We have all seen social media posts lately about the controversy of SEL. There are parent support groups, petitions, and protests. How do you gain parent support of SEL at your school?
Transparency for Parent Support of SEL
Communication, communication, communication. If you didn’t pick up on it, communication is a key factor in gaining parental support for SEL. In our current climate, we are given information right and left. People are afraid and don’t know what to believe. Our imaginations run wild and we start to imagine the worst in every scenario.
Communicate with parents exactly what you are teaching. The Mind Trek program offers Scope and sequence on our website for each grade. Parents hear horror stories of classroom lessons. Give them the facts of what you are teaching.
Share with your parents your district’s SEL framework. Show them what you are teaching when it comes to SEL, Character, and Career Development. Break each pillar down for them. You can even go as far as to share a curriculum map with them.
Keep the conversation going. The Mind Trek Middle School Program offers family communication that you can include in your newsletter. The communication includes a brief description of the topic covered. Family communication also includes a conversation starter. It takes a village to raise a child. Keeping parents informed of what students are learning in school reinforces the lessons at home.
Stakeholder Support
Bring your stakeholders into the conversation. Create a counseling committee or SEL committee to help steer what your department shares. This is also part of becoming a Recognized ASCA Model Program. Consider opening up your committee to parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community members.
Take a close look at your current school data. Delve into the needs of your students or the perceived needs of your students. Look at discipline, absences, grades, counseling requests, reasons for counseling interventions, and counselor time use.
Show off your current counseling curriculum. Does it meet your state standards? Do you have a counseling curriculum? Does it meet your current school needs? Allow the committee to review the scope and sequence, see the lesson plans, try a lesson, and understand how lessons are implemented in your school.
With everything going on in the world today people are living in fear. There shouldn’t be fear over teaching skills to improve the social and emotional needs of our students. The monster under the bed disappears when you turn on the lights. Turn on the lights to your SEL program.
