A 3-Year Approach to SEL in Your School
Building a school-wide SEL program doesn’t mean introducing everything at once. In fact, trying to roll out several new programs at the same time can make it harder for any of them to really take hold.
We recommend taking a slower approach. Choose one program and give your school time to get comfortable with it. Students have a chance to actually use what they’re learning, while staff can figure out how the program fits into the school day without immediately having something else added on top.
Then, when everyone is ready, you can build on it the following year.
Year 1: MAP STARS
MAP STARS is a good place to begin because students themselves play a big role in the program. Older students work with younger classes using movement and roleplay, giving them the chance to take on a leadership role while reinforcing the same messages throughout the school.
Staff help guide the older students and coordinate the participating classes, but they don’t have to take on another program that requires them to lead every lesson.
Year 2: Respect: The Act of Being Kind to Myself
Once students have that foundation, the next year can go a little deeper.
Respect: The Act of Being Kind to Myself looks at what self-respect actually means and how the way we see ourselves can affect the way we treat other people.
The program can be led by a teacher or counsellor and adapted depending on where it’s being used, whether that’s with a full class or a smaller group of students.
Year 3: Why Is Everybody Always Picking on Us?
By the third year, students have already spent time talking about how they treat themselves and others. You can begin bringing some more difficult conversations into the classroom.
Why Is Everybody Always Picking on Us? helps students explore prejudice and unfair treatment without leaving staff to figure out how to introduce those conversations on their own.
The goal isn’t to rush through as many SEL programs as possible. Give each one enough time to become familiar before introducing something new.
Give Each Year Time to Work
The goal isn’t to get through as many SEL programs as possible. If students are introduced to a new idea and then everyone moves on a few weeks later, there isn’t much time for that idea to become part of how they actually handle situations at school.
Give each program room to settle in. Pay attention to how students respond and what teachers notice throughout the year. By the time you introduce something new, it should feel like you’re adding to work that’s already happening rather than starting over again.
A school-wide SEL program can take years to build, and that’s okay. You don’t have to do everything this September.
