SEL should grow with students.
What works in Lower School should not still be the format in Middle or Upper School. Who They Become designs student programming around students’ age, maturity, school community, and the real social and emotional challenges they are facing.
Lower School
Build the foundation.
In the Lower School years, students are developing emotional language, regulation skills, relationships, and an understanding of themselves and others.
Focus areas may include:
emotional awareness
regulation
empathy
friendships
asking for help
conflict and repair
boundaries
accountability
Programming may include stories, movement, games, role play, guided discussion, and repeated practice.
Middle School
Make it relevant.
Middle School students are navigating increasingly complex relationships, identity, independence, and social dynamics. Programming should reflect what is actually happening in their lives.
Topics may include:
friendship dynamics
conflict
belonging
embarrassment and shame
boundaries
communication
identity
social media
decision-making
asking for help
Programming becomes more discussion-based, scenario-driven, reflective, and grounded in real situations.
Upper School
Go deeper.
By Upper School, social-emotional learning can become more sophisticated, reflective, and intellectually engaging.
Topics may include:
ethics
relationships
psychology of behavior
communication
identity and values
boundaries
decision-making
mental health literacy
conflict
leadership
accountability
navigating unhealthy relationships
Formats may include seminars, advisory series, electives, discussion-based courses, and semester or yearlong programming.
weekly • biweekly • monthly • short-term series • semester • yearlong • grade-specific • schoolwide
Programming can be facilitated directly by Who They Become, built for school staff to deliver, or designed as a combination of both.