Resilience, Character and Social and Emotional Skills – where next for Education Policy? Wifi:...
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Transcript of Resilience, Character and Social and Emotional Skills – where next for Education Policy? Wifi:...
Resilience, Character and Social and Emotional Skills – where next for Education Policy?
Wifi:
hhonors
Aims of the day
• Review the evidence on social and emotional skills and identify areas of promise, gaps and priorities
• Share work underway to build the evidence further• Explore ways of measuring social and emotional skills• Discuss potential for working together on this agenda
The increasing recognition of social and emotional skills
• Growing interest from government and policy makers in concepts such as grit, resilience and character.
• Schools put time and effort into developing such skills with little support or guidance; impact rarely captured.
• There is increasing evidence that these things matter for later outcomes.
• Gaps remain in understanding how to define, improve and measure social and emotional skills, and how far changes lead to long-term outcomes.
• EEF is keen to help fill these gaps and work with others to build the evidence.
Philosophy for Children (P4C)
• Teaches young children the basics of philosophical thinking. Individual reflection and small group discussions, following by whole-class discussion. Cost is £16 per pupil.
• Aim is to help children become more willing and able to ask questions, construct arguments, reflect, take turns, and engage in reasoned discussion.
• RCT in 54 school, Years 4 & 5, outcomes in KS2 found:• improved attainment and social and emotional skills. Teachers and
pupils report improved behaviour, relationships and confidence.
Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS)
• Social and emotional learning programme: lessons cover topics such as identifying feelings, controlling impulses, reducing stress, and understanding other people’s perspectives. £12 per pupil.
• Trials in US shown promising effects. But RCT in 45 schools found:– No positive effect on attainment– Teachers felt there was lack of time to implement fully– Difficulty in adapting programme to UK context
• Waiting to see social and emotional outcomes: may take longer than two years to feed through to academic outcomes?
• Social and emotional learning (SEL) important opportunity for early intervention to impact on a number of key outcomes
• Featured in many EI programmes in Allen Reports and part of original EIF mission
EIF interest in SEL
• Work includes: – What Works Review of Parent Child Interactions
Conception to 5– What Works Review: analysis of longitudinal data on
Social and Emotional Learning; school + youth programmes
– What Works Rapid review of Prevention of Gang and Youth Violence programmes.
– Work in local places: local authorities, schools, communities build resilience/social and emotional skills
• Future work: with Joseph Rowntree Foundation on SEL and children/young people in or at risk of poverty
EIF interest in SEL
Promoting the Development of social, emotional
and cognitive skillsIngrid Schoon and Bilal Nasim
UCL, Institute of Education
Early Intervention Foundation22 October 2015
9
Fostering social, emotional and cognitive skills
What is the evidence regarding assessment of social and emotional skills and their long-term outcomes?
Which skills to prioritize and why?
What does the evidence suggest regarding
interventions? What are the gaps in the evidence base
that future work needs to address?
10
Measuring social, emotional and cognitive skills in early childhood
The notion of social and emotional skills refers to a set of attitudes, behaviours, and strategies that are thought to underpin success in school and at work, such as motivation, perseverance, and self-control.
They are usually contrasted with the ‘hard skills’ of cognitive ability in areas such as literacy and numeracy, which are measured by academic tests.
Social and emotional skills can reliably be measured, even at early age
yet, there is inconsistency in how different skills are conceptualised and there are variations of assessment by age and context
Gutman & Schoon, 2013
Key skills needed to get ahead
• Self-control, self-regulation, perseverance (grit): relates to the ability to resist short-term impulses in order to prioritise a higher pursuit
• Self-perceptions: belief in one’s ability to accomplish a goal (self concepts, self efficacy)
• Motivation: refers to intentions and underlying beliefs about why to accomplish a goal (achievement goals; intrinsic/extrinsic motivation; expectancy-value)
• Social Competencies reflect skills that allow one to get along with others (e.g. approaching and collaborating with others).
