Transformative Social-Emotional Learning (TSEL) is a highly influential view of teaching today. TSEL is focused on the social transformation of the world through reaching the youth of today. The main focus of this teaching approach is on the student’s emotions and their interaction with others.

TSEL has a long history and is influenced heavily by critical race theory and Marxism in general. This post will define and point out some of the philosophical assumptions of TSEL.

Define

TSEL consists of a range of strategies that are used to manage emotions, achieve goals, show empathy for others, make decisions, and maintain relationships. The key components developed to develop these character traits include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

TSEL is highly influenced by critical race theory and deals with issues of power, privilege, discrimination, and social justice as it develops the skills mentioned above. There is an emphasis on the collective rather than the individual as well. In addition, racism and oppression of marginal groups are foundational problematic aspects of the West. These beliefs are held even though oppression has happened all over the world in all inhabited continents by various people groups.

Examples of injustice not limited to Western cultures can include policies enacted by the Ottoman Empire that led to the death of countless people. Other examples include persecution of Chinese in Southeast Asia, discrimination in India and Sri Lanka, and untold injustice in places such as Rwanda and Uganda in Africa. In other words, oppression is not unique to any particular culture.

Citizenship is critical in TSEL. The importance of citizenship may be related to the political nature of TSEL. Citizenship is intended to be transformative and change society. Individuals need to be a part of the decision-making of their community and stand as a voice of the oppressed in the electoral process. However, this assumes that everyone agrees as there is no overt explanation of what to do when there is dissension from the social justice perspective.

Problems with west

Consistent with other avenues of Marxist thought, TSEL has a foundational view that Western society encourages greed and the pursuit of money. Other general economic complaints include the concentration of wealth and general unethical behavior. No mention is made of Marxist countries with the same problems.

TSEL is also attempting to fight the dehumanization of students. dehumanization in this context means people who are not politically conscious and aware of the oppression that is happening around them. The school’s job is to break this cycle and to discontinue the reproduction of the existing system through education. Essentially, students should rebel against the current system even though it’s not clear what the new system will look like or how it will work.

Schools need to develop change agents who will resist and tear down the status quo. Students need to be transformed for optimal human development even though it is not clear what this is. Education needs to be culturally relevant which brings things into the classroom that come from the student’s background. An example could be using math to teach English.

Conclusion

TSEL is another attempt within education to help students to make the world a better place. This is not inherently a problem. The challenge is in the attempt to make these beliefs ubiquitous. No single philosophy or belief system will work in every context. For this reason, true freedom involves letting the local school and parents decide if these beliefs are consistent with what is best for their children.