SEL Benefits Explained – A German & Belgian Perspective

Sarah Schul and Tanja Goebel travelled to Galway to participate in our Social and Emotional Learning Erasmus Plus course. Tanja has years of teaching experience, while Sarah is at the beginning of her teaching career. Despite contrasting outsets, both women spoke passionately about Social and Emotional Learning methodologies and SEL benefits to different student groups.

Tanja highlighted the need for continuing education among teachers, while Sarah was excited to try the tools she experienced as a participant at Atlantic in her institution.

The two women made time available to share their experiences and insights gained during the week.

Tanja Goebel introduced herself first:

I’m a German, English, and Drama teacher in Germany. I teach kids between the ages of 10 and 19 at the Gymnasium in Hankensbüttel 90 km from Hanover. We have about 800 students.

And yeah, I’ve decided to come to Galway because I was here once before, and I wanted to reminisce a bit. I’m also interested in improving my teaching skills. That’s the reason I selected the Social and Emotional Learning course.

When asked about the ways in which SEL can blend with drama, Tanja said:

It’s a lot about engaging with the students, establishing a healthy relationship with the students. They are willing to open up, and especially if you talk about drama, they have to go out there and show what they can do in front of an audience. I can totally encourage them to do that.

I enjoy teaching and the work with the kids. But there are downsides to it, obviously. You have to do a lot of preparation and a lot of administrative work. That is something I could do without. But on the other hand, I really enjoy working with people.

Next up, was Sarah:

I’m from Belgium, and I teach law to future social workers. One of my colleagues came here three years ago, and she told me how excellent the school was and how good the organisation, and how Galway was a beautiful city.

That’s why I decided to come here. Also because I was really interested in the Social and Emotional Learning class because I was seeking to engage more, so that my students would engage more and be motivated to learn.

When asked how SEL can drive student motivation and engagement, Sarah continued:

It’s a whole philosophy. I feel that the students must feel comfortable first, talk about their emotions, be aware of themselves, their environment, their fellow students, and for the teachers to question themselves when teaching.

It’s not just about teaching a subject, but also asking how can I encourage students, how can I chunk my lessons so that I’m sure they understand, they’re engaged, they’re motivated.

I feel like it’s a whole programme and not just a few techniques. It’s an understanding – It’s an approach, really. The students must be aware of their emotions, aware of their fellow students to build healthy relationships with each other and the teacher so everyone learns better.

When quizzed on their day-to-day course experience here at Atlantic, Tanja said:

We started out by getting to know each other with ice breakers, which was really good because we immediately clicked. We clicked even more throughout the course. It was amazing. As there were only the three of us in the room, there was a lot of giggling involved. The ice breakers established a very open and friendly atmosphere among us, so we had a lot of fun together right from the start. From there, we were able to reflect on SEL in the classroom and what a difference it can make.

It’s actually about thinking about the needs of the students. So this is the essence of what she (Purva) taught us. So, you must consider what your students need at any moment and reflect on what you as a teacher can provide to meet those needs in order to improve their learning skills. This is what she taught us.  We also did a lot of interactive group activities, just the two of us.

Adding to Tanja’s description, Sarah said:

Yeah, what I liked is that we experienced the techniques. It was not a theoretical class. The teacher made us a working group. She asked us for feedback regularly. She timeframed us. So all the tools she taught us, we experienced them. That’s what I really loved about the class.

It was really helpful. She’d ask questions like What will you implement first in class, or what will you not implement in class, and why? So the lessons were a lot about reflecting on how we teach.

Like many of the teachers attending professional development courses here in Galway, both Sarah and Tanja enjoyed being students for a change. As Sarah described:

It’s good to be reminded how you feel when you’re a student, what you like, what you don’t like, the pace of the class and realise that it must be, sometimes, more boring than other times. It’s nice to be in the other shoes. On the other hands it’s a good reminder of what a good teacher looks like and why.

For her part, Tanja added:

Yeah. Purva puts you on a spot at the beginning of the lesson.

Name three things that you can remember from last lesson! and you’re like, oh, dear me! What are the three things? That is what I do with my students all the time. Now I know what that feels like.

I take away a lot. A lot of input, a lot of inspiration. Most of the things were somehow familiar. When I became a teacher, there was obviously this type of training, and they usually teach you some of these techniques. But after a while you get a little bit lazy, you’re comfortable in what you’re doing, and so you forget about the importance of these things.

Being aware of the emotions of my students seems to be more important now than ever, as I find it increasingly difficult to hold their attention in class. Sometimes it feels like I have to put up a show. This is rather frustrating. 

And I was like, oh, what can I do? This can’t go on for the next 10 -15 years. And this is also a reason why I came here. And what I learned is that I have to change my ways of teaching. I can’t expect the next generation to put up with the teaching methods that I’ve used for over 10 years now, so I have to adapt to their needs

Circling back to implementing SEL in the classroom, Sarah said:

For me, I am a young teacher, the course confirms the intuition that I had that I must teach to meet the students’ needs and not just the subject or just the way I’m seeing it, but starting out from their needs, their way of expression and adapt as much as is possible and reasonable.

Our conversation continued for a long time, with Sarah and Tanja emphasising their love for Galway, fellow students, Irish landscapes, and the entire experience.