Twentieth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) has become popular in recent years in the field of education. The underlying concept is that one should not leave the curriculum only in the field of any specific academic discipline but link it to life skills, both in the personal-emotional and social fields such as self-management, decision making, self-awareness and social awareness As a literature lecturer and pedagogic instructor who trains future teachers, I felt it was not right to leave SEL at the theoretical level but to allow experience in developing emotional and social skills while studying literature. I chose a number of courses taught in the Department of Literature, I taught them at an academic level but in each assignment I gave one question that connects the students to stories on a personal level and requires from them openness of thought, depth and emotional expression. The findings were amazing. There were students for whom the text met them at very deep points and were capable of deep emotional or social expression and there were students who simply were not capable of relating to it and remained at a very superficial level. I share findings and reveal the dichotomy between the two types of students as part of research on the relationship between emotional and social abilities in teaching students and the ability to become a teacher who attempts to develop these skills in future pupils.