Encyclopedia · Foundations
Emotional literacy and social-emotional learning (SEL)
SEL is how schools teach it. Emotional literacy is what is being taught.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults learn to understand and manage emotions, set goals, show empathy, build relationships and make responsible decisions. It is the most common way emotional literacy is taught in schools.
CASEL's five competencies
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), founded in 1994, organizes SEL into five competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.1
| CASEL competency | 10P quadrant |
|---|---|
| Self-awareness | Self-awareness (literacy) |
| Self-management | Self-management (intelligence) |
| Social awareness | Social awareness (literacy) |
| Relationship skills | Relationship management (intelligence) |
| Responsible decision-making | Runs through all four — the "Respond" step |
Does SEL work?
The most-cited evidence is Durlak and colleagues' 2011 meta-analysis of 213 school-based programs involving 270,034 students. Students in SEL programs showed improved social-emotional skills, attitudes and behavior, and an 11-percentile-point gain in academic achievement compared with controls.2
How emotional literacy deepens SEL
10P works alongside school SEL frameworks and adds three things:
- Reading before managing. Many SEL lessons jump to calm-down strategies. 10P insists on vocabulary and body awareness first — see The 10P Emotional Literacy System.
- Trauma as the context. Students carrying adverse childhood experiences need SEL that understands behavior as coping. That is the insight of the Theory of Emotional Illiteracy-Based Criminality (TEIBC).
- Facilitators with lived experience. Young people listen differently to someone who has lived the consequences of emotional illiteracy and found a way out.
Put this into practice
Schools & workplaces
Bring 10P to your school or team
Workshops on communication, culture, conflict and how people lead together.
Book a workshop
See also
Cite this entry: Samual Nathaniel Brown. “Emotional literacy and social-emotional learning (SEL).” The Emotional Literacy Encyclopedia, 10P Program, 2026-10-25. https://emotionalliteracy.org/encyclopedia/emotional-literacy-and-sel/
