What is School For: Insights from Dr. Elias, Professor of Psychology and Director of Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab
What is school for? We recently sat down with Dr. Maurice Elias, a professor of Psychology at Rutgers University and the Director of Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab, to try and answer that very question.
Some might debate that a school’s only goal is to teach students the academics that will help them pass AP exams, get into college, and then be successful in their chosen careers. However, with students spending nearly as much time in the classroom with their teachers as they do at home with their families during the school week, should a school’s only focus be on academic achievement?
Dr. Elias is a champion of developing student emotional intelligence, school success, and character development and provides insights as to why incorporating social and emotional learning in the classroom is just as necessary as academic learning. Let’s dive into his insights.
Why Educators Focus Heavily on Academic Performance
Before diving into schools’ role in helping students develop social and emotional skills, Dr. Elias first gave a brief explanation about why schools were originally created. School was originally created to provide all children with basic knowledge through a defined curriculum. This knowledge focused heavily on intellectual ability in core subjects like the ones we see today, including math, science, English/language arts, and social studies.
Dr. Elias explained that academic subjects like these are easy to measure. Teachers provide the knowledge to students and then evaluate their ability to retain and perform that knowledge through exams. Then, these scores give a quantitative measurement of their ability to perform that topic.
“This type of learning has become so emphasized in schools because society measures people’s abilities by their intellectual performance in school,” Dr. Elias said. He stressed that teachers and students are expected to meet quantitative scores in grade school in order to get into higher education colleges and universities and get jobs in the future.
The Power of Social-Emotional Learning
As academics developed, Dr. Elias explained that the emphasis on intellectual learning took away from teachers’ ability to focus on social-emotional learning which is essential for developing well-rounded students. In the interview, Dr. Elias says, “Just as adding and subtracting are essential for algebra, we need kids to have advanced social skills based on identifying simple emotions as they grow and learn and focus on concepts like ‘else.’ For example, ‘What else could happen?’”
After all, students spend the majority of their time in a classroom under the supervision of their teachers. Teachers are present for the positive and negative moments in their students’ lives, meaning it’s important for students to feel comfortable and safe in the classroom to freely express their emotions. But before this can happen, teachers have to give students the space to express their emotions and navigate their day-to-day challenges. When students learn how to do this in the classroom, they are able to take these skills and apply them to their lives outside of the classroom.
Dr. Elias shared, “When you give young people a sense of purpose and you show them that they matter, when you show them that you trust them, and when you make them partners in accomplishing something, like navigating an especially difficult challenge, you help them understand that everyone needs this type of preparation. It’s not remediation – we’re not trying to fix you, we’re trying to prepare you. All kids are very responsive to that.”
“When you give young people a sense of purpose and you show them that they matter, when you show them that you trust them, and when you make them partners in accomplishing something, like navigating an especially difficult challenge, you help them understand that everyone needs this type of preparation.”
– Dr. Maurice Elias
Changes in School Curriculum
As students begin to turn to technology and social media for a sense of connection and community, it is more important than ever that teachers help prepare students to face challenges by developing modern-day life skills, like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
In the words of Dr. Elias, “To what extent are we preparing kids for the tests of life and not just a life of tests?” School can be so much more than academics. School can be a place students look forward to attending because they know they will be accepted, their voices will be heard, and they will be supported by their teachers.
“To what extent are we preparing kids for the tests of life and not just a life of tests?”
– Dr. Maurice Elias
And teachers are not alone as they help students develop life skills that empower them to navigate their worlds – both online and offline. Tech tools, like The Social Institute’s peer-to-peer technology, make this easier than ever. By integrating technology with students’ social and emotional learning in school, educators prepare students for life after school, while incorporating an online presence they are familiar with and enjoy.
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The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in understanding student experiences and creator of #WinAtSocial, a gamified, online learning platform that equips students, educators, and families to navigate social experiences — online and offline — in healthy ways. Our unique, student-respected approach incorporates topics like social media, technology use, and current events that have a significant impact on student well-being. Lessons teach life skills for the modern day to inspire high-character decisions that support the health, happiness, and future success of students while capturing data that provides insights to school leaders to inform school policy and communications and enable high-impact teaching and a healthy learning environment. For schools, our turnkey technology allows for easy implementation and a comprehensive game plan to support the well-being of school communities. For schools, our turnkey technology allows for easy implementation and a comprehensive game plan to support the well-being of school communities.