Teaching social and emotional learning in schools improves academic performance, relationships, social connection, and overall well-being. However, social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions are often seen as an extra addition to the curriculum, not given enough importance, and delivered in standardised ways.
Researchers Dr Sasha Lynn and Professor Annemaree Carroll from The University of Queensland’s Learning Lab have explored using gamification as an innovative way to deliver SEL interventions in schools. As described in their recent blog post with the American Educational Research Association Social Emotional Learning Special Interest Group, gamification is gaining more recognition and shown to have benefits across business and education sectors, which lead to enhanced engagement and learning.
Dr Lynn and Professor Carroll gamified aspects of the Mindfields SEL program for high school and analysed results from teacher and student surveys and interviews. They found students and teachers had greater increase in emotional engagement, an overall positive experience, greater emotional understanding and emotion skills compared to those who completed the non-gamified Mindfields program.
While there is no ‘one size fits all’, this research shows how SEL interventions can be effectively taught to students and teachers in innovative ways.
