Collaborative Research & Development (“Seed”) Project for 2022/23
Section Native-speaking English Teacher Section Title of the
Project
(Project Code)
Building Character through Characters: Implementing Social and Emotional Learning in the English Language Classroom through Stories (NT1322)
Class Level
(Please check and √ the appropriate box.)
□ Kindergarten
Primary□ Secondary □ Primary and Secondary Please specify levels: P4-P6
Brief
Description
(e.g. Objectives, expected outcomes)
The ability to regulate emotions and behaviour is a key component of a set of skills often referred to as social and emotional skills. Substantial empirical evidence has been found about the importance of these skills for successfully navigating one’s life. The development of these skills has shown overall positive results, including improved classroom behaviour, better academic performance, reduced emotional stress (OECD, 2019). The skills developed through Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) are often referred to as "life skills", "social skills" or "soft skills". Five core competencies, namely self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making, have been identified and widely recognised as critical social and emotional skills (CASEL, 2017).
The CDC English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 – Secondary 6) (2017) attaches importance to values education and the integrative use of generic skills in the 21st century education. At its core, SEL is a process of fostering social and emotional core competencies, which aligns in purpose with the development of the generic skills (e.g. collaboration skills, communication skills, problem solving skills, self-learning skills, self-management skills). As a broadly defined concept, SEL can be integrated with pedagogical practices, task design and learning materials to promote reading. Stories used in the English language classroom allow students to explore human life from a social and emotional perspective as they identify with the characters’ motives, intentions, challenges and feelings. Characters in stories represent different perspectives and appropriate children literature can provide relevant points of reference for values education of students as they witness how characters demonstrate application of life skills and acceptance of differences.The task-based approach adopted in the English language classroom, which promotes experiential learning and authentic language use in real life, also provides a suitable context for students to apply what they have learnt from different book characters.
The Building Character through Characters “Seed” project aims to explore effective pedagogical practices which promote the development of students’ SEL skills. The objectives of the project are to:
explore different ways to scaffold students’ reading and responding to story characters that are conducive to the development of the core competencies of SEL (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making);
design, conduct and review English learning activities based on fiction or real life stories selected for students to develop positive values and apply SEL skills;
identify suitable children literature with characters that lend themselves to the discussion of attitudes, challenges and feelings in support of SEL;
engage participating teachers in developing, using and reviewing strategies for developing students’ SEL skills (e.g. role plays, visualisation exercises, behavioural rehearsals); and
develop teachers’ ability to identify assessment goals and review strategies or tools for assessing the SEL of students.
The project, which began in the 2021/22 school year, is open to new applications for 2022/23. The current project schools will need to submit a new application form to continue participation in the project in 2022/23. The focus for new project schools will be on developing units of work for KS2 in the 2022/23 school year. The current project schools will focus on implementing existing units and developing new units.
Reference:
The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). 2017. Our SEL Framework. Retrieved from https://casel.org/sel-framework/
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2019.
UPDATED Social and Emotional Skills Well-being, Connectedness and Success.
Retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/education/school/UPDATED%20Social%20and%20Emotional%
20Skills%20-%20Well-
being,%20connectedness%20and%20success.pdf%20(website).pdf
Key Emphases
(Please check and √ the appropriate box(es). You can choose more than one box.)
Dimension
Curriculum planning
Learning and Teaching
AssessmentFocus
Values Education (including MCE, NSE & BLE)□ Chinese history & Chinese culture
Reading / Language across the Curriculum□ STEM & IT Education
□ Entrepreneurial Spirit
□ Life-wide Learning
□ Gifted Education
□ L&T of Chinese as a second language
Catering for Learner Diversity□ Self-directed Learning
□ Whole-person Development
Others (please specify *) Social and Emotional Learning Deliverables(Please check and √ the appropriate box(es). You can choose more than one box.)
□ Exemplars to be used for curriculum documents
Learning & teaching packages, self-learning packages for teachers□ Workshops and seminars
□ Others (please specify) : Duration and
Nature of the Project
From Sep mm 202
2
yy to
Aug mm 2023 yy
□ New
Ongoing (started from ____Sep____ mm ____2021____yy)
Name of Advisor(s) / Consultant(s) to be invited
/
Officer i/c Name: Ms Carol PANG Post: SCDO(NET)2 Tel No.: 3549 8336 Fax No.: 2334 8707
# Please use a separate sheet for each project.
