BY CHOICE, NOT CHANCE - Engaging Social and Emotional Learning to Create a Supportive Climate and Discipline Strategies

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum

Explores how engaging social and emotional learning (SEL) can strengthen schoolwide culture, improve discipline approaches, and ensure students are safe, supported, and seen. Builds on CASEL’s systemic SEL framework by linking equitable learning environments across classrooms, schools, families, and communities. Emphasizes transformative SEL (tSEL) and offers indicators, guiding principles for accountability, and adult roles that encourage proactive, relationship-centered practices. Includes case study direction and acknowledges collaborative contributions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages47

Reading Time1 h 58 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Why equitable discipline practices matter

Supportive culture and climate: Four indicators of proactive culture-building for student success

Learning is bolstered through relationships

Opportunities are built for collaborative problem-solving between young people and adults

SEL is integrated with Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)

Student voice helps guide decision-making

Supportive discipline: Three guiding principles for growth through accountability

The role of adults in creating supportive schools

Conclusion

Lessons learned from the field: Six Key District Actions

Case studies

Case Study 1: The Neurodiversity Alliance

Case Study 2: Generation Schools Network

Case Study 3: Da Vinci RISE High School

January 2025 BY CHOICE, NOT CHANCE: Engaging Social and Emotional Learning to Create a Supportive Climate and Discipline Strategies SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING INNOVATIONS SERIES By Heather N. Schwartz, Dr. Anne Gregory, Dr. Alexandra Skoog-Hoffman, Zac Hess, Donna Trujillo, John Borrero, Dr. Robert Jagers INNOVATIONS SERIES OVERVIEW The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is committed to supporting and advancing the field of social and emotional learning (SEL) to ensure that schools honor, challenge, and inspire the academic, social, and emotional growth and development of all students. SEL has emerged as a central feature of education and is even more important at a time in which our global and local communities, adults, and young people are compelled to navigate heightened social tensions and traumas. While initial research studies have established the general benefits of SEL, the next phase of work should address the need for improvements and innovations to SEL policy, approaches, programming, and practices to increase the likelihood of maximum contributions to the well-being of each and every young person and adult (Fredrickson, 2001; Huppert, 2009; Wentzel, 2024) . We understand psychological well-being as inclusive of the constructs of positive emotions (happiness and/or contentment) and the development of purpose, while also fostering positive relationships with others. This series aims to help the field, including educators, program providers, and policymakers, to imagine new, more expansive and equitable approaches to SEL and wellness to ensure that all children, adolescents, and adults feel safe, supported, and seen so that they can thrive. Throughout this series, we will share innovative conceptions, methods, and practices that embody SEL principles, along with aligned strategies that maximize learning and well-being for students at each setting level of CASEL’s systemic SEL framework. CASEL takes a systemic approach to SEL implementation that emphasizes the importance of establishing equitable learning environments and coordinating practices across key settings of classrooms, schools, families, and communities to enhance all students’ social, emotional, and academic learning. A systemic approach integrates SEL throughout the school’s academic curricula and culture, across the broader contexts of schoolwide practices and policies, and through ongoing collaboration with families and community organizations. Each report in this series will highlight a key setting from CASEL’s framework. This report focuses on building safe and supportive schoolwide cultures. Read the first report on authentic partnership with families and caregivers and the second report on engaging instructional practices that integrate SEL in classrooms. Within this series, we pay particular attention to research and understanding that is consistent with transformative SEL (tSEL), an approach that embodies an equitable, systemic orientation to SEL. We will share both current understandings about these practices and strategies and why they matter from a research and practice perspective. We will also provide case studies to help illustrate what these practices and strategies can look like in schools, families, and communities. We hope that the series will spark discussion around strategies, curricula, and action research agendas that lead to changes in mindsets, practices, and policies, with a focus on the centering of the voices and choices of students and their families. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CASEL recognizes the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in advancing the work that generated this report. The findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of the foundation. We’d like to thank our collaborators for their partnership in providing relevant content and highlighting case studies from the field. Kyla

FAQs

Why do equitable discipline practices matter according to the report?

The report links discipline practices to educational opportunity disparities and argues that students need supportive relationships and experiences to fully realize their potential.

How does the report describe building a supportive schoolwide culture and climate?

It presents proactive culture-building through four indicators and emphasizes strengthening learning through relationships and collaborative problem-solving between students and adults.

What role do adults play in supportive schools and discipline?

The report highlights that supportive discipline depends on adults examining context and prioritizing interpersonal repair while enabling human development and growth through accountability.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum