Importance of social skills in school
Teaching Social Skills in School: Benefits Beyond the Classroom
Blog Post Sep-05-2017 | Tracy Costigan , and Mark Greenberg | 3-min read
Social emotional skills can help students set goals for themselves and build positive relationships with peers. They can also lead to long-term societal benefits that extend far beyond the individual child.
At an elementary school in the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin, the school day starts in an unusual way. Before they do anything else, students sit down at a classroom computer and select the face that best matches how they feel that morning.
If they’re feeling upbeat, they pick a green, smiling face. If they’re upset about something, there’s a red sad face.
And if they feel somewhere in the middle there’s a yellow neutral face. This exercise helps these students develop self-awareness and emotional management skills. It also helps teachers recognize which students are having a tough day and where they might need help.
Ryan Coffey, a teacher and counselor at the Wisconsin school, calls this simple check-in an incredible tool that “can change the whole day.”
“It’s about being proactive—before they blow up—instead of reactive. Because [incidents in the community] are hard on them, hard on their classmates and hard on their teacher. It’s traumatic for everyone. When they get older, those negative coping skills lead to the smoking, the drinking, the drug use. If we give them positive skills now ... those are life skills they’ll use forever.”
This community has recognized, and put into practice, what research increasingly shows is clear: social emotional development is essential to long-term wellbeing and success.
In fact, building social emotional skills in students as young as kindergartners can have long-term benefits, not just for the students themselves but for society as a whole.
Every dollar invested in effective social emotional programs in schools can bring an average of more than $11 in benefits in the long run.
These benefits come in a few different ways.
First of all, students with stronger social emotional skills tend to do better in school. One study of eighth grade students found that a measure of self-discipline—one aspect of social emotional development—was a better predictor of grades, school attendance, and admission into a competitive high school program than even IQ.
Secondly, social emotional development can help students graduate from college and land a well-paying job. Children who demonstrate greater social emotional skills as young as kindergarten are more likely to have graduated from college and hold a full-time job 20 years later. Adolescents with these skills earn more as adults.
The long-term benefits of self-control, managing one’s emotions, and building strong relationships extend beyond the educational setting itself.
Research shows that children with a stronger social emotional skill set were less likely to experience health problems, struggle with substance abuse, or engage in criminal activity as they got older.
All of these positive long-term outcomes benefit not just the student, but broader society. For instance, when students succeed in school and grow up to become productive adults, they’re ultimately supporting the overall well-being of their neighbors and communities. If, as adolescents grow older, they avoid substance abuse and crime, they’re also preventing associated societal costs.
Now, it’s no secret that investing early, supporting the whole child and student early on, pays off in the long run. Additional research further illustrates how early education programs promote social mobility within and across generations, helps prevent obesity, reduce health care expenditures and leads to overall higher-quality of life.
But what is new and exciting is that more and more schools are putting these social emotional principles and programs into practice the way the Menominee Nation is.
Schools have always focused on building the academic skills and knowledge of students, and we’ve always viewed that as a long-term investment in our human capital. A large and growing body of research should make it clear that supporting students’ social, emotional, and physical health is just as strong an investment.
About the Authors
Mark Greenberg is the Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research, founding director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development, and professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Psychology, College of Health and Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University.
Tracy Costigan is senior learning officer in the Research-Evaluation-Learning (REL) unit at RWJF.
The Importance of Teaching Social Skills
The average adult typically doesn’t give much thought to the process of teaching social skills. Most adults naturally understand how to communicate effectively with others, manage their own emotions and reactions, and read verbal and nonverbal social cues. What many do not realize, however, is that the foundation for these skills is laid in the classroom.
For educators, teaching social skills is a critical part of preparing students for a successful future. The “soft skills” taught in the classroom as part of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) are every bit as important as objective subject matter. In fact, the mastery of these social skills over time creates benefits that follow students throughout their academic career and into the working world.
Benefits of Strong Social Skills
Though it’s not possible to measure social skills development in an objective manner, the benefits become apparent in other ways.
First and foremost, social skills affect academics. Strong SEL programs can result in higher graduation rates and increased college readiness. Over the long term, these gains can translate into better employment opportunities, higher wages, and greater physical and mental health.
Beyond academic gains, however, there are plenty of other benefits associated with teaching social skills, including:
- Improved ability to communicate with peers and adults
- Development of self-awareness
- Improved cooperative teamwork
- Ability to set and achieve individual goals
- Development of persistence
- Development of emotional management skills
- Greater active listening skills
- Improved school climate
- Greater school safety
- Reduced bullying
- Fewer health problems
- Reduced likelihood of substance abuse
PBIS initiatives are particularly helpful when it comes to developing social skills, since the focus is on positive behaviors in a variety of settings.
When educators are intentional in teaching social skills, the classroom, the school, and the community at large all benefit.
Teaching Social Skills in the Virtual Classroom
Distance learning, eLearning, virtual learning, Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) … whatever your school or district calls it, teaching through technology for remote learning can present challenges. While the technology part of it can be incredibly useful, it may feel difficult to teach social skills in this environment.
In a traditional classroom environment, the development of social skills relies on physical interaction. From in-class time to recess to the cafeteria, students interact with their peers and teachers, receiving immediate feedback from their actions and words. In a virtual environment, some of this immediacy is lost. It may be necessary to adapt your PBIS matrix to include behaviors that foster better social skills during distance learning. Politeness, kindness, and respect should be part of your expectations whether you’re in the classroom or online.
The virtual classroom, however, calls for different techniques than the physical classroom. While it’s more difficult to keep close tabs on your students’ mental and emotional state, it’s not impossible. Doing a regular check-in will go a long way toward helping you to assess the overall emotional state of your students.
Just as you would develop lesson plans around teaching social skills in the physical classroom, you can extend those lessons to a virtual environment. Students will still benefit from developing empathy, practicing kindness, and strengthening emotional regulation. This is the perfect opportunity to teach students how to be good digital citizens.
Using PBIS to Teach Social Skills
A PBIS initiative naturally helps with teaching social skills, since the focus is on positive behaviors. Incorporating social and emotional learning into your lesson plans gives you another way to recognize students for positive behaviors. This can be true for the virtual classroom, as well.
Awarding points to students who practice positive online behaviors will help build a strong foundation of social-emotional skills. Schools that use a digital token economy can maintain their PBIS initiative both in person and online, reinforcing social skills regardless of learning environment.
Social skills can help your students to become better learners and lay the foundation for success in the adult world. An intentional focus on social and emotional learning benefits academics and school climate, improving student outcomes and teacher retention. PBIS Rewards can help your school to build an atmosphere in which your students can grow socially, emotionally, and academically!
Soft skills or social skills for a student: 85% of success in life
Harvard and Stanford believe that a student's academic knowledge is only 15% of success in his further education, in building a career and in life.
Russian schools actively download knowledge into the heads of our children, but do not teach them social skills, the so-called soft skills - leadership, teamwork, organizational skills, etc.
Namely, they allow you to apply the acquired knowledge and achieve your goals: a prestigious university, a successful career, a happy family and true friendship.
A study of Fortune 500 CEOs found that long-term and sustained job success was 75% social skills and only 25% academic.
Therefore, European education has long included the training of soft skills, without which it is difficult to succeed in the modern world. Many of these traits are innate and inherent in every child, but they need to be cultivated and developed. Here are some critical social skills that will help any student reach their goals in life.
TEAM WORK
The ability to listen, the ability to see a common goal and find common ground between a common idea and personal ambitions. Willingness to help others and support in a difficult situation, the ability to convince and find a compromise.
Check if your child can:
- do things with other children?
- help someone solve their study question?
- to make sure that not only he, but his entire team achieves the goal?
How it is taught in a foreign school:
- team activities: games, performance, volunteer programs;
- joint academic projects, when the project can be defended only by the whole team;
- competitions between "Houses" for students studying on a full board basis.
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LEADERSHIP
To be a leader means to be a person whom everyone else recognizes as having the right to make responsible decisions for the entire team.
Check if your child can:
- to become a leader for other children: inspire and lead them?
- understand and feel other people?
- to set other children tasks corresponding to their abilities and character and to achieve their fulfillment?
How it is taught in a foreign school:
- Supervision of junior schoolchildren and beginners by high school students;
- Numerous clubs and hobby classes are sure to resonate in the soul of any student, and he will take the initiative in the area that interests him and gather his team of like-minded people.
We are looking for leaders, but not from the category of "president of the chess club", but from those who, faced with a problem, can at the right time take the lead of the team and lead it to the goal
- Laszlo Bock, Vice President of Recruitment, Google
CREATIVITY
A creative person is able to find non-standard, completely new solutions in familiar situations, he is able to invent and implement new ideas.
Check if your child can:
- Suggest an idea for a gala evening, fashion design or pop star poster?
- tell your friends the story he made up?
- come up with an idea for a new computer game or mobile app?
