One of the most widely used frameworks for SEL was developed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). They define SEL as “the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions”.
CASEL’s framework includes five core skill areas or competencies:
CASEL’s framework is one of many; researchers, governmental agencies, and other entities have developed SEL frameworks for use in schools and other environments for young children. The Ecological Approaches to Social Emotional Learning (EASEL) Laboratory, led by Dr. Stephanie Jones of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, works on a variety of projects to investigate SEL best practices, including their Taxonomy Project that offers resources for exploring, comparing and analyzing SEL frameworks.