English teachers' use of reading and writing instruction in a social justice-focused curriculum can include social action projects that encourage students to get involved in activism and also promotes social and emotional learning. This chapter outlines the research behind and steps towards using reading and writing in ways that encourage students to get involved in activism. The assignments and lessons suggested also include social and emotional learning competencies. Two specific texts are used to provide readers with concrete examples of implementing the ideas presented in classrooms.
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Today’s adolescents are faced with many choices and with an abundance of information, especially from the internet. Anderson, Steen, and Stavropoulos (2016) write that the number of people across the world, especially teenagers, that have come to use the internet as part of their daily life has grown in large number over the past several years. Sherry Turkle (2011) writes about adolescents using technology and how it impacts their abilities to “learn empathetic skills, to think about values and identity, and to manage and express feelings” (p. 172). Additionally, the recent global pandemic and political strife in the United States and across the world is making younger people stressed and their mental health may be impacted (Kowal et al., 2020). This might make it more difficult for adolescents who are working to grow their social and emotional skills and figure out how to deal with everything life gives them. A possible place for students in the United States to work on developing these skills is at school, since they spend a large amount of time there. In school, the English classroom can be a place where teachers can actively promote social and emotional learning through the use of literacy. Teachers can use literature to help students become aware of social issues around them and how those issues impact students and their communities. Students can then be guided to take action on those issues. This kind of learning will help students learn to work with others, use their voice and agency, and make a difference, all of which can contribute to social and emotional learning. These ideas may work well for classrooms in the United States, but teachers in other areas of the world may be able to use similar ideas.
Social and emotional learning has a natural relationship to literacy in the classroom. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), social and emotional learning is:
the process through which all young people and adults aquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. (CASEL, 2020, p. 1)
The aspects in this definition are achievable through the use of literacy. The International Literacy Association (2021) defines literacy as “the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, compute, and communicate using visual, audible, and digital materials across disciplines and in any context” (International Literacy Association, 2021) . In the English classroom, teachers can be intentional about the texts they use, how they teach them, and the writing their students do in order to support the goals of social and emotional learning. Literature portrays issues and helps readers better understand and develop values and a relationship to the world (Rosenblatt, 1983). This development of values and connection to others is an essential part of social and emotional learning. Teachers can use literature to help students think about others, thus developing empathy, and to help students think about their own ideas and identities, thus developing self-awareness. In order to be successful in their careers and life outside of school, students need to be able to form relationships and manage their emotions (Elias, 1997). Jagers et al. (2019) argue that social and emotional competencies are essential when students are becoming global citizens. When students are encouraged to reflect on the world around them and how they exist in it, they can become critical thinkers (Freire, 2012). Literature can provide a lens through which to see and discuss social issues and help students begin to think about the issues in their own communities and how they connect with more global issues. When students are encouraged to think critically about these problems and how they and their communities are impacted by them, they will feel increasingly compelled to respond to these challenges (Freire, 2012). When students use their agency and take active roles, they are focusing on their interactions with others, which fosters social and emotional learning (Nagaoka, 2015).