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SEL aims to foster positive relations and behavioral and action-oriented change by enabling learners to:

• understand and express emotions effectively,
• display empathy and compassion for others,
• respond appropriately and contextually,
• form an inclusive sense of identity,
• establish and maintain mutually supportive and healthy, interpersonal relationships,
• work towards personal and collective goals,
• make ethical decisions,
• become engaged and participatory members of their communities, and ultimately
• contribute to broader aims, such as the building of inclusive, just, healthy, peaceful and sustainable societies.

SEL should be mainstreamed because it is both an end in itself and an enabler of other learning outcomes, as it improves:

• connectedness to learning and school,
• academic attainment,
• interpersonal relationships,
• mental well-being,
• social behaviour,
• employability, and
• recovery post-exposure to emergency and trauma. 

And it reduces: 

• school dropouts,
• distress, anxiety, and depression,
• bullying and harassment, 
• risk-taking with alcohol and drugs,
• homophobic name-calling and sexual violence, and
• inequality and social disadvantage, including discrimination and social exclusion.

At the  UNESCO launched the new policy guide for , co-produced by UNESCO and the . 

The policy guide explains SEL as an expansion of the educational process, shifting from a sole focus on cognitive aspects to a balanced approach that includes cognitive, social and emotional, and behavioural dimensions of learning. Initial action ideas are proposed to facilitate SEL’s systematic mainstreaming in education. 

The guide builds on work undertaken by UNESCO on SEL from the perspective of Global Citizenship Education and Education for Sustainable Development, , the Happy Schools Framework, and by UNESCO Institutes such as the MGIEP. 

Since 2015, there has been significant progress to reimagine education - to address conflicts and other manifestations of violence and prejudice such as racism, discrimination, and hate speech – for wider societal transformation towards peace, justice, inclusion, equality, and sustainability.

The guide makes the case for integrating SEL in the collective efforts to transform education since it has an impact on improving academic achievement, reducing drop-out rates, and improving overall mental health and well-being, and importantly, in strengthening emotional and relational dynamics of classrooms, schools, communities, and societies. 

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has a crucial role to play in these collective efforts to transform education to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary for positive social change as called for by SDG 4, the , the , and the 2023 UNESCO Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development adopted unanimously in 2023. 

The is primarily for policymakers, especially those tasked with curriculum development in Ministries of Education, teacher training and professional development, development of learning materials, pedagogies and assessment, and ensuring that learning environments are safe and supportive. It can also be used by school administrators, supervisors, teachers and educators who are passionate about mainstreaming SEL in learning spaces. And it offers a curation of current scientific literature on SEL which may interest education researchers.

UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) also provides courses and other resources on SEL on their website and AI-enabled learning platform: