Training and Implementation
The SEL Center’s goal is to promoting social-emotional learning (SEL) throughout Israel for the benefit the younger generation and society as a whole. We believe that promoting SEL should represent the common interest of the entire educational system, starting from the staff of the Ministry of Education, and down to the local community schools and kindergartens. Nevertheless, research and knowledge have indicated that there is no single response that is suited to all and that there is great importance in matching programs to the context, the characteristics, the needs and the challenges of every country, of every social and cultural group and even to every municipality and school. In order to propose the most appropriate operational pathways, the SEL.il Center has developed a unique working model consisting of four stages, making it possible for every education framework to evaluate the most suitable approach on the basis of knowledge, data and cooperative thinking.
Meeting the principal and the staff. Get to know them and hear about their vision, their goals and think together on how SEL can help.
Mapping needs in accord with our model, including interviews and short questionnaires.
Presenting the data to the school principal and the staff, discussing them and deciding on what to focus.
Determining the operational program and how it is to be implemented.
In-service study course
Who is it meant for?
- Schools which want to learn more about SEL.
- Schools which want to develop SEL competencies among their staff.
- Educational psychologists.
- Educational advisors.
- Teachers colleges.
What can you learn in the course?
- Knowledge of up-to-date research about social and emotional learning (SEL) and why it is galvanizing the world of education.
- What social-emotional skills are and how they can contribute to professional and personal development.
- How SEL can promote learning in schools and make it relevant to the students.
- What SEL tools are effective in management of a heterogenous classroom.
- How SEL aids in creating a secure atmosphere and encourages curiosity and initiative among students and teachers.
How does it work?
- An in-service course of up to 20 educators.
- The professional staff of SEL accompanies the participants in individualized experiential work, with practical guidance, integration in school teaching processes, providing continuing feedback.
- Cooperative group work to strengthen the sense of belonging in the group and in the school.
- The duration of the institutional course: 30 hours annually.
- For those interested, they may continue the course as a workshop.
- The frequency of course meetings can be adjusted according to the needs of every educational framework.
- Budgeting possibilities – Budgets provided by Pisgah centers, inclusion and integration, and self-management.
Advanced training
Who is it meant for?
- For educational staff who wish to go more deeply into SEL knowledge and for experts who will lead SEL applications in their communities.
- Educational psychologists who would like to specialize in SEL.
- Educational advisors who wish to promote SEL in their schools.
- Educational departments and educational-psychological services.
- Psychologists/Advisors who are interested in receiving certification to administer the I Can Succeed program – ICS – in kindergartens/ primary schools/ middle schools.
- Educational networks.
- Teachers colleges.
What do you learn in the advanced training course?
- Practical tools to promote systemic implementation of SEL.
- Ways to construct the necessary infrastructure while working in cooperation with all stakeholders (parents, community, and others).
- Fostering and instilling SEL competencies among students through designated programs.
- Developing teaching methods in keeping with the vision and the needs of the school.
- Becoming acquainted with tools for evaluation and measurement.
How does it work?
- An in-service course of up to 20 educators.
- The professional staff of SEL accompanies the participants in individualized experiential work, with practical guidance from SEL community leaders.
- The length of the course, the length of each session, and the frequency of the meetings are to be suited to each course.
- Budgeting possibilities – Budgets provided by Pisgah centers, inclusion and integration and self-management.
- Budgeting possibilities – Budgets provided by Pisgah centers, psychological-educational services budgets (several budgets can be combined), municipal budgets.
Activating and Implementing the I Can Succeed Program (ICS)
The I Can Succeed (ICS) is the flagship SEL program, implemented with great success for more than a decade in educational frameworks throughout Israel. The ICS program is one of the only programs in Israel which is accompanied by close academic and research support, and its successful and impressive results can be read about in published articles in the leading professional journals. The program has been recommended by the Ministry of Education, which was a partner in its development, along with the Schneider Children’s Medical Center, the Fund for Demonstration Projects of the Israeli National Insurance Institute and the Azrieli Foundation.
In the last year, the program has been adapted to a user friendly and accessible digital format enabling direct acquisition of SEL competencies for students, whether learning in class or from afar. For additional details, click here for the program page on the site.
The I Can Succeed program operates systemically and inclusively, integrating the educational staff, the students and the parents in order to foster social-emotional and academic competencies and to promote a supportive and secure learning climate. In addition, the program also proposes a response involving intensive group work for students dealing with learning difficulties and attention deficit disorder.
Who is it meant for?
In kindergartens, the program focuses on cultivating social skills, emotional regulation, flexibility and working memory, while preparing the children for the expected transition to school.
In the first and second grades, the program focuses on imparting skills and strategies that support the process of adapting to school and promotes preparedness for learning and developing independent academic functioning.
In the third and fourth grades, the program focuses on strengthening organization and time management strategies, emotional regulation, exercising supervision and control, and managing effective interpersonal communication.
In the fifth and sixth grades, the program focuses on students with learning difficulties / disabilities and/or attention deficit disorders and works with them in a group setting and in a dedicated manner on strengthening emotional-social-academic skills and preparing for the expected transition to middle school.
For the seventh grade, teachers are qualified to work with all the students in the class: the program focuses on imparting skills and strategies that will support the process of adapting to high school. The program provides skills for promoting independent functioning as a student and social integration. The educational staff monitors student performance and locates students who can benefit from intensive group work in the eighth and ninth grades.
In the eighth and ninth grades, the program focuses on students with learning difficulties / disabilities and/or attention disorders and works with them in a group setting and in a dedicated manner to strengthen social emotional learning skills that will help them cope better with their learning disabilities and prepare them for dealing with the expected transition to high school. Students are selected for the program according to the criteria of the ICS model.
Work is carried out with students and parents over two years.
How does it work?
- The expert SEL.il team, together with the administrative staff, clarify needs, challenges and abilities characterizing the educational framework in order to fit the modes of action and the content to these needs and challenges.
- The administrative and educational staffs participate in an in-service course given by the SEL team, in order to gain and develop their social-emotional competencies, including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making and implementing the decisions, effective interpersonal communication and more.
- The educational staff received guidance and tools to promote these skills among their students. This also involves an integral connection with the learning process and fitting it to the relevant age levels.
- The SEL.IL experts continuously accompany and guide the education staff from start to finish.
- The program offers a unique and task-centered response for students with learning and attention disorders, including group work with the students and their parents.
- The educational staff receive the program manual, assistance kits and presentations to aid them in effectively operating the program.
- Funding from the learning disability budget, Pisgah, and Inclusion and Continuing Education (Hachala???and Hishtalmut??) budgets may be used to finance the program.
Consultation – Development – Research
We testify to the academic knowledge and the practical experience that has been accumulated at the SEL.IL Center in order to expand, deepen and research SEL on all levels.
Who is it meant for?
- Departments of the Ministry of Education: Department of Planning and Strategy; the Psychological and Counseling Services Division of the Ministry of Education (SHEFI – Sherut Psychology Yeutzi); Office of the Chief Scientist; Department of Integration and Inclusion; Department for Teacher Professional Development; and more.
- Regional authorities who wish to integrate SEL into their general municipal educational system. This comprehensive process is now taking place in Tel Aviv and Rishon Le’Zion.
- Educational networks that wish to integrate SEL into their teaching process and school climate.
- Teachers colleges.
What do we propose?
- Deepening and broadening existing knowledge about SEL.
- Cooperative development of new knowledge.
- Constructing a system of SEL standards/benchmarks in accord with children’s stages of development (i.e., what children are supposed to know and do at their various ages).
- Developing and matching tools for evaluating SEL skills and competencies.
- Techniques for integrating SEL into the various areas of study.
- Investigating leading SEL programs throughout the world and their possible suitability for the local context.
- Planning, guiding and conducting research on various levels (national, municipal, and school levels).