• Emotional stability often defined by the absence of psychological problems, neuroticism, anxiety or depression
• Resilience concerns the ability to succeed despite significant challenge, while Coping involves strategies such as problem-solving and optimistic thinking used to manage stressful situations.
• Cognitive skills: verbal and non-verbal capabilities (literacy, numeracy, executive function, creativity).
• Metacognitive Strategies: knowledge about and control over one’s own cognitive system (planning, monitoring, regulating behaviour, learning strategies).
Gutman & Schoon, 2013
What is the evidence regarding the long reach of early skills?
• Single study evaluations – often using observational cohort studies• focus on selected skills and distinct outcomes• few studies that examine simultaneously multiple skill sets, combination of
skills across outcomes• Mostly association studies, do not establish causality
• Meta analytic reviews • summarize and synthesize findings across multiple studies• yield more reliable and precise estimation of program impact than single
evaluation studies• common metric known as effect size• can examine variation according to methodology of the evaluation,
characteristics of target population, implementation• yet most reviews focus on a specific skill, population, outcome, or
intervention type
• ‘Review of review’ approach to summarize meta-analytic evidence • Maryland Scientific Evidence Scale to assess quality of evidence
13
Our own analysis: what we do
• Using the 1970 British Cohort Study, we estimate the association between a number of social and emotional skills measured at age 10, and a wide range of outcomes measured at age 42
• We condition on a broad set of child, parent and family characteristics
• We describe whether each social and emotional skill matters more for certain outcomes than others
• [We explore the extent to which formal educational attainment mediates skill-outcome associations]
14
Data: Social and Emotional Skills (Age 10)
1. Self-perceptions/Self-awareness: Self-esteem Academic self-concept Locus of control
2. Self-control/Self-regulation: Good conduct (reverse of Rutter Externalising scale) Conscientiousness
3. Social Skills: Peer relationships
4. Emotional Health: Reverse of Rutter Internalising scale
15
Data: Outcomes (Age 42)
1. Psych well-being: Life satisfaction Well-being Malaise
2. Education: Has a degree
3. Socio-economic status: Net family income Net wealth In social housing
4. Labour market: In top job In employment Hourly pay Job satisfaction
5. Family: In a partnership Has children # children (if any)
6. Physical health: Self-rated health Obesity
7. Health behaviours:
Exercise Smoking Drinking
8. Other: Interest in
politics
16
Data: Controls
1. Child: Birth-weight (Birth) Gender (Birth) Older siblings (Age 5) Ethnicity (Age 10) Cognitive ability (Age 10) Education (Age 30)
2. Parent: Mother/Father Education
(Birth) Mother Age (Birth) Mother Mental health (Age 5) Mother/Father Employment
(Age 10)
3. Family: Gross income (Age 10) Social housing tenure
(Age 10)
Results: Overview
Well-B
Malaise
Life-sat
Degree
Fam Inc
Soc-H
Wealth
Top job
Emp
Wage
Job Sat
Health
Obese
Exercise
Smoking
Drinking
Partner
Children
No. Child
Pol Int
Locus of Control
Self-concept
Self-esteem
Good Conduct -Conscientiousness -Emotional Health + +Social Skills - + +Cognitive Ability - -
Today’s children? (Preliminary work)
• In the BCS, born in 1970: Children in low-income households exhibit poorer conduct
and emotional health Boys exhibit poorer conduct, but slightly better emotional
health
• In the BCS, born in 1970: Children in low-income households exhibit poorer conduct
and emotional health Boys exhibit poorer conduct, but slightly better emotional
health
• We compare the BCS children with those in the Millennium Cohort Study, 2000:
Today’s children? (Preliminary work)
• In the BCS, born in 1970: Children in low-income households exhibit poorer conduct and
emotional health Boys exhibit poorer conduct, but slightly better emotional health
• We compare the BCS children with those in the Millennium Cohort Study, 2000: Low-income deficits in good conduct and emotional health
appear to have increased
Today’s children? (Preliminary work)
• In the BCS, born in 1970: Children in low-income households exhibit poorer conduct
and emotional health Boys exhibit poorer conduct, but slightly better emotional
health
• We compare the BCS children with those in the Millennium Cohort Study, 2000: Low-income deficits in good conduct and emotional health
appear to have increased Gender differentials in good conduct and emotional health
unchanged
Today’s children? (Preliminary work)
• Ages 3-11 trajectories in Conduct
By family income Strong social
gradient in conduct Apparent by age 3 Remains broadly
constant to age 11
By gender Boys display
greater conduct problems
Apparent by age 3
Today’s children?
