Exploring the implementation of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in Primary Schools across the subject areas of Physical Education (PE) and Drama in Education (DE) Erasmus Project

Project Title

Exploring the implementation of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in Primary Schools across the subject areas of Physical Education (PE) and Drama in Education (DE)

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)

Project Summary

Over the past few years teachers seem to make exceptionally strenuous efforts to handle their students’ discipline (and general behavior) and motivation problems. However, only few of them receive support on how they can develop social and emotional skills in their mainstream teaching.
In our project, the curricula of Physical Education (PE) and Drama in Education (DE) were selected to serve as vehicles in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) due to their experiential nature; they give to students the opportunities to learn in authentic situations in the school, the learning becomes significantly more powerful, the students connect their learning to actual experiences, they have opportunities for reflection and draw meaning from their reflections, they create new learning, and they transfer their learning into the next experience, they acquire increased motivation for learning and real-world problem-solving skills which can help to create self-directed learners.
This project aspires to explore the integration/implementation of SEL teaching strategies/practices across the subject areas of PE and DE in primary school. Most of the practices will be delived from PE and DA and all of them will be experiential. The project will attempt to provide recommendations on both structured programmes of PE and DE and potential everyday teaching (flexible) practices in other subjects which classroom teachers deliver.
The project’s main objective is the DEVELOPMENT of students’ SEL COMPETENCIES and PERSONAL-SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY and subsequently a substantial contribution in the reduction of conduct problems, in the improvement of academic performance and of school climate as well, as a result of the development of social and emotional skills of the students.
Project objectives will be achieved, firstly, through the development of simple activities, routines, strategies (in the form of particular lesson plans) in the subjects of PE and DE that teachers will use to promote their students’ SEL, secondly, through the implementation of these activities in the particular subjects of PE and DA, and, third, through the transfer and incorporation of the basic principles of SEL combined implementation in PE and DA to other school subjects, everyday teaching strategies of classroom teachers and whole-school ethos and policies.
Teachers assigned with the implementation of the lesson plans will be trained by experts in PA and DA through authentic experiential workshops and will be given the necessary theoritical framework and tools to implement the SEL lesson plans. In addition, the progress of the project will be continuoulsy supported and monitored; practitioners engaged will be given continuous guidance and feedback. Cooperation and interaction of all partners and regular review of the progress and modifications with care will be made during the project imlementation.
Two different age groups of students (one from 6 to 9 and one from 10 to 12) of each partner school will be taught SEL through PE and DA at the same time. However, principles (derived from SEL implementation in PE and DA), messages, routines, strategies and norms will be aligned across the classroom (i.e. class rules) and whole-school setting (i.e. anti-bullying policies), in order for all students to learn and apply social and emotional skills more rapidly and more effectively. Thus, the whole school staff as well as all the students of each school will be involved in the process.
Finally, an attempt will be made to evaluate the impact of the above mentioned SEL experiential activities on students, teachers, and school climate in an informal or formal way (or both) by using validated measurement tools. Advice to PE and Drama teachers to effectively deliver SEL activities to children will be provided. A compilation of multiple sources of evidence, such as teacher reports about students’ behaviors, student academic records, student daily logs and self-assessment rubrics and student and teacher interviews will provide a well-rounded picture of the project effectiveness or areas of possible improvement.
The impact of the participation of the involved schools will be long-term, global, and multidimensional; long-term development of the students, the school staff and substantial improvement of school climate are expected. It is expected that students participating in our SEL program will show improved classroom behavior, an increased ability to manage stress and depression, and better attitudes about themselves, others, and school. Classroom teachers will acquire experience in planning, supporting, and monitoring SEL programs and assessing their effectiveness.
Finally, there will be active engagement of parents to reinforce skills in the home environment. Besides, a network of local elementary schools will be build to provide support for SEL delivery. A compelling case on the benefits of SEL will be made for national stakeholders to include SEL in national curricula.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 159136 Eur

Project Coordinator

28th Elementary School of Trikala & Country: EL

Project Partners

• Istituto Comprensivo Statale Ignoto Militi
• Escola_Teresa_Miquel_i_Pamies
• CEIP EL CARMEN
• 13th primary school of Trikala
• ISTITUTO DEI SORDI DI TORINO