How it is taught in a foreign school:
- When solving a problem, the student will be asked not only to give the correct answer, but also to find 10 different solutions;
- Students focus on both academic knowledge and extracurricular activities - music classes, theater productions and acting skills, development of artistic skills.
It is easier for a child with a broad outlook to find a non-standard approach to solving a problem.
COMMUNICATION
The ability to communicate, openness and the ability to establish contact with other people, as well as to make the right impression on them.
Check if your child can:
- Is it clear and interesting to express your ideas and thoughts?
- speak confidently with a group of your peers, with a school principal, with other adults?
- perform in front of an audience of 100 people?
How it is taught in a foreign school:
- Students are encouraged to actively participate in discussions in the classroom. And the final assessment is influenced by the student's involvement in lectures and seminars and his ability to defend his point of view;
- Schoolchildren are constantly surrounded by their peers and implement academic projects together, participate in sports and creative events, attend hobby groups;
- Career days and meetings with universities are regularly held for high school students.
Schools set aside time to develop a personal resume, self-presentation skills and interviews.
MANAGEMENT
This is the ability to bring people together to achieve a goal and inspire yourself and others to action. Initiative, demanding of oneself and others, attention to detail, the ability to delegate or do it yourself - all these are important qualities of an organizer.
Check if your child can:
- organize your time so that you can keep up with your studies and take part in extra school activities?
- put together a team to run cross country together or organize a party?
- make quick decisions when things don't go as planned?
How it is taught in a foreign school:
- time management skills are the first thing a student learns. Unlike Russian students, European students do not study from morning to evening. The whole day is scheduled by the clock, there is time for study, sports, hobbies, homework and, of course, time for rest;
- Participation in numerous school events requires a variety of skills from a student, including the ability to organize an exhibition, a holiday, a performance, a debate, a sports match, and much more.
POSITIVE
Faith in yourself and in other people. This is such a view of the world in which a person can look at events from different angles and prefers to find positive in everything that surrounds him.
Check if your child can:
- keep a smile on your face despite the challenges?
- to fight and not give up, even when you fail to achieve the goal?
- try to solve your problems on your own, without immediately resorting to your help?
How it is taught in a foreign school:
- Support and attention of teachers, mentors and high school students. The school is well aware of the difficulties students face and is always ready to help with advice and pay attention to positive events.
- A healthy competitive environment helps students focus on their goals and not on temporary setbacks.
CURIOSITY
Intellectual curiosity, thirst for new knowledge, interest in the world around and desire for new experiences.
This is a natural quality of any child and it is important to preserve it.
Check if your child can:
- look up from your phone or tablet and look around when you are driving?
- when you find yourself in a new place, try to find out something about it?
- ask questions about how the world works?
How it is taught in a foreign school:
- The task of every teacher is not only to prepare a student for the final exams, but also to make him fall in love with his subject. The first thing that Russian children and parents notice is that students in European schools love to study.
- Well-equipped classrooms and laboratories - here you can study not only theory, but also try everything in practice. Chemistry, physics, biology become especially fascinating.
- School activities also include guest lecturers and thematic excursions. Children can learn first-hand about the subject and specialties: who you can become in the future, how you can apply the acquired knowledge in practice, what kind of employees employers want to see.
Most children are not very self-confident. They worry about entering a new social situation, about learning new skills, about having to complete a new task, even more difficult. They seek help and support from friends, parents, teachers, and this is natural.
Studying in European schools, students develop their social skills, becoming more self-confident. These skills have nothing to do with intelligence, the ability to quote Shakespeare in the original, or mentally multiply three-digit numbers. But the ability of a child to clearly formulate thoughts, offer alternatives and respect someone else's point of view will make him successful in all areas of life. After all, as Henry Ford said, confidence is half the battle.
European schools help students develop their social skills.
They will not appear on your high school diploma or university degree.
But these abilities are important in order to enter a good university, successfully complete it and find a dream job, which means getting a pass to a happy life.
Contact the manager and choose school
by phone +7 (495) 935-85-45
through the request form on the website
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P. 33-37. 
The central idea and tasks of the socialization of the student's personality are determined. Criteria and components included in the social competence of a schoolchild are singled out. The principles of organizing the content of upbringing and socialization in relation to the educational system are characterized. The role of the teacher in the formation of social skills in children of school age is shown. 
A free PDF viewer can be downloaded here. 
273-FZ (as amended of December 19, 2016 No. 455-FZ). URL: http://base.garant.ru/70291362/ (date of access: 11/27/2017). 
