siblings, housing).
  • Rupture with parents who feel blamed by the school's framework. Acknowledge it, repair, and restate that you work for the child and family, not as the school's enforcer. Reconfirm what will be shared (consent and assent).
  • Rupture with school staff (the therapist seen as soft on discipline). Ask about their constraints. Present your proposals as supporting the behaviour policy, and agree small, observable trials (item 15).
  • Values clash (a family's religious or cultural values conflict with the school's values language). Explore what the conflict means to the family. The Jubilee Framework states that character is not exclusively religious [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.], and Character.org asks for values that transcend religious and cultural differences [source: Character.org 11 Principles]. Help the family and school find common ground, and use cultural humility and, where relevant, the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview with its spirituality, religion and moral traditions module.
  • Political dispute in the family or community. Stay neutral and focused on the child (item 20). Do not offer opinions on legislation or on school board politics.
  • Character language used to shame ("you have bad character"). Share with staff the Jubilee caution about labelling and measurement [source: Jubilee Centre Framework, 3rd ed.]. Separate behaviour from identity in all language, and screen the child for shame-driven low mood.
  • Disclosure arises mid-programme. Follow item 19 at once. Programme fidelity never delays safeguarding.
  • Multiple-role tension (you deliver the school group and see a pupil individually, or you are employed by the school). Clarify who the client is and the confidentiality limits in writing. Consider transferring one role, and see APA Ethics Code Standard 3.05.
  • Unlicensed adaptation. If a school asks you to "do PATHS" or "do Second Step" without materials or training, say no to the brand and offer non-branded skills work, clearly labelled [synthesis; training requirements from programme profiles].
  • No measurable change. Revisit the formulation. Check whether goals are observable and whether informants agree (item 18). Consider unmet learning or developmental needs, family stress, bullying or abuse, and refer on.
  • Accessibility (disability, language, literacy). Adapt the materials' format and pace, use visual supports, and include interpreters for family sessions. Do not interpret disability-related behaviour as a lack of character.

Cross-references: 062 mentoring programmes (VI 131); 056 Waldorf/Steiner education (XIV 053, 054); other formation and education entries in this family.

Sources

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