Fostering Enthusiasm and Buy-In for Social-Emotional Learning Programs | By: Committee for Children Throughout the many discussions I have had with others about social-emotional learning (SEL) over the years, one topic that always seems to surface is getting buy-in and support for SEL programs. Some of the questions that often come up are: How do we get staff who are already feeling overwhelmed to see that adding an SEL program will benefit them and their students? How do we get administrators and the school board to see the importance of SEL and to support it? What is the best way to communicate the benefits of SEL given all that’s on our plates? How do we keep implementation going year after year? These questions involve issues that we regularly face in my district, even though we have been using Committee for Children programs for many years. Staff changes, budget cuts, increased staff responsibilities, and environmental changes, such as increased class sizes, are all factors that can affect even the most solid plans for SEL implementation. Here are some possible ideas for fostering initial or ongoing buy-in for SEL. Prepare a short presentation for staff, principal, and school board meetings that shows the benefits of SEL. Committee for Children’s Tonje Molyneux found this excellent PowerPoint that was already developed by CASEL for school use. It has some great points about how SEL relates to improved achievement and emotional well-being. Additional presentation ideas: If there are staff who have already implemented the Second Step or Steps to Respect program, ask them to say a few words about why they like it, or about their successes with SEL. Discuss the relevance of SEL in relation to district initiatives. For example, one of our district goals involves career readiness, so we highlight that Second Step lessons teach career-readiness skills such as cooperation. Work with your communications director or school media representative to prepare a piece about SEL in the schools. For example, write about how it is being used in classrooms. This is a great way to share the benefits of SEL with your community at large. Form a group of people who are very interested in SEL and who see its benefits. If possible, include community members. Meet and discuss ways for fostering buy-in or for improving implementation. If you have used or are planning to use any of these ideas, please share your experiences. I’d also like to learn about other strategies people have tried. What has worked for you? Need some ideas for getting your colleagues on board for implementing social-emotional learning programs, such as theSecond Stepprogram?