• Ages 3-11 trajectories in Emotional Health
By family income Strong social
gradient in emotional health
Apparent by age 3 Remains broadly
constant to age 11
By gender Little difference by
gender
Today’s children?
Conclusions from our analysis
• Childhood social and emotional skills matter for a very wide range of adult outcomes Self-control (conduct, conscientiousness), internal locus
of control and social skills especially
Conclusions from our analysis
• Childhood social and emotional skills matter for a very wide range of adult outcomes Self-control (conduct, conscientiousness), internal locus
of control and social skills especially
• Many outcomes are predicted (simultaneously) by multiple skills and different skills predict different outcomes Social and emotional skills are not homogenous –
dimensionality important
Conclusions from our analysis
• Childhood social and emotional skills matter for a very wide range of adult outcomes Self-control (conduct, conscientiousness), internal locus of
control and social skills especially
• Many outcomes are predicted (simultaneously) by multiple skills and different skills predict different outcomes Social and emotional skills are not homogenous –
dimensionality important
• Social and emotional skills are at least as important as cognitive ability for mental well-being and health outcomes, and some SES/labour market outcomes (e.g. wealth, employment) Less important for other SES/labour market outcomes (e.g. top
job, wages, degree)
Conclusions from our analysis
• Childhood social and emotional skills matter for a very wide range of adult outcomes Self-control (conduct, conscientiousness), internal locus of control and social
skills especially
• Many outcomes are predicted (simultaneously) by multiple skills and different skills predict different outcomes Social and emotional skills are not homogenous – dimensionality important
• Social and emotional skills are at least as important as cognitive ability for mental well-being and health outcomes, and some SES/labour market outcomes (e.g. wealth, employment) Less important for other SES/labour market outcomes (e.g. top job, wages,
degree)
• This suggests there are potentially significant benefits to effective interventions which enhance social and emotional skills, as a complement to cognitive learning
There is no silver bullet
• Social and emotional skills comprise a large number of dimensions and capabilities and disparate approaches are used to define and measure them
• These skills interact, shape and reinforce other domains of individual functioning, such as cognitive development and risk behaviours
• For example: self efficacy, motivation and problem solving skills work together to explain academic learning and success in school
more than one skill is needed to promote successful development
Importance of combined skill set, comprising cognitive as well as social and emotional skills
Gutman & Schoon, 2013; Goodman, Nasim, Joshi, 2015
To what extent are skills malleable?• Evidence on interventions
• Not many prospective longitudinal studies– mostly short term• Focus on follow-up studies of children; less evidence on adolescents• Available data sources do not necessarily cover a full range of skills
measured in childhood nor of life domains in adults
• Causality• Observed associations are not causation – despite controls for factors
which may have given rise to both the skill and the outcomes• Need for randomized controlled trials and long-term follow-ups
• Understanding of processes • How do skills develop and are maintained• Biological basis• what works why, how and when
Gutman & Schoon, 2013
Intervention type
Scope Location Target Age Strength of Evidence of Causal Effect*
Mentoring Selected Community-Based**
School-Age Low (works however best for at-risk kids)
Service Learning
Universal School-Based***
School-Age and University
Low to Medium
Outdoor Adventure
Universal, Selected, Targeted
Outdoors Older children and Adolescents
Low to Medium
SEL Universal School-Based School-Age Low to Medium
Note. * Large effect size on other outcomes (d = .80); Medium = Medium effect size (d = .50); Low = Low effect size or none given (d = .20). **Findings suggest that community-based compared to school-based programmes have larger effects. ***Findings suggest that school-based compared to community-based programmes have larger effects.
