Socio-Emotional Development: The Case for Understanding

Human growth and development generally comprise two areas: knowledge of capabilities at different stages of life and the interaction of environment, biology, and their influence on development. Social-emotional development includes the development of self or temperament and relationship or attachment to others.

Temperament is an innate attribute that defines our approach to the world and how we respond to our environment. Temperament is essentially one’s personality. It influences behavior and interaction with others. There are friendly and delightful personalities, active and lively personalities, and careful and calculative personalities. No one fits perfectly into one category, but these are guidelines for an individual’s regular temperament.

Social-emotional development begins with parental bonding, while socialization with other persons is also crucial to development. This bonding happens throughout our lives, and the development of trust is what attachment is all about. Even before acquiring language, babies learn to communicate through emotions. Therefore, emotional intelligence at any stage of life is an important element of successful relationships and environments.

Students will face environmental challenges, and as they become more familiar with how society operates, their temperament manifests and gains expression, which makes them become more aggressive or reserved.

From an early age, we imitate other people's behaviors and actions, and students in their teens begin to react impulsively. However, understanding gender roles and peer relationships is very important to their growth. Adolescents test the limits of parents, authority figures, and norms. The need for choice is extremely valuable for understanding for them.

Most of our behavior is influenced by observing others. Bandura believed that this observation, imitation, and modeling enabled children to self-regulate their actions. He proposes that children develop by observing new behavior through inherent reinforcement, which must conform to acquired internal standards. Bandura also suggests they will experience a sense of personal failure if they fail to meet those standards.

Primary socialization occurs within a child’s family. However, the school context often forms as a secondary socialization. The school environment gives the child an opportunity to play freely, both unstructured and structured. This provides the opportunity for the reinforcement and extension of skills vital to our daily lives. Today's schools are completely diverse, with students from different social and economic backgrounds. Social and emotional learning provides the network for positive learning and enriches students' ability to succeed in school.

Social and emotional learning entails students developing in some key areas:

• Self-awareness includes understanding your personal emotions, evaluating your strengths and limitations, and having a growth mindset.

• Self-management entails that certain skills and attitudes are needed to control one's own emotions and behaviors. It means the ability to ignore or control instant gratification, manage stress, control impulsive behavior, and be challenged and overcome those challenges.

• Social awareness includes the capacity to understand, empathize, and feel compassion for those with different backgrounds or cultures.

• Relationship skills are needed to help students establish and maintain healthy relationships. This involves communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, and negotiating conflict constructively.

• Responsible decision-making is about learning how to make practical choices about behavior and social interactions across diverse settings.

• School is a primary place where students improve their social and emotional skills. In the long run, greater social and emotional competence can increase the likelihood of high school graduation, readiness for postsecondary education, positive family and work relationships, and engaged citizenship.