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.

Action pack/brief from National Learning Symposium on Creating a Safe and Positive Learning Environment held in Kampala, Uganda on September 19 - 20, 2019.

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.

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.

Forum Theatre / Community Theatre Drama Skit Script titled "Those Things Don't Work Here!" 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.

"Teacher, Forgive Me!" Forum Theatre / Community Theatre Drama Skit Script 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.

Tips for Positive Discipline that can be used as posters or a booklet 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.