Programs to promote social and emotional learning (SEL) risk making assumptions about the global relevance of core competences. Because scholarship is lacking about SEL in many parts of the world, new approaches are needed to contextualize the goals of SEL programs in a realistic time frame. Previous work in anthropology and developmental psychology can help us predict which competences are likely to be valued, given the sociodemographic characteristics of a society. In rural environments where subsistence agriculture is common, for example, communities are likely to value social responsibility, respect, and obedience. Attention should look beyond the needs of the here and now, however, to speculate what competences today’s children will require in the future. Looking at the current variation of competences within a society—for example, the values that teachers, but not parents, place on confidence and curiosity—can help identify immediate pathways for developing new competences. In all of these considerations, the goals of an SEL program must be negotiated with the communities themselves in order to ensure relevance, effectiveness, and acceptance. The hope is that such considerations can help prevent global homogenization of SEL programs, instead ensuring that they genuinely meet the needs of the communities they aim to serve.

The central role that the school and classroom environment or ‘school climate’ plays in social and emotional learning (SEL) is well documented, albeit mostly from US-based studies. RTI International sought to understand how schools in Malawi and Uganda organized themselves to provide positive and supportive places for children to learn and to develop socially and emotionally. The narratives captured in this study help explain how teacher behaviors and school culture serve to nurture social and emotional (SE) skills. Teachers, students, parents, and school management committee (SMC) members discussed the importance of teacher encouragement, friendliness and approachability, appreciation, understanding of and listening to student viewpoints, and modeling of cooperative teacher–teacher interactions to support SEL. School qualities identified as important for SEL included cooperation, student clubs and sports, a violence-free environment, freedom of expression, and commitment to equality. The findings yield insights into what schools can do to develop a culture of SEL, in and outside the classroom.

The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the success of the Journeys intervention in improving school climate; shifting gender attitudes toward more gender equality; strengthening student’s SEL; and reducing the prevalence and extent that pupils experience bullying, corporal punishment, and sexual violence. A second objective of this study is to evaluate how progress on the intermediary variables of school climate, gender attitudes, and violence impacts improvements in attendance and reading outcomes.

This document is intended for program and curriculum experts interested in implementing evidence-based early grade mathematics programs. It was developed by the authors of this document, who are mathematics teaching and learning experts with extensive experience adapting evidence-based practices in low and middle-income contexts. Our collective field and research experience, combined with the existing evidence base, led us to focus on four instructional strategies that are key to effective mathematics instruction: 1. Respecting developmental progressions 2. Using mathematical models to represent abstract notions 3. Encouraging children to explain and justify their thinking 4. Making explicit connections for children between formal and informal math While these four instructional strategies are very important, they are not the only instructional strategies that can result in improved learning outcomes. Effective early grade mathematics teachers draw from an extensive repertoire of evidence-based instructional strategies and strive to create a learning environment the supports that development of positive mathematical identities.

Briefer describing the Results of the Social and Behavior Change Communication Campaign in Uganda to Eliminate Corporal Punishment in Schools.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Uganda-funded Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity designed an eight-week social and behavior change communication (SBCC) pilot to measure the efficacy of SBCC in reducing teachers’ use of corporal punishment in schools.

Primary 4 English Teacher's guide developed by National Curriculum Development Center with support from RTI through USAID and the USAID/Uganda School Health and Reading Program. This and other curricular materials made available on SharEd are not for revision or resale inside our outside of Uganda.

Interpersonal Communication Personnel Talking Points created by USAID/Uganda's Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA) as part of their Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) materials to reduce primary teachers' use of corporal punishment in school.