What is the evidence?
Gutman & Schoon, 2013, 2015
Characteristics of successful interventions
• Informed by developmental theory, prevention science and previous evidence
• Universal aimed at the general population
• Provide structure and limits that are developmentally appropriate, supportive relationships and sense of belonging
• Targeted interventions need a strategy and knowledge about how to reach the most disadvantaged (gaining trust and cooperation)
• Involve parents, teachers and the wider community
• Continuity of staff
• Providing somewhere to go to, something to do, and someone to talk to (safety, structured activity, reflection)
• Execution and implementation are well planned and designed, well trained staff, clear goals, rules and sanctions
Gutman & Schoon, 2013, 2015
Future research – some suggestions
• Test development using new technologies, such as web based assessments, social media or experience sampling
• More information on process data, i.e. how to build social and emotional skills through interactions with others, what are the characteristics of these exchanges and how can quality characteristics of process implementation be assessed
• More information on contextual influences (cumulative risk, cultural variations in response, etc)
• Attention to potential response bias
• Better understanding of the intergenerational transmission of behaviours
• Better understanding of biological foundations
• Need for more evidence regarding causal processes • Linking skills to outcomes• linking interventions to behaviour change
Thank youBilal NasimIngrid SchoonUCL Institute of Education
33
References
• Goodman, A., Joshi, H., Nasim, B., & Tylor, C. (2015). Social and emotional skills in childhood and their long-term effects on adult life. http://www.eif.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/EIF-Strand-1-Report-FINAL1.pdf.
• Gutman, L., & Schoon, I. (2013). The impact of non-cognitive skills on outcomes for young people. A literature review. http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/uploads/pdf/Non-cognitive_skills_literature_review.pdf
• Gutman, L. & Schoon, I. (in press). Preventive interventions for children and adolescence. A review of meta-analytic evidence. European Psychologist
• OECD. (2015). Skills for social progress. The power of social and emotional skills.: OECD Skills publishing. http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/skills-for-social-progress_9789264226159-en
EEF’s approach to building the evidence on SES and character
Matt van [email protected]
www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
EEF approach to building the evidence on SES
• Current state of evidence:– strong correlational evidence of links between SES and long-
term outcomes– some evidence that skills / character can be changed through
intervention (change usually self-reported)– the gap: limited causal evidence of how changes in SES
lead to other outcomes, especially long-term• EEF focus:
– improve outcomes for disadvantaged children & narrow the gap– understand how far SES are malleable, and how changes lead
to improved outcomes at school and beyond– evaluate promising approaches to inform schools’ decision-
making
Some ideas we’re trialling…
• What is the impact of teaching philosophy in primary schools?
• Does encouraging children to adopt a ‘growth mindset’ improve resilience and attainment?
• What impact does being in the Scouts or Cadets have on attainment and wider skills?
• What impact does increased physical exercise have on motivation, attention and attainment?
• What effect does a social and emotional learning curriculum have in primary and secondary schools?
• What is the impact of one-to-one mentoring and support for children at risk of dropping out of school?
EEF approach to SES
Early EEF projects focused on improving SES as a way to improve attainment.
Increasingly EEF is interested in SES as an outcome in addition to attainment:
New Character and Education projects
Intervention Phase DomainsOutcomes (measures)
Scale and stage
Positive Action: A social and emotional learning programme to develop self-confidence, positive behaviour & teamwork.
Primary, whole school
• Self-perception• Social skills• Persistence• Empathy
• Attainment• Self-perception• Social skills• TBC
• 15 schools • 6,300 pupils• Pilot
Zippy’s Friends. A teacher-led programme of weekly stories and activities to increase coping skills.
Key Stage 2 • Resilience & coping• Social competencies
• Attainment• Resilience
• 70 schools• 2,700 pupils• Efficacy RCT
FRIENDS: A cognitive behavioural therapy based programme, which aims to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms in young people.
Key Stage 2 • Resilience & coping• Self-esteem• Well-being
• Attainment• Resilience (PSWQ)• Well-being
• 80 schools• 2,700 pupils• Efficacy RCT
Oracy Framework: Approaches that help schools embed speaking and listening skills within their core curriculum, developed by School 21.
Cross phase • Communication skills• Social skills
• Attainment• Speaking and listening
(Oracy Assessment tool)
• 12 schools• 1,800 pupils• Pilot
Changing Mindsets: Workshops for pupils, and training for teachers, to encourage a “growth mindset” where pupils recognise that results depend on effort, not natural intelligence.
Key Stage 2 • Self-concept of ability• Self-efficacy• Motivation• Resilience
• Attainment (KS2)• Growth Mindset• Resilience
• 100 Schools• 4,500 pupils• Effectiveness
RCT
Self-affirmation: Simple exercises designed to “reaffirm” pupil’s personal identity, and reduce stereotype threat.
Key Stage 4 • Self-concept of ability• Self-efficacy
• Attainment (GCSE) • 25 schools• 7,800 pupils• Efficacy RCT
EEF’s approach to measurement on social and emotional skills
Emerging principles:• select measures related to the theory and aims of an
intervention• select measures that are reliable, validated and practical to
deliver, from test database• measure attainment and social and emotional skills as
primary outcomes where appropriate• be selective about what is measured• work towards consistent set of measures across trials• understand the relationship between changes in SES and
other outcomes over the long-term (eg, links to attainment and employment)
Developing a common set of measures
• Testing database: summarises most promising measures in a given domain – work in progress
• Describes measures, practical issues, validity, references etc.• No ‘best measure’ but aim to work towards a common set
@theEIFoundation eif.org.uk
The strength of evidence for programmes that enhance social and emotional skills
Leon Feinstein20 October 2015
With thanks to co-authors Kirsten Asmussen, Haroon Chowdry and Jack Martin and Ilenia Piergallini
First Principles
Evidence StandardsAn intervention may be judged as effective if it can demonstrate a meaningful impact through a rigorous evaluation
Good RCTs/QEDs can indicate causality and enable assessment of scale of impact.
Assessing programmes
• Programmes can go up and down, • They can split or merge or change. • The evidence on programmes changes• They operate different in different
places
@theEIFoundation | eif.org.uk
Key findings from Social and Emotional Learning review
Looked at programmes available in the UK that aim to enhance the social and emotional skills development of children and young people aged 4-20 years.
Programmes in school and out-of-school settings were included. A broader call for evidence in youth sector was supported by Demos.
Strong and consistent support for the impact of social and emotional skills programmes implemented in schools. There is a range of programmes with good evidence of effectiveness.
The evidence for programmes delivered in out-of-school youth settings is weaker but this is a sector clearly in transition with substantial new evidence emerging.
Evidence pre-rating 1 2 3 4
School (% of 39) 5 18 46 31
Non-school (% of 55) 40 49 5 5
The Best Start at Home Review
• 100 programmes identified• 82 interventions available and identifiable• 72 providers responded to our request for information
• A systematic search for interventions that aim to support preschool children’s social, emotional, self-regulatory and cognitive development through parent/child interaction.
Findings
3(4%)
15(18%)
26(32%)
23(28%)12
(15%)
3(4%)
Findings
Findings
@theEIFoundation | eif.org.ukPRESENTATION TITLE
Key Messages• C-5 early interventions should be
developmentally specific carefully tailored to need of the right dose
• We found that programmes focusing on behaviours have better evidence of effectiveness than those focused on attachment or early cognitive skill
• Targeted programmes of these sorts have better evidence of effectiveness than do more universal activities of these sorts.
• Interventions that aim to support attachment security should target parental drivers at all points in early child development – not just during pregnancy or the child’s first year
• The third birthday is an ideal time to identify behavioural and language problems and offer well targeted interventions
Measuring social and emotional skills
Robin BanerjeeSchool of Psychology, University of Sussex
[email protected]/psychology/cress
Some challenges
◦Definitions
◦Multidimensionality
◦Multiple measurement approaches
◦Multiple informants
Overlapping terminology
Social competence
Emotional health and well-being
Resilience and
character
Emotional literacy
Social and emotional
understanding
Social and emotional
intelligence
Social and emotional
skills
Intersecting domains
Emotion
Behaviour
Cognition
MotivationRelationship
s
Methods and informants
Emotion
Behaviour
Cognition
MotivationRelationship
s
Self-report
Observation
Parent, teacher,
peer report
Self-report
Parent, teacher,
peer report
Self-report
Observation
Parent, teacher,
peer report
Self-report
Assessment tasks
Two (blurry) dichotomies
◦dispositional traits vs. skills
◦adjustment outcomes vs. underpinning competencies
Two (blurry) dichotomies
◦dispositional traits vs. skills
◦adjustment outcomes vs. underpinning competencies
What do we want to measure?◦Social and emotional adjustment◦Mental health difficulties and behavioural problems◦Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire◦Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory◦Children’s Depression Inventory◦Spence Child Anxiety Scale etc.
◦Life satisfaction and well-being◦Huebner Student Life Satisfaction Scale◦Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale etc.
◦Self-perceptions and self-worth◦Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children◦Marsh Self-Description Questionnaire etc.
◦Peer relationships◦Asher & Wheeler Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction
Scale◦Parker & Asher Friendship Quality ◦Kouwenberg et al. Best Friend Index◦Coie & Dodge sociometric nominations etc.
My Class
My Feelings
◦Overall social competence and ‘generic social and emotional skills’◦see systematic review by Humphrey et al. (2011)◦Gresham and Elliott Social Skills Improvement
System◦Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence ◦Merrell School Social Behavior Scales etc.
Social and emotional understanding
◦the ‘false belief’ task
difficult for autistic children (Baron-Cohen et al., 1985)
◦huge range of tasks across early years and the school years◦Denham affective perspective-taking tasks◦Nowicki & Duke – Diagnostic Analysis of Non-Verbal
Accuracy◦Happe & Frith – Strange Stories◦Pons & Harris – Theory of Mind Test and Test of
Emotion Comprehension
◦social understanding can be demonstrated to improve through conversation-based interventions
* *
Lecce et al. (2014)
Link social and emotional understanding to adjustment and other competencies
◦Fantuzzo & McWayne Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale
◦social competence ratings
◦sociometric nominations
◦academic achievement
Emotion recognition and labelling at age 2-3
Interactive peer play
shows positive emotions
sharing toys
comforts others
helps other children
Mathieson & Banerjee (2010)
Caputi et al. (2012)
Theory of Mind at age 5More peer acceptance
and less peer rejection at age 7
More cooperative behaviour at age 6
Lecce et al. (in prep.)
Theory of Mind at age 5 Better academic achievement at age 8
Less peer rejection at age 7
Early peer rejection More peer rejection!
Difficulties with social understanding
Banerjee et al. (2011)
Managing feelings
◦executive function skills◦e.g., Day/Night, Tower of Hanoi, Wisconsin Card
Sort etc.
◦emotion regulation◦e.g., Shields & Cicchetti Emotion Regulation
Checklist
◦coping strategies◦e.g., Wright et al.’s adapted Self-Report Coping
Scale
Motivation and persistence
◦assessment tasks (e.g., task choice, persistence with challenging puzzle)
◦Midgley Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scale
◦Schwarzer General Self-Efficacy scale
Implementing measures at school: Some considerations◦Screening for ‘problems’
◦Needs assessment
◦Tracking change
◦Quantitative vs. qualitative
◦Multiple informants/contexts
Questions for discussion
• How do we build measures that are developmental rather than accountability focused?
• Would schools benefit from more support and guidance about different approaches? If so, what?
• Can we agree on a name for this subject? ‘Non-cognitive skills’, ‘Character’, ‘Social and emotional skills’, ‘Skills for life and work’, ‘Soft skills’, ‘Non academic